PlanetArk 15 Oct 08;
BARCELONA, Spain - An influential global network of governments, scientists and conservationists called on Tuesday for deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and said financial turmoil must not sideline work to safeguard animals and plants.
"The clear message coming out of this meeting is that biodiversity underpins the well-being of human societies and their economies," said Julia Marton-Lefevre, head of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in a statement at the end of a 10-day IUCN congress in Barcelona.
The IUCN calls itself the world's oldest and largest environmental network. Almost 8,000 delegates attended the Barcelona talks.
"We're showing how saving nature must be an integral part of the solution for any world crisis," Marton-Lefevre said.
Delegates made a non-binding plea to governments to cut emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide by between 50 and 85 percent by 2050 and to limit global warming to less than 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times.
More than 190 governments are due to agree a new UN climate treaty by the end of 2009, meant to help avert rising sea levels, heatwaves, species extinctions, droughts and floods.
The IUCN called for guidelines and improved standards for biofuels projects. Biofuels help cut carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels but land cleared to grow biofuel crops can wreck habitats for animals and other plants.
"Participants underlined ... that the cost of biodiversity losses are not only greater than those of the current financial problems, but in many cases, they are irreparable," the IUCN statement said.
The IUCN also called for a ban on fishing of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna, a highly prized species threatened with extinction, and for the creation of a sanctuary for the fish around Spain's Balearic islands.
The Congress elected India's Ashok Khosla as president, to succeed South African Valli Moosa, and agreed a 2009-12 programme for conservation work. Pledges of cash during the congress totalled more than US$100 million.
