Minimize Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Build Resilience
Minimize the impact of climate change and ocean acidification on biodiversity and increase its resilience through mitigation, adaptation, and disaster risk reduction actions, including through nature-based solutions and/or ecosystem-based approaches, while minimizing negative and fostering positive impacts of climate action on biodiversity.
Too Much of a Good Thing
There are people who say we shouldn’t worry about rising CO₂ levels — that it’s good for the planet. And like many convincing lies, this one contains a kernel of truth.
Carbon is king. With its loose electrons, it bonds easily and promiscuously. Everything organic is built from it: plants, insects, animals — even us. Biodiversity is the story of carbon-based life. Carbon moves through the world as CO₂, a gas that reacts with sunlight and water to build everything from biomass and ecosystems to industrial products. So yes, it’s essential. Without CO₂, there would be no life.
But CO₂ also traps heat. And when there’s too much of it, the planetary systems tip out of balance. That’s what all the alarms about global warming are about.
It’s a serious problem, and to discuss how to safeguard life on Earth, the UN holds two ‘COP’ conferences: one for biodiversity (biannual) and one for climate change (annual). In case acronyms aren’t your thing, COP stands for Conference of the Parties — gatherings of UN member nations. Awareness of these conferences grew with COP21, where the Paris Agreement was made. These meetings are pivotal, they will shape our future.
So, the two conferences address separate issues, right?
Not so fast. This is how the two challenges interact:
Earth has a fixed amount of carbon, stored in the atmosphere, oceans, soils, rocks, and all living things. When you look at a tree, you’re looking at carbon. Plankton? Carbon. We, too, are carbon-based — nearly a fifth of our body weight is carbon. Every breath you take moves carbon around. All living things bind carbon — and that binding process has helped stabilize Earth’s climate for the past 12,000 years.
Carbon becomes CO₂ when it bonds with oxygen, allowing it to move freely through Earth’s systems. So, CO₂ itself isn’t the enemy; it’s the creator of life on Earth. The threat comes when we emit more than nature can absorb. The atmosphere gets over-saturated.
Biodiversity is the planet’s thermostat. When it declines, CO₂ levels rise — and so does the heat.
Restoring balance isn’t simple. By burning fossil fuels, we not only raise CO₂ levels, we weaken the very biological systems that regulate them. Protecting biodiversity isn’t just about saving species — it’s about preserving the living networks that stabilize our climate.
This makes climate change and biodiversity loss inseparable. So why do we treat them as separate? Even a world powered by 100% renewable energy could still wreck biodiversity if we don’t change how we interact with ecosystems.
To safeguard biodiversity, we must confront climate change—and vice versa. They are not separate challenges, it’s one system, and that one system decides our whole future.