- and that the scientifically-based target for nature
is probably a global goal for nature
that says net-zero loss of nature from today onwards.
- That's Johan Rockstrom, renounced Swedish professor,
and coauthor of a new paper
arguing for a nature-positive goal by 2030.
But what is nature positive?
In short, nature positivity is a target goal
to restore nature and its biodiversity.
I spoke to Johan to break down the term
and better understand the urgency behind it
because what he's talking about
actually needs to happen immediately.
It's not some sort of future problem
because we're already in the midst
of the sixth mass extinction.
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A good way to look at nature positivity
is to think about net zero.
Net zero helps us create a balance
between the emissions we put out into the atmosphere
and the ones we take out.
You can watch my video on net zero here.
Nature positivity would require us to also create a balance
between the nature we destroy and restore,
but then go further and increase the amount of restoration
so it outweighs the destruction.
That's where the positivity comes from.
When it's balanced out properly,
we'll have achieved net zero nature loss.
- We would have compensated the loss
with restoration and regeneration of nature
and we know how to do that to a large extent.
And then move
towards what we call a net-positive world by 2050
when we regenerate more nature than we destroy.
So we would have stopped loss now,
and then compensate the unstoppable loss that we will have
in a transition phase, and by 2030,
it's optimistic, but that would be the path
we would have to follow.
- Biodiversity loss is one of the nine planetary boundaries
that humans have pushed
beyond their safe limits, as explained
in Johan's Netflix documentary, "Breaking Boundaries."
But according to the paper that he co-authored
with Canadian conservationist, Harvey Locke,
biodiversity can be restored
and have a full recovery by 2050.
To achieve that, however,
nature positivity is broken down into three objectives.
The first is working to restore nature from 2020.
- So in my lifetime, we've eradicated 68%,
two thirds of the populations of wildlife on planet earth.
I mean two thirds in one lifetime.
I mean, can you just imagine?
It's just almost like a mind-boggling scale
of loss of life on earth.
Now, because we have so much evidence that
that life is what enables us to live on planet Earth,
that is the threat.
And that is one element
of why we need a nature-positive goal.
As Johan said, we've pushed nature past its limit.
To achieve a nature-positive world,
it would require us protect at least 30%
of the world's land and water,
protect and support already-threatened species,
restore degraded ecosystems
and shift towards a more sustainable habit
of production and consumption.
If we start doing that now, it'll give us a good roadmap
to bringing biodiversity loss to zero by 2030
as suggested in this chart.
The second objective is to place the world
on a nature-positive path by 2030.
In order to restore by diversity, we need intact ecosystems,
such as forests, wetlands, coral reefs, and grasslands
which Johan calls critical biomes.
- And how do we do that?
Well, we can do it by, you know, planting trees,
agroforestry, sustainable agriculture,
more integrated, natural ecosystems with landscapes
that we are, you know, activists.
Instead of having industrial, chemical agriculture,
you can have more integrated intercropping systems.
There are many solutions that can take us in that direction
- These big ecosystems
are part of forming the equilibrium of planet Earth.
All those things that Johan just mentioned,
they're massive carbon sinks
that help with mitigating climate change.
So yeah, they're all connected.
- They are part of the toolbox
that enables us to have life on Earth.
They are what we call the life-support systems.
They give us breathable air, clean water, food to eat,
and the environment that can depose waste,
recycle nutrients, and keep all the cycles of life intact.
So without nature, no life. Very simple.
And that is a fundamental starting point
because we know that over the last 70 years,
we've entered a phase of eradicating species on Earth
at the pace that today has reached a level
that we can talk of us having entered a new mass extinction.
- And there you have it, the grim reality.
Everything you love could disappear.
The third and final objective is a full recovery by 2050.
Johan and Harvey, along with the other authors
of the nature-positive paper,
have acknowledged that some loss and degradation of nature
in the foreseeable future is inevitable,
all due to the high demand we as a society
have for food, energy, transportation, et cetera.
But eventually, if we follow the framework
of a nature-positive goal, we can change our habits
and curtail that loss by 2030.
So what can you do as an individual?
Well, like I've said before in other explainers,
the onus is mostly on big companies
and bodies of governments,
but that doesn't mean you don't have any influence
or power to change perspectives or help enact policies
that protects that endangered ecosystems or species.
- If every customer starts saying, "I want to know.
I'm not gonna buy this product unless you tell me
what has gone into producing this.
What nature ecosystem services have been deployed,
have been used to deliver this yogurt
or this coffee or this bread or this meat?"
And I think just that effort
of being really engaged, concerned consumer
is the most important step we can take today
because that has impact.
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