Using Terrestrial Ecosystems Sustainably and Halting Biodiversity Loss

Abstract

This chapter reflects on the importance of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 15 for the achievement of other SDGs and the 2030 Agenda for SDGs and considers policy pathways that will advance their implementation. It includes a case study that examines how the lack of progress on achieving SDG 15 targets is linked to possible emergence of future zoonoses. Resource extraction and rapid urban and infrastructure development are sources of air and soil pollution, causing adverse effects on ecosystems while heavily impacting human health. These trends are exacerbated by raising inequalities as the poorest fragments of societies are more dependent on nature and exposed to environmental changes. Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems are the bases on which sustainable development of societies depend. The loss and degradation of natural ecosystems, and thus habitat for wildlife species, directly influence probabilities of emerging diseases (SDG 15.1 recognizes the importance of maintaining the integrity of natural ecosystems and SDG 15.3 recognizes danger of ecosystem degradation).