To Bee or not to Bee : Harnessing Synergies Between Pollinator Conservation and the Right to Food

Abstract

It is predicted that over the next 30 years, the world population will increase by 25 per cent, and the global food demand will more than double. Food production is intertwined with, and dependent on, biodiversity and the ecosystem services that it provides. Yet, Earth’s biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate. Ironically, non-sustainable agriculture is the largest single factor driving the alarming decline. Achieving and sustaining food security thus appears to be at odds with conserving biodiversity.

Aligning biodiversity conservation efforts with food security goals is therefore essential. This is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity and meeting it will likely require multipronged strategies across several spheres. This thesis focuses on the potential role of international law in overcoming the apparent incompatibility of biodiversity conservation with food security.

The realisation of many human rights is dependent on biodiversity and ecosystem services. This is especially true in the context of children’s and future generations’ rights. The link between the right to food and animal-mediated pollination is particularly evident; 75 per cent of the world’s most important food crops are reliant on pollinators. Pollination, a keystone ecosystem service, is also of indispensable value to global biodiversity; it is a necessary step for the reproduction of 90 per cent of our planet’s plants. Legal means of safeguarding animal-mediated pollination can therefore be considered a key aspect of both achieving food security and conserving biodiversity. As the decline in pollinators is a global concern, legal measures at the global level are appropriate.

Both international environmental law and international human rights law, when examined separately, appear to lack teeth. However, considering them as interrelated and complementary to one another can serve to amplify the positive impact of both areas of law. In this thesis, pollinator conservation under international environmental law and the right to food under international human rights law are first examined separately. After these comprehensive analyses, the two branches of international law are brought together, and the key aspects of the complex relationship between pollinator conservation and the right to food are analysed. The analysis indicates that minimising trade-offs and maximising synergies between the two areas of international law can facilitate a win-win situation by enhancing both biodiversity conservation and food security. It is illustrated that through harnessing these synergies, international law can potentially be a powerful tool for safeguarding pollinators and the vital pollination services that they provide. This approach can contribute to the reconciliation of biodiversity conservation with food security.