Climate crisis and biodiversity crisis. Two words that we hear over and over again, and which unfortunately are often treated as separate crises that require their own solutions. But at their core, they are both the result of our reckless actions on the planet in pursuit of wealth and personal gain, and as such, common solutions should be found for them. The climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis are by no means opposites, but rather prerequisites for each other, so it makes no sense to treat them separately.
SDGs and silo thinking
When the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015, it was recognized that solving the world’s many problems required a holistic approach with international cooperation and the blurring of boundaries between disciplines. However, when you look at the results today, it’s unfortunately clear that the intentions have not made it through to implementation. People still think in silos and try to solve individual problems separately, and sometimes even in competition with each other, as can be seen on a small scale in the domestic debate about what is more important: untouched forest or production forest. The former benefits biodiversity due to the variety of habitats, and the latter benefits the climate due to the high CO2 uptake.
Integrated solutions for the future
But what we need is not an either-or, but a both-and. In our management of the landscape, we need integrated solutions where both biodiversity and climate are taken into account from the beginning and not just added on as a band-aid after one has been fully taken into account.
The balance between untouched forest and production forest
It is debatable from now until doomsday which of the two forest types stores the most CO2 and is therefore best for the climate. One may win in the short term, while the other may win in the long term. And there is no doubt that we will need large amounts of production wood in the sustainable construction that will replace much concrete construction in the long term. So of course there will have to be production forest to some extent. Read the rest of the post at Kristeligt Dagblad.
