Cities should respond to the biodiversity extinction crisis

Following the release of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) 1 , awareness of the biodiversity extinction crisis has heightened, catalysing calls for cities and nations to respond. Mass global protests, including youth climate strikes and Extinction Rebellion, and crises such as the Australian bushfires are increasingly engaging local and sub-national governments with these issues. In responses to date, more than 1700 jurisdictions from around the world have declared a climate emergency, many linking their actions on climate change to biodiversity.