Reduce Pollution to Levels That Are Not Harmful to Biodiversity
Reduce pollution risks and the negative impact of pollution from all sources by 2030, to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, considering cumulative effects, including:
(a) by reducing excess nutrients lost to the environment by at least half, including through more efficient nutrient cycling and use;
(b) by reducing the overall risk from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half, including through integrated pest management, based on science, taking into account food security and livelihoods; and
(c) by preventing, reducing, and working towards eliminating plastic pollution.
Why is this target important?
Humans are smart. We have figured out so many ways to improve our lives. As living on the planet has become easier, our population has grown, nearly tenfold in the last 200 years. To keep up with this, we had to increase food production, so we introduced synthetic fertilizers.
We hacked the ecosystems. That’s smart.
The fertilizers are incredibly effective. But they also pollute Earth’s water, degrade soil, and disrupt ecosystems. Not quite as smart.
Their production also contributes to climate change. Not smart at all.
Then, to have all the crops to ourselves, we introduced pesticides to keep those hungry caterpillars away. Our harvests grew. That’s smart.
But pesticides also pollute the soil and kill bees, fish and birds. Very much not smart.
As brilliant as we think we are, we tend to take harmful shortcuts whenever we can. Some because of a lack of knowledge, some because of ignorance, and some knowingly, because of greed. Will we, some day, understand that we have to work with the planet’s ecosystems, not against them? There’s no winning over the planet. It will do what it does until the day the sun burns out.
To keep living, we need to figure out better methods, better equations. Let’s call them Elegant Equations.
Equations that are in harmony with nature. Now that would be really smart.
The list of threats to ecosystems is long. One of the biggest is our drunk reliance on plastic. Unlike organic matter, ordinary plastic is not degradable – it brings absolutely no benefits to the planet. Plastics fill our oceans, rivers and landfills, where they break down into microplastics that damage ecosystems. Again, not smart.
And what about PFAS, the forever chemicals that invades all life, us too? That’s just plain stupid.
The central question in all sustainability efforts is: when will we learn? We are 100% dependent on Earth’s ecosystems, yet we treat them with reckless disregard. Sure, there is a learning curve – much of the harm we have caused, we didn’t initially understand. Now we do. No more excuses. All pollution must go.
Pollinators – bees, butterflies, bats, birds, beetles – bring life to the planet.
Pollutinators take it away. It’s time for more elegant solutions. Equations that are smart enough to keep us alive – and wise enough to safeguard all life on Earth.