The Two Sides of the Coin: Climate Change and Environmental Demise

The most important role of government is to protect its citizens. In Australia this is usually taken to mean military defence, alliances with other countries and considerable expenditure. However the governments of many countries including ours have not yet grasped the fact that we are facing defeat in the current battle against the advancing threats of climate change and environmental demise.

The world is facing two environmental crises: climate change and biodiversity loss. Both are critical and must be addressed simultaneously.

Climate change is a pressing issue that has been widely recognized and discussed. The world is experiencing rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and sea level rise, all of which are impacting ecosystems, human societies, and economies.

To mitigate climate change, reducing fossil fuel emissions is crucial. However, despite commitments made at previous UN Climate Change Conferences (COPs), such as COP28, some countries, including Australia, have failed to follow through on their promises to phase out fossil fuels.

This failure is concerning, especially given the petro states among them, and the wealthiest democratic countries in the world, such as Australia, that are hiding their sins with their success with renewable energy.

While climate change is a critical issue, biodiversity loss is equally severe and often overlooked. Biodiversity encompasses the variety of life on Earth, including the different species, genes, and ecosystems.

This variety is essential for maintaining ecosystem services, such as food production, water purification, and carbon sequestration, which are critical for human well-being and survival.

However, human activities, such as habitat destruction, pollution, and overexploitation, are leading to a rapid decline in biodiversity, threatening the stability and resilience of ecosystems.

In Australia, the recent State of the Environment report highlights the concerning losses of mammals, deforestation, and degradation of soils, which are vital for agriculture and food production.

The report also emphasizes the need for urgent action to protect and restore biodiversity, especially in light of rising temperatures and increasing floods, droughts, storms, and fires.

To ensure the survival of both the world and Australia, both climate change and biodiversity loss must be addressed.

While world temperature is largely determined by the combined emissions of all countries, Australia's survival also depends on shifting from environmentally damaging practices to enhancing the resilience of ecosystems.

If world temperature peaks at 2.5 or 3.0 degrees C in the coming decades, will Australia still have functioning ecosystems?

This question highlights the urgency of collective action and the need to prioritize both facets of the environmental crisis.

Unfortunately, many members of parliament do not fully grasp the role of ecological services in our survival, and those who do often prioritize measures that will ensure electoral success, such as focusing on economic growth at all costs.

As a result, the fate of our nation may be decided by rising temperatures and the eventual collapse of ecological services.

Despite the Biodiversity Council and other organizations documenting high public support for increased environmental protection, this issue ranks lower on the list of public concerns, such as the cost of living and housing.

Consequently, funding for the environment remains insufficient.

Soil, which serves as our ecological life support system for food production, is teeming with diverse species, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, nematodes, mites, worms, and insects—two-thirds of all species on the planet—that work together to maintain its resilience and provide essential services.

However, many of these species, including insects, are experiencing significant declines.

Current farming practices, aimed at maximizing food production, are damaging soil and its constituent species, along with current water policies and land and forest clearance.

To ensure the health and sustainability of our soils, we must reform intensive farming practices and, if necessary, establish a legal framework to do so.

Soil health is maintained by the addition of organic matter, which breaks down to provide nutrients for plants. However, in many modern farming systems, fertilizers are used instead to maintain and increase crop yields.

This practice depletes the living soil, making it more susceptible to erosion by increasingly severe storms.

Those in our governance systems have yet to fully consider the possibility that we are already experiencing environmental demise, of which rising temperature is just one aspect.

However, this possibility is on the minds of many scientists who are observing the current rise in epidemics of disease in human and other species, the ongoing failure of laws preventing loss of vegetation, and the mismanagement and pollution of water resources.

Where is the government education of the public on the essential causes of the biodiversity demise? The total number of people, the “population” of a nation, is the leading factor in the demise of its biodiversity.

Yet, Australia still doesn't have a population policy.

Currently, a biodiverse forest in Manyana, NSW, has received national approval to be felled for the construction of 153 houses under an Environmental Act that is 25 years old, completely disregarding the current biodiversity crisis and facilitating it through state and government ignorance.

This month, Environmental Justice Australia, a prestigious organization, reacted to government permission for the extension of three NSW coal mines with the following words:

"This is a betrayal of our environment. A betrayal of our children. A betrayal of all that we hold dear."

When combined with the increase in gas production, these actions