Audubon Calls on World Leaders to Take Rapid Motion to Fight Local weather and Biodiversity Disaster

WASHINGTON (November 7, 2022) — Because the world gathers in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt for the most recent Convention of the Events of the UNFCCC (COP27), the Nationwide Audubon Society — the main chook conservation group of the Americas — urges world leaders to take motion towards the local weather disaster. Annually, the necessity for collaborative international motion not solely turns into extra obvious, however extra dire.

“At this 12 months’s COP, world leaders should work collectively to implement a simply power transition to guard each wildlife and folks,” mentioned Elizabeth Grey, CEO of the Nationwide Audubon Society. “We have to take heed to what birds inform us. We’ve misplaced three billion birds within the final 50 years. Birds are sentinels for wholesome local weather – if birds are in hassle, persons are too.” 

In 2019, analysis from Audubon revealed that in North America alone, two-thirds of chook species are liable to extinction. That very same research additionally confirmed that if we will stabilize carbon emissions and restrict warming to 1.5°C, over 75% of these birds shall be much less weak and 150 chook species will be saved from extinction. But a new report from the United Nations signifies we’re on monitor for a 2.5°C improve by the tip of the century, which might put birds, wildlife, and folks at nice threat.

Defending the pure world for birds additionally safeguards the world for future generations. As Audubon scientists present in a 2021 research, vital chook habitats typically overlap with key ecosystems for pure carbon storage. Forests, wetlands, and peatlands are central to each local weather mitigation and adaptation. If these precedence landscapes are strategically restored and maintained, they won’t solely function protected havens for myriad chook species, however can double their capacities as pure carbon sinks. That can be why any renewable power infrastructure should be sited in ways in which mitigate and decrease unfavorable impacts for birds and different wildlife.

Based in 1905, the Nationwide Audubon Society is a nonprofit conservation group — with a wingspan of over 500 nationwide chapters and 1.6 million members — that protects birds and their ecosystems utilizing science, advocacy, training, and on-the-ground conservation. From shutting down the plumage commerce to banning the pesticides that induced the “Silent Spring,” to mobilizing to move the Endangered Species Act, the Clear Air Act, and the Clear Water Act, Audubon has been on the forefront in defending the locations birds and folks want for over a century.

Audubon’s work all through the Americas aligns intently with the overarching slogan of COP27, “Collectively In the direction of Implementation.” This fall, Audubon launched the Hen Migration Explorer, a first-of-its-kind digital platform that reveals the most recent migration information for greater than 450 species throughout the Western Hemisphere.

This 12 months’s COP has launched one other significant message: #JustAndAmbitious. In each its nationwide and worldwide work, Audubon acknowledges that the local weather disaster is already affecting probably the most marginalized amongst us, and any international effort and transition to renewable power should search to deal with systematic injustices.

“We should use this COP and the 12 months forward to implement collective motion that reduces local weather impacts and safeguards the outstanding range of all life on earth,” mentioned Grey.  

This press launch will be discovered at: https://www.audubon.org/information/audubon-calls-world-leaders-take-immediate-action-combat-climate-and

About Audubon
The Nationwide Audubon Society protects birds and the locations they want, as we speak and tomorrow. Audubon works all through the Americas utilizing science, advocacy, training, and on-the-ground conservation. State packages, nature facilities, chapters, and companions give Audubon an unparalleled wingspan that reaches hundreds of thousands of individuals every year to tell, encourage, and unite various communities in conservation motion. A nonprofit conservation group since 1905, Audubon believes in a world during which individuals and wildlife thrive. Be taught extra at www.audubon.org and on Fb, Twitter and Instagram @audubonsociety.

Media contact: Robyn Shepherd, robyn.shepherd@audubon.org