Thread by @StephenWoroniec

Today is #Halfearthday2021, a plan to protect 50% of the earth, to stop #biodiversity loss & prevent #climate change. Wow, a plan to #restore the planet: that's hopeful!? Unfortunately, not. There is good science showing this is the wrong direction... 🧵 (1/5) #COP26 #COP15

https://twitter.com/StephenWoroniec/status/1451281624142856192

2/5. Every funder should know that if a Half Earth proposal lands on their desk, there will be social risks. Despite the cosy rhetoric, Fortress Conservation leads to #humanrights abuses. Protecting 50% of the globe could affect >1 billion ppl, per Schleicher et al., 2019

3/5. Ecologists, none the wiser, might consider this a price worth paying if species are protected from #extinction. It's a mistake made by Kim Stanley Robinson. The great myth is that people are bad for biodiversity, as shown by Ellis et al., 2021 👇
pnas.org/content/118/17…

4/5 #HalfEarth undermines the #rights of those who've been nurturing biodiversity for many generations, and places the blame and burden of change on those most at risk, not those ultimately responsible for the #biodiversity and #climatecrisis.
cup.org/2XAvx3v

5/5 That's why area-based conservation ideas like #halfearth form just a minor part of the biodiversity & climate solution, as recognised by the @ipbes Global Assessment. It's well worth a read, because it focuses on the #causes, not the #symptoms. #cop26

ipbes.net/sites/default/…