Biodiversity has received renewed attention from policymakers concerned with the ecological impacts of climate change and the potential for nature-based solutions to reduce greenhouse gases and mitigate their effects. As a policy domain, biodiversity conservation has physical and political characteristics quite different from those of climate change. This article describes several distinctive attributes of biodiversity conservation as a political challenge and considers the implications for efforts to blend climate and conservation goals. Drawing on the concept of problem structure, I identify five policy-relevant dimensions of biodiversity politics. Re-conservation entails grafting new biodiversity-related ideas onto much older conservation institutions. The value change inherent in biodiversity politics requires inspiring concern for almost 9 million species that are unfamiliar to the public. Rooted heterogeneity – the patchiness of life on earth – carries novel geopolitical consequences and requires different policy tools from those used to address climate change. The scientific uncertainty surrounding complex ecological relationships presents daunting governance challenges that have inspired innovations worthy of cross-national diffusion. The irreversibility of extinction carries implications for institutional designs and for the creation of resilient social constituencies. The practical implications include the need to move beyond the climate policy paradigm of top-down treaty implementation, instead enhancing concern and capacity on the part of local governments.
Paul F. Steinberg (Mon,) studied this question.