Image via WikipediaSad that it comes to this before anything gets done. And with the resistance to any change, what future can the earth have? It is discouraging.
The world needs immediate action to stop the rapid loss of animal and plant species and their habitats, the United Nations warned Monday as a major summit on biodiversity began.
The 193 members of the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) convened for a 12-day conference in Nagoya, Japan, aimed at trying to avoid man-made mass extinction.
"This meeting is part of the world's efforts to address a very simple fact -- we are destroying life on earth,"said Achim Steiner, head of the U.N. Environment Program, reports Reuters.
"The time to act is now and the place to act is here," CBD executive secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf said, describing the summit as a "defining moment" in the history of mankind, reports the Agence France Presse.
Scientists say climate change and human population pressures are destroying ecosystems such as tropical forests and coral reefs as well as animal and plant species. A recent report by WWF warned that the world's 6.8 billion humans were living 50% beyond its sustainable means in 2007 and that, at current rates, a second Earth will be needed by 2030 to meet the planet's needs.
The U.N. delegates plan to set a new target for 2020 for curbing species loss and discuss how to boost funding to assist poor countries in this task. Countries have not met a prior U.N. convention target.
Image via WikipediaSad that it comes to this before anything gets done. And with the resistance to any change, what future can the earth have? It is discouraging.
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