Frankfurt Declaration: Working together for biodiversity

Biodiversity - the diversity of life from genes and species to the diversity of habitats - provides us humans with vital ecosystem services. Nature provides food and raw materials, regulates the climate, material cycles and erosion and offers space for recreation and education. The total economic value of these "services" is estimated to be in the region of 170 to 190 trillion US dollars per year. The current economic model makes unpaid use of these services provided by nature - resulting in the overexploitation and destruction of natural resources and thus our most important basis of life.

"The climate crisis has been much better researched scientifically than the crisis of biodiversity loss. There is an urgent need to catch up here," says Prof Jörg Rocholl, President of the international business school ESMT Berlin. "How can we put a price on biodiversity loss, as we already do with CO2 emissions? So far, there has been no consensus on such an assessment to motivate companies to take stronger action. We need interdisciplinary cooperation between natural scientists and economists in order to develop the right and important conservation concepts and to attach key figures to the overexploitation of the environment."

A broad alliance of German scientific and non-governmental organisations has therefore set itself the goal of creating all the necessary conditions for nature-positive corporate action. In the "Frankfurt Declaration" published today, it calls for science, politics, business and the public to join forces and sees Germany in a pioneering role. As the fourth largest economy in the world, Germany has an enormous "biodiversity footprint": the global value chains of German companies have a significant impact on nature and often contribute to its destruction. In addition, there is hardly any other country with more scientific knowledge, comprehensive biodiversity data and ambitious initiatives for global nature conservation, according to the researchers in their statement.

Dr Christof Schenck, Managing Director of the Frankfurt Zoological Society and winner of the German Environmental Award 2022: "We urgently need a turnaround! After the sobering outcome of the recently concluded World Climate Summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh, this applies all the more to the World Summit on Nature in Montreal. What is needed is a binding, global agreement of historic proportions to protect nature. It must set the framework for stopping the loss of biodiversity, managing with and not against nature and restoring damaged nature!"

The Alliance expects mandatory biodiversity reporting from companies as a concrete outcome of the conference. Politicians must ensure that companies and financial institutions measure their biodiversity impacts and dependencies. In addition, they should regularly report on how negative impacts are reduced and positive effects along the value chains are enabled. The scientists also call for a level playing field for companies - a standardised, science-based sustainability regulation on biodiversity. According to the "Frankfurt Declaration", this should create incentives and safeguards and prevent "greenwashing". Further points of the alliance: deforestation-free supply chains and the inclusion of the topic of biodiversity in the German government's innovation agenda.

"All environmentally harmful subsidies must be phased out by 2030 at the latest! Existing financial incentives, taxes and subsidies must be reformed and reallocated in such a way that public and private financial flows are channelled towards environmentally friendly activities. This creates a level playing field for the economy and avoids market distortions. We can make these necessary reallocations based on science and with concrete recommendations," say the three Directors General of the Leibniz Nature Research Museums Prof. Dr Klement Tockner (Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung), Prof. Dr Johannes Vogel (Museum für Naturkunde Berlin) and Prof. Dr Bernhard Misof (Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change).

The researchers are also offering their expertise in other areas: "We will provide massive support for the development of suitable and standardised biodiversity metrics. Together, we are also driving forward the development of a global biodiversity dataset and making it publicly accessible. To this end, we are combining the data treasures of international biodiversity research, using existing instruments to record biodiversity in real time, developing them rapidly and striving for a "digital twin of the living world". A 'best-practice' platform for nature-positive action also sets the necessary benchmarks. However, it is clear that if we do not make a fundamental change towards a nature-positive economy now, then the Anthropocene - the age of man - will become the shortest epoch in the history of the earth! And we need to prevent this from happening, and we are working together to do so," says Tockner.

In addition to those named in the text, the first signatories of the "Frankfurt Declaration" include Prof. Dr Jan Pieter Krahnen (Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE), Prof. Dr Katrin Böhning-Gaese (Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre Frankfurt and 2021 Environmental Award winner), Prof. Dr Josef Settele (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research), Prof. Dr Volker Mosbrugger (BMBF Initiative for the Conservation of Biodiversity, Polytechnische Gesellschaft e.V.), Dr Georg Schwede (Campaign for Nature) and Dr Tobias Raffel (FUTURE Institute for Sustainable Transformation).