IRBIO to be the first European research centre to join the European Commisionʼs Global Coalition United for Biodiversity
The Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona is the first research centre in Europe -and the second one in the world- to join the global coalition promoted by the European Commission “United for Biodiversity”. Promoted by the EU commissioner of Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, on the occasion of the World Nature Day 2020, this coalition calls museums, national parks, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and research institutions to join forces to activate the alarm on the environmental crisis and the need to protect the biodiversity, according to the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15).
The Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona is the first research centre in Europe -and the second one in the world- to join the global coalition promoted by the European Commission “United for Biodiversity”. Promoted by the EU commissioner of Environment, Virginijus Sinkevicius, on the occasion of the World Nature Day 2020, this coalition calls museums, national parks, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and research institutions to join forces to activate the alarm on the environmental crisis and the need to protect the biodiversity, according to the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15).
IRBio, entity led by Professor F. Xavier Sans, from the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, joins five Spanish entities -among which are the Museum of Natural Sciences and the Botanical Garden of Barcelona- and tens of prestigious centres from around the world, such as the Zoo in São Paulo, the Bristol Museum and the Nature Conservation Centre of the American University of Beirut (Lebanon).
There is no future for humanity without biodiversity
According to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), it estimated that about 135 species of plants, animals and insects are lost every day. That is, around 50,000 species per year, data that would involve the loss of a million species in a few decades. This threatening situation for biodiversity, stated in the report by the Intergovernmental Group on Climate Change (IPCC, 2018) on the global warming, notes the need to reduce worldwide emissions by 50% over the upcoming ten years in order to reach zero clean emissions by 2050.
IRBio: science, research and social awareness for a more ecological future
IRBio is made up by more than 200 experts, among academics, young researchers and collaborators, in several fields of research, ranging from genomes to ecosystems, through morphological, molecular, biogeographic, quantitative and bioinformatic approaches. The center promotes high quality research and boosts the social dissemination on the relevance of biodiversity and its presentation in order to raise awareness among society on these issues. Without biodiversity there is no way to develop, and as a result, we need to promote these work lines to improve the wellbeing of society and future generations.
Moreover, IRBio provides scientific advice on biodiversity and paleobiodiversity -at a management, assessment, education, legislation scale- to public administrations, private agencies and environmental organizations, and it works on technical reports on environmental issues.
COVID-19: lessons to learn about the destruction of natural habitats
The global pandemic COVID-19, caused by the zoonotic transmission of SARS-CoV-2, is a warning about global changes humans cause to the planet. Global warming, destruction and modification of natural habitats and the movement of people and goods increase the frequency of transmission of diseases from animals to people, and as a result, the probability for these to become a pandemic.
Global climate, food, ecological and health emergencies have their origins in the fracture of the relationship between human population and nature. The current economic model and food consumption patterns have a large part of responsibility. This is why we need to promote nature-based solutions, sustainability and ecological models. The challenge for society lies in promoting the transformation of the current model to reach a global environmental sustainability and restore nature. In this context, IRBio has expressed a strong commitment to preservation and protection of the environment while promoting research activities and social dissemination on the knowledge we have on COVID-19.