Loss of biodiversity - caused and solved by globalisation?: Difference between revisions

Up to this part the ambivalence between globalization and change of biodiversity become clear. The next part of this text focuses mainly on the solutions or possibilities to this threat- and in which way a further globalization for example in environmental politics is needed to face this challenge.

Up to this part of the article the loss of biodiversity as an example for a global environmental problem was defined and the main causes for it, especially in relation to globalization, were emphasized. To solve this problem it is indispensable to understand these processes, because in relation to the five main causes for the loss of biodiversity given above, maintaining biodiversity means undoubtedly habitat conservation and restoration. In a wider meaning this indicates protection against defragmentation, pollution, invasive alien species and climate change. Although the climate change has already a huge impact on biodiversity, discussing measures against it is not the main purpose of this article.

The fundamental conditions for restoring biodiversity are obvious, however the realization is more complex - for example, as it was shown above, globalization has an impact on the loss of biodiversity, but you can neither cancel nor stop globalization in general. There are lots of efforts on different sectors to develop mechanisms for conservation, a few examples are given in the following (UNEP 188, Gaston and Spicer 138, 156:  

Some companies have already started to integrate biodiversity concerns into their planning - analysing and reducing the impact of infrastructure, processing and transportation. Codes of conduct, certifications schemes, transparency through triple-bottom-line accounting and international regulatory standards are key policy options. There are as well new market mechanisms: For example valuation and creation of markets for ecosystem services, payment programmes, tax incentives and mechanisms for upstream-downstream transfers. The relation to and the importance of the governmental sector are obvious.

NGOs play an important role in the civil society. Their political instruments are different to the ones mentioned before: In a close interaction with (new) media the main purpose is to inform the society, to draw the attention on the environmental problems and to get monetary funding for conserving.  

The governmental sector plays a key role in conserving biodiversity: Mainly through initiate standards, programmes and conferences. Gaston and Spicer point out that the Convention on Biological Diversity “remains perhaps the single most important international step towards the long-term maintenance of biodiversity” (Gaston & Spicer, 138). It was the first time that biodiversity was comprehensively addressed in a binding global treaty, the first time that genetic diversity was specifically covered and the first time that the conservation of was recognized as the common concern of mankind.