IUCN - The World Conversation Union

“If it hadn’t lived, died and disappeared under the earth for millions of years, there would be no oil today,” says Sue Mainka, Senior Programme Coordinator at the IUCN.

Conserving biodiversity, being ecologically friendly, these words still evoke sacrifice, altruism and compromise for most people today. And yet as Mainka points out, they could just as easily evoke selfishness: “We should care about biodiversity because every interaction we have with it creates a reaction that ultimately affects us.”

Selfishness - most of us are all too good at that. So why are we so slow to do the right thing?

“We’re always putting things off,” answers Jean Christophe Vie, Deputy Head of the Species Programme at IUCN. “There’s the next election to worry about, there are special interests to mind. It’s obvious how the world works: powerful lobbies and interest groups are far more concerned with profits than anything else. And the crunch always seems too far away to worry about.”

That crunch is drawing nearer, however, and we can feel it. Something about the recent food crisis, the oil price boom and the slew of devastating hurricanes, and other natural disasters is making everyone take environmental issues more seriously.

“The private sector, civil society, the academic sector, grassroots organisations and indigenous groups: we’re all part of the solution,” says Enrique Lahmann, the World Conservation Congress Manager for IUCN. “But governments have a particularly important role to play because people have entrusted them with the management of their countries. It will be only through accords and international agreements that we will manage to create a better world.”

Sensible words few would refute, but as Lahmann points out, “These accords must be more than words on paper; they must translate into action.”

• Choose facts.