IRBio supports the Global Climate Strike. Do you want to know WHY?

On September 27th, the Global Climate Strike is coming up, and we at IRBio support and encourage you to follow it. Why?

Climate change is notoriously contributing to the problem of the biodiversity crisis generated by human actions. Without biodiversity, there is no future for humanity.

According to the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an estimated 135 species of plants, animals and insects are lost every day. That's 50,000 species a year, nearly one million species in a few decades. This, added to the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC - 2018) on global warming of 1.5 ° C, establishes the need to reduce global emissions by around 50% in the next 10 years and achieve zero clean emissions by 2050.

The Biodiversity Research Institute of the University of Barcelona, IRBio, generates fundamental knowledge about the structure and functioning of ecosystems, and our research is directly or indirectly related to aspects of well-being such as health, climate change, food security and the availability of clean water. Without biodiversity there is no capacity for evolution, and consequently it will affect the wellbeing of our society and compromise the future of younger people and the next generations.

In 2017, IRBio scientists signed the Manifest "Scientists 'Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice" (see news). These scientists concerned about the state of the planet Earth called on humanity to reduce environmental destruction and pointed to the need for a major change in our management of the Earth and its life if human misery is to be avoided.

The growing global public concern over the current climate and environmental emergency, with school strike mobilizations promoted by Greta Thunberg, the Fridays for Future student movement and Extinction Rebelion protests, demand that governments put immediate solutions into action. For this reason, the Climate and Earth Strike is an opportunity to exert pressure and put this issue on the political and media agendas.

In 2020, world leaders will make key decisions about the future direction of the Paris Agreement, sustainable development goals, and a new global framework for biodiversity and nature until 2030. We must demand that they take effective and urgent measures to halt the continued loss of wildlife in order to have resilient ecosystems that continue to provide natural ecosystem services. Ensuring the variety of life on Earth is vital not only for human well-being and poverty reduction, but also to ensure the persistence of healthy and functioning ecosystems around the world.

For all these reasons, from the consciousness derived from the scientific knowledge generated by our institute's research groups, and true to our commitment to Society, we believe that this strike is necessary to raise the awareness of all, political leaders and citizens of the world, and to put in place all possible means to stop climate change and defend the planet's biodiversity heritage for future generations.

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