New Delhi, April 21 -- We live in times of a polycrisis. All around us, newspaper headlines talk of changes in global geopolitical configurations, while global stock markets and investors brace themselves for a rocky ride. Much less discussed are the other environmental threats looming on the horizon. We hear about climate change, though these discussions are certainly insufficient relative to the scale of the problem that confronts us. But it is surprising-even shocking-to see how little we speak of the global biodiversity collapse that is ongoing around us.

The world is in the midst of the Sixth Great Extinction. A landmark 2024 assessment from the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), written by 150 e...