Why your morning coffee could threaten species with extinction
Your morning coffee and other imported treats could be driving species to extinction, a new report has warned.
The report found that consumption of food, beverage and agriculture products in rich countries is the biggest driver of extinction risk worldwide, constituting 39% of the global extinction-risk footprint.
Consumers in rich countries are inadvertently driving the extinction of species in countries far away, the report found.
Around one million species already face extinction, many within decades, according to the recent Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessment report.
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The research focused on 5,000 species in 188 countries, and found that consumption in Europe, North America, and East Asia (such as Japan and South Korea) drives species extinction risk in other countries.
Amanda Irwin, at the University of Sydney's Integrated Sustainability Analysis research group, said: "The complexity of economic interactions in our globalised world means that the purchase of a coffee in Sydney may contribute to biodiversity loss in Honduras.
“The choices we make every day have an impact on the natural world, even if we don't see this impact."
"Everything that we consume has been derived from the natural world, with raw materials transformed into finished products through a myriad of supply chain transactions. These transactions often have a direct impact on species."
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Species which are being affected include the Nombre de Dios streamside frog in Honduras and the Malagasy giant jumping rat in Madagascar.
The researchers say that the biodiversity crisis is similar to the climate crisis, but people are less aware of it.
PhD candidate Irwin said: "These crises are occurring in parallel. Our findings can provide valuable insights into the role that global consumption plays as one of the drivers of this loss."
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Co-author Dr Juha Siikamäki, chief economist at the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said: "This insight into how prevalently consumption patterns influence biodiversity loss across the globe is critical to inform ongoing international negotiations for nature, including the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which aims to finalise the post-2020 global biodiversity framework later this year.
"The finding from this study that about 30% of the global extinction-risk footprint is embedded in international trade underlines the need to consider the responsibilities of different countries and all actors, including financing of conservation, not only in the context of their national boundaries but extending to their impacts internationally."
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