Saving Nature key to human wellbeing: UN biodiversity chief

The degradation of Nature threatens mankind just as much as climate change, Robert Watson, outgoing head of the UN science panel for biodiversity, has warned ahead of a stark assessment of the state of our planet.

The former head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Watson has a unique perspective on how global warming and biodiversity loss -- two of the most pressing problems humanity faces -- overlap and exacerbate each other.

He spoke to AFP ahead of the unveiling Monday of a UN assessment of Nature -- the first in 15 years -- written by 150 scientists and drawing from 15,000 published studies and government reports.

Is the destruction of Nature as much of a threat to humanity as climate change?

Degrading Nature affects food and water security, the regulation of climate, even social cohesion. It threatens human wellbeing at least as much as climate change, and the causes and solutions for both overlap.

The way we produce food and energy undermines the "services" we get