Conservation Prof shares thoughts on priorities for a planet under pressure

Georgina Mace FRS is amongst those taking part in a major event in central London this week looking at global sustainability. Simon Levey interviewed her ahead of the conference - News

By Simon Levey
Thursday 29 March 2012

A Professor at Imperial College London is amongst those taking part in a major event in central London this week looking at global sustainability. Georgina Mace FRS, Professor of Conservation Science in the Department of Life Sciences, will address scientists and policy makers at the Planet Under Pressure conference, as they decide what are their key priorities at next year's UN international climate summit, the Rio+20 in Rio de Janiero.

Professor Mace's research concerns the consequences of biodiversity loss and ecosystem change. She contributed to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the UK National Ecosystem Assessment, and is now Associate Director of the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation Programme (ESPA). She is President of the British Ecological Society and Deputy Chair of the Scientific Committee of DIVERSITAS.

Simon Levey caught up with Professor Mace ahead of the conference.

What do you think the planet will look like in one hundred years?

Exactly how the Earth will look in a hundred years depends on what decisions we make about how to manage landscapes and the oceans. We do know, though, that the earth will be much altered. We will have been through a period of maximum population size with all the implications that has for land use and the loss of natural ecosystems and wild species, and because climate change will continue to have a big impact on some ecosystems and areas of the world. This will have caused major consequences for polar areas, and many low-lying coastal areas could be flooded due to sea level rise.

How and where are you concerned environmental change will have the biggest effect, and who will it affect the most?

I fear that the poorest people will be most affected. These are the people who have fewest options when environments decline. They may not have the resources to move out of areas that are failing to provide them with water, food, shelter and security. They have fewer options for their livelihoods, and many of the poorest people now live in countries where population growth and environmental degradation are proceeding most quickly. In terms of ecosystems, polar and mountainous regions, and some temperate coastal areas seem likely to be most badly affected. In tropical areas there are big risks too because these are especially vulnerable ecosystems and in many areas there are huge areas to convert intact ecosystems for food and energy production.

Professor Georgina Mace FRS

Your academic expertise is in the richness of the planet's biodiversity, which many say is under threat. Are there measures that you think we should be taking in order to preserve it?

Biodiversity is critical for the future fabric of life on earth and there is much evidence that we need to preserve it. Apart from its intrinsic biological value, biodiversity underpins ecosystems and the benefits that flow to people in terms of food, clean water, energy and protection from natural hazards. In addition, biodiversity is the raw material for evolutionary adaptation and for the genetic library of life. The evidence also shows that biodiversity can be preserved through a portfolio of actions like creating and preserving protected areas, acting to save specific species of plants and animal, managing production landscapes like agricultural land in a sustainable and efficient way, and effective planning for exploitation of the land and the sea.

There have been many dramatic research findings in the news in recent years that have suggested that the planet faces a bleak future. What effect do you think these have on people’s behaviour? Is there a danger of people switching off from these issues?

There is a serious problem that short term concerns - about economic growth, poverty reduction and employment - will eclipse the need for actions to be taken now that secure prosperity and equity for the future. This is a difficult communication task, but there is no doubt that over decades, as opposed to years, the success of actions taken today need to be measured in terms other than monetary growth.

At this week’s conference, you are talking about engineering environmental solutions to climate change. What do you think will make the biggest difference in this area?

Landscape engineering has effectively helped us solve the major problems of the past. Over one third of the planet's land surface is currently used for agriculture, and agricultural innovations have allowed us to adequately feed the rapidly growing human population over the past 50 years. Now, we have other problems from growth and development and have less land available since we need to manage it for more than food production. This is posing big challenges that will need new kinds of innovative solution.

What commitments would you like to see coming out of the Rio+20 climate summit next June?

There are three things that would make a big difference to the future of the planet. Firstly, we need to see some joined-up planning for the environment at all scales from local to global. This means that separate short-term plans for agriculture, water, energy, biodiversity and infrastructure, which currently sit in differen t ministries, need to be moved to integrated long-term plans for a sustainable future. Secondly, we need measures of success to be based on overall benefits to societies, and not only on measures of production and consu mption (otherwise known as Gross Domestic Product, or GDP) that is correlated with the amount of environmental degradation it causes. Thirdly we need better governance and decision-making for the environment. These are large but interconnected challenges that are widely agreed to be necessary. The science is clear, it is simply a case of finding ways for politicians to act.