Three quarters of the environment on land has changed. It is estimated that eight million species of plants and animals live on the planet today. A million of them are threatened with extinction.

Land changes are today the biggest threat to biodiversity both in Norway and internationally, followed by climate change. Deforestation, drainage, overgrowth, cultivation, construction and damming are some examples of how humans change the habitats of species. In addition, there is the direct exploitation of natural resources, such as hunting and fishing, gathering plants for food and medicine and cutting down trees for firewood and housing construction.

At the same time, climate change threatens vulnerable species and ecosystems. The impact of climate change is greater and more extensive than previously thought, according to reports from both the UN Climate Panel and the Nature Panel.

Biodiversity also affects the climate. The destruction of ecosystems is having a clear negative effect on climate change. The nature crisis and the climate crisis are closely linked - and they may require conflicting measures. Destructive interventions in nature can be considered necessary to reduce the climate crisis, as land-intensive development of renewable energy is an example of.

The fact that the UN has a Climate Panel and a Nature Panel may perhaps contribute to the notion that the crises are disconnected from each other, because such heavy knowledge providers act as two independent entities. But: Nature and climate are mutually dependent on one another. The climate crisis and the nature crisis must be solved together and at the same time.

The good news is that the solutions to the crises can in some cases overlap. Preservation of bogs, for example, is both an important climate and nature conservation measure: bogs store carbon, have a rich diversity of species and reduce drought.

Comprehensive societal changes are needed to save the environment we live in from the crises, both the Nature Panel and the Climate Panel conclude.

When society has to make decisions that will involve invasion of nature, it is important that there is knowledge about which values are at stake. NTNU, in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), has established the Gjærevoll Centre, to increase and disseminate this knowledge.