A new report to be launched later this week will make a detailed exploration of the interlinkages between biodiversity, water, food, climate change and health.
On December 17, The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity (IPBES) will launch a first-of-its-kind report that examines how the crisis in any one of the above impacts the others.
Pre-release communication from the IPBES notes that the report will show…the hidden and profound costs of addressing them in siloes, and how public policy can respond in a more integrated way".
Prepared by leading international experts through an extensive review process starting in 2021 with multiple rounds of external and internal reviews with researchers, Indigenous groups, civil society and businesses, the report draws from key existing literature.
The report will underline the key role that biodiversity preservation plays in climate, food, water and health. Evidence shows that intensive farming and land use change negatively impact biodiversity, increase emissions and drive climate change. Worsening climate change has been linked to an exacerbation of infectious diseases and thus a degradation of human health. A study of 10 climate hazards resulting from greenhouse gas emissions found that 58% of infectious diseases were at some point made worse due to these hazards.
It will also shine a spotlight on marginalised groups and those in lower and middle-income countries who are more likely to be exposed to risks created by climate change and suffer poor health. This calls for the need for policies that are sensitive to these disparities. A rights-based approach is also needed to ensure that people have equitable access to food, water and health, within healthy environments.
It will also highlight the role of public procurement of food such as the provision of school meals which can help students eat healthy foods, such as beans, increased consumption of which is recommended as they are both healthy and sustainable.
