Reduce Pollution to Levels That Are Not Harmful to Biodiversity
Reduce pollution risks and the negative impact of pollution from all sources by 2030, to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, considering cumulative effects, including:
(a) by reducing excess nutrients lost to the environment by at least half, including through more efficient nutrient cycling and use;
(b) by reducing the overall risk from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half, including through integrated pest management, based on science, taking into account food security and livelihoods; and
(c) by preventing, reducing, and working towards eliminating plastic pollution.
We Know Better Now
Humans are smart.
We have figured out brilliant ways to improve our lives. As life on the planet got easier, our population grew — nearly tenfold in the last 200 years. To keep up, we needed more food. So we hacked the ecosystems with synthetic fertilizers.
• That’s smart.
Synthetic fertilizers are incredibly effective, but they also pollute Earth’s water, degrade soil, disrupt ecosystems, and contribute to climate change.
• Not quite as smart.
To keep the crops for ourselves, we introduced pesticides. Harvests grew.
• Smart.
But pesticides also poison the soil and kill bees, birds, and fish.
• Not smart at all.
As brilliant as we think we are, we often take shortcuts that turn out to be harmful. Sometimes out of ignorance. Sometimes knowingly – because, well, profit.
To survive on Earth, we have to work with the planet's ecosystems, not against them. There’s no winning over the planet. It will do what it does – until the day the sun burns out.
We need better methods, better thinking. Let’s call them Elegant Equations — solutions in harmony with nature.
• Now that would be really smart.
The list of threats to ecosystems is long. Our drunk reliance on plastic is a big one. Unlike organic matter, most plastic don’t break down — they bring no benefit to ecosystems. They fill our oceans, rivers and landfills, breaking into microplastics that damage life everywhere.
• Again, not smart.
And then there’s PFAS — the forever chemicals now invading all living things, including us.
• That’s not just unwise. That’s reckless.
The greatest obstacle to sustainability is the belief that we are above nature. We’re not. We are the result of Earth’s ecosystems and 100% dependent on them, yet we treat them with such disregard.
Sure, there is a learning curve. Much of the harm we have caused, we didn’t fully understand. Now we do.
Pollinators – bees, butterflies, bats, birds, beetles – bring life to the planet.
Pollutinators take it away.
We can do much better. We’ve been smart, but we haven’t been wise. It’s time to level up. Now that we know.