COP15 — It’s Time for Ambitious Collaborative Action to Protect Biodiversity
By Maanit Goel
Our endemic population of orcas in the Salish Sea, the Southern Residents, currently have a cumulative population of just 73 individuals, down from a historical estimate of 200+. Salish Sea Chinook salmon populations have decreased by over 60% since 1984 (EPA.gov). These tragedies are no longer the canary in the coal mine; they are the ringing alarm bells and blaring sirens compelling us to take action before these species turn to mere statistics washed away by the tides of history. But these instances are far from isolated.
The World Wildlife Fund recently released its 2022 Living Planet Report. The report found that monitored vertebrate populations around the world have suffered an average population decline of 69% since 1970. Over two-thirds of all monitored vertebrates have been lost within two-thirds of the average human lifespan. For only the sixth time in the history of the planet, Earth is undergoing a mass extinction, and for the first time, it is a preventable one.
Why is this calamity only accelerating? It is evident there is a systemic flaw in contemporary human societies that enables such devastating ecological losses, and yet humanity has failed to take any significant global steps to combat the harm we ourselves are inflicting. As a 16-year-old high school student, I am burdened with the dreadful certainty that many of the species I take for granted today will not exist in two decades’ time.
Imagine Washington without orcas, without Chinook salmon. Imagine rivers devoid of fish, the eerie silence of forests without birdsong, oceans empty of our gentle marine giants and their solemn songs. These bleak scenes are no longer a worst-case scenario, they are the future we are currently barreling towards. We are running out of time to redirect this ship, but the power to turn the tide remains vested in human collaboration at this moment. Our government officials must seize it while it remains
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 meeting is underway in Montreal this month. Through this convening, world leaders have the opportunity, and with it the responsibility, to put an end to these devastating losses around the world by adopting a strong global biodiversity framework, with a commitment to protect, at minimum, 30% of global lands and waters by 2030.
For even in the best-case scenario that we in the United States successfully protect our domestic forests and seas, we cannot turn a blind eye to the global nature of our economic systems. When the last Sumatran rainforest is cleared and the last orangutan drops dead, that blood is on all of our hands. When the last whale is slaughtered off the Icelandic coast, that blood is on all of our hands. When American consumers buy products from the world over, when our officials shake hands with overseas allies, it becomes impossible to ignore the interconnectedness of all our lives, our nations, and our actions. Thus our government has a responsibility not just here at home, but at the international stage, to ensure that conservation policies cross national borders, and that these policies are truly enforced.
If the world’s delegates return from COP15 next month with nothing more than statements and handshakes, this is failure, and yet another nail in the coffin of our terrestrial and aquatic brethren.
World leaders on the international stage and our policymakers here at home, we look to you to make the right choice, to enact the policies and protections our world needs: at minimum, 30% of all lands and waters protected worldwide by 2030. We can no longer take life on Earth for granted.
Maanit Goel is a 16 year old high school student, and the director of WYORCA, the largest independent student-led organization in the Northwest working on salmon and orca conservation. He also serves on the EarthEcho International Youth Leadership Council, working with youth around the world and government officials to advance expanded marine protected areas and the 30x30 goal.
