{"id":157454,"date":"2023-05-25T21:29:58","date_gmt":"2023-05-25T21:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=157454"},"modified":"2023-05-27T16:54:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-27T16:54:05","slug":"oecd-warns-of-biodiversity-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/business-innovation\/oecd-warns-of-biodiversity-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Humanity is experiencing an \u2018unprecedented\u2019 environmental crisis: Lacy Tamayo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rodolfo Lacy Tamayo, <\/strong>Director for Climate Action and Environment for Latin America at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), states that 6.5 million hectares of biodiversity are lost every year, and that 85% of the planet’s wetlands have disappeared since 1970.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extinction of 60% of vertebrate fauna diversity and 70% of insect species have also been added to the list of biodiversity loss that started five decades ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

99% of reefs, considered the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, are also expected to disappear in the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we keep changing our ecosystem, we will have more pandemics<\/a>, and we don’t know what kind of pandemics we will generate in the future,” says the environmental science and engineering expert during the Annual General Meeting of the Worldwide Universities Network <\/a>(WUN 2023<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\r\n \r\n \"Slide\r\n <\/picture>
The new environmental challenges involve protecting at least 30% of the planet’s ecosystems. (Photo: Slide from Rodolfo Lacy Tamayo’s presentation) <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Zoonotic diseases<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lacy also warns that human interference with biodiversity creates conditions for pathogens to pass from animals to humans more easily. In fact, scientists estimate that zoonotic diseases<\/strong> will represent three quarters of the illnesses that humanity will have to face in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lacy mentions that it is essential for universities to participate in developing research on complex issues to tackle this “unprecedented environmental crisis.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guaranteeing the protection of at least 30% of all ecosystems, achieving their comprehensive management, and restoring degraded areas are some of the proposals that the OECD official suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is also necessary for protected ecosystems to capture greenhouse gases, in addition to reducing the presence of plastics and pesticides to zero,\u201d says the expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the most recent OECD report The Short and Winding Road to 2030<\/em><\/a> tracks the progress of compliance with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, underpinned by 169 Targets, the international organization warns that only a quarter of these targets is about to be achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n