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ONE EARTH
Global Safety Net
Three years in development, the first version of the Global Safety Net (GSN1) brings together the World Database on Protected Areas with 11 leading conservation priority frameworks, additively compiled into five main geospatial layers — species rarity sites, distinct species assemblages, large mammal assemblages, intact/remote land areas, and additional carbon storage areas — totalling approximately 50% of the terrestrial surface. An additional analysis identifies potential connectivity areas, which would enable species to be more resilient as the planet warms to 1.5°C in global average temperature rise.
Abstract
Global strategies to halt the dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change are often formulated separately, even though they are interdependent and risk failure if pursued in isolation. The Global Safety Net maps how expanded nature conservation addresses both overarching threats. We identify 50% of the terrestrial realm that, if conserved, would reverse further biodiversity loss, prevent CO2 emissions from land conversion, and enhance natural carbon removal. This framework shows that, beyond the 15.1% land area currently protected, 35.3% of land area is needed to conserve additional sites of particular importance for biodiversity and stabilize the climate. Fifty ecoregions and 20 countries contribute disproportionately to proposed targets. Indigenous lands overlap extensively with the Global Safety Net. Conserving the Global Safety Net could support public health by reducing the potential for zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 from emerging in the future.
The level of planning and foresight that is needed to properly scale nature conservation requires the emergence of a worldview that embraces the notion of stewardship at a planetary scale. Decades after the famous motto “think globally, act locally” was coined, the Global Safety Net offers a possible solution to today’s converging socioecological crises, from local to global. Human societies are late in the game to rectify impending climate breakdown, massive biodiversity loss, and, now, prevent pandemics. The Global Safety Net, if erected promptly, offers a way for humanity to catch up and rebound.
WEBSITE: globalsafetynet.app
PAPER: Science Advances | DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb2824
CITATION: E. Dinerstein, A. R. Joshi, C. Vynne, A. T. L. Lee, F. Pharand-Deschênes, M. França, S. Fernando, T. Birch, K. Burkart, G. P. Asner, D. Olson, A “Global Safety Net” to reverse biodiversity loss and stabilize Earth’s climate. Science Advances, Vol. 6, No. 36, eabb2824 (2020).
This research uses the Global Deal for Nature as a guiding framework.
Earlier material developed under the umbrella of
Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.
Globaïa has created numerous globe views to help evaluate and assess available datasets.