System change is our only way out of the climate and biodiversity crises
As we celebrate Earth Day, and with the UNFCCC COP30 in sight at the end of the year, we are witnessing the widespread and devastating effects of the climate and biodiversity crises simultaneously unfold. Our new report “Climate and Biodiversity in Freefall. How policy failures accelerate the polycrises” examines how these intertwined crises are rooted in the same systems. It is becoming increasingly clear that what we need is real system change that focuses on the root causes, challenges existing power relationships and dismantles all forms of oppression and exploitation.
Understanding the Climate Change and Biodiversity Crisis Connection
Intrinsically linked and mutually exacerbating, the climate change and biodiversity crises stem from the same economic, social and political system that prioritises exploitation and profit maximisation over people and environment.
Roughly one million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction today according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as rising temperatures and the increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events wreak havoc on habitats, ecosystems and communities.
It goes both ways: biodiversity loss is also taking a major toll on climate stability. As ecosystems lose biomass – the sum of all living organisms -, the diversity among species declines. Deforestation and soil degradation from industrial agriculture and other extractive industries have drastically reduced the total amount of carbon stored in biomass. For example, the Amazon is fast approaching a tipping point where forests may turn from carbon sinks into carbon sources with irreversible and catastrophic climate impacts. Carbon and biodiversity offsetting do nothing to reverse the drivers of this carbon and biomass loss and can never be solutions to the climate or biodiversity crisis.
Tackling these major challenges requires a holistic approach. Yet, the current policy responses are only pushing us further toward an impasse.
The perils of poor climate policies
Climate policies that push forward false solutions are failing to address these crises, which serves to further aggravate this negative feedback loop. Agrofuels, for example, promoted as a so-called “solution” to replace fossil fuels for energy and car transport, have greatly increased in popularity in recent years. However, they raise serious concerns: the production of agrofuels sets up a fierce competition between the use of land for energy crops and for food production, and ultimately drastically reduces available arable land for food production. The results also often include deforestation and land grabs, which disproportionately affect Indigenous Peoples and small-scale food producers by threatening their lives and livelihoods and erasing ancestral knowledge.
Furthermore, carbon and biodiversity offsetting does nothing to reverse the drivers of this carbon and biomass loss and can never be solutions to the climate or biodiversity crises. Carbon offsets based on carbon stored in forests that supposedly compensate for ongoing fossil fuel emissions, such as REDD+ and ‘nature-based solutions’, have also taken off despite their unrealistic land requirements. These offsets are based on the idea that avoiding the destruction of nature in one place – and therefore the release of carbon into the atmosphere – grants the right to emit more carbon elsewhere. This implies locking in the total amount of avoided emissions, and results in nature everywhere being threatened by climate change instead of compensating for it.
Touted as fixes to the climate and biodiversity crises that could also be favourable to states’ economies, these schemes in fact nothing more than false solutions that further undermine biodiversity and put us all at risk. They delay urgent and appropriate action while bringing disastrous consequences for communities and ecosystems, especially in the Global South. Tree planting, largely in biodiversity-damaging monoculture tree plantations, has also become a go-to greenwashing technique for corporations looking to delay action and boost their image (useful for them, considering their role in the polycrisis) so they can carry on profiting from the crises they have created. Instead of these schemes, which mainly serve to enrich corporations, we need measures that urgently address the underlying causes of both climate change and biodiversity loss.
Breaking the cycle: The call for system change
It has become clear that such false solutions will provide an exit from the current planetary mess, but will only allow corporations and the rich nations propping them up to dig humans and ecosystems into a deeper hole. To really tackle this polycrisis, real system change that gets to the root of the problem by dismantling and avoiding the replication of the current forms of oppression and exploitation is needed.
At the same time, the recognition and empowerment of women and of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), whose traditional scientific, historical and collective knowledge and practices are invaluable in preserving the ecosystems we depend on, is equally important. Women have always been caretakers of forests and ecosystems. Their voices, as well as those of IPLCs, must be heard and respected in decision-making processes related to their lands.
As we approach COP30, the interlinked crises of climate change and biodiversity loss call for a fundamental rethinking of our approach. By recognising the interconnections, halting detrimental policies, and supporting Indigenous knowledge, we can forge a path towards system change that protects our planet’s ecosystems and provides a sustainable future for peoples and communities, especially those in the Global South who are the most affected. Today, the stakes could not be higher.
