Can people have a positive impact on biodiversity? | Kina Murphy | TEDxABQ

It is estimated that by 2050 30% of the world biodiversity may be extinct. Sustainable development and reduced land conversion are currently promoted as the number one way to slow climate change and halt the ever increasing mass extinctions occurring across the globe. Extractive industries cause some of the most abrupt and extensive forms of land-use change. They not only impact biodiversity but destroy ecological processes and cause land degradation that has cascading effects on adjacent communities. It is clear that all people rely on extractive industries and that there is an imperative to discover ways to develop while also increasing biodiversity. Kina Murphy examines whether current net positive impact policies are actually working and explore how a paradigm shift requiring all businesses to show a net positive impact on biodiversity could reverse climate change trends and slow the loss of biodiversity. Having grown up in state and National Parks, Dr. Kina Murphy has always had a love for wilderness. After watching many of the places she grew up in transformed into steel and concrete, she quickly realized that the only way to truly protect biodiversity is by engaging those that impact it the most: large corporations. Today, Kina focuses her work on how to increase biodiversity in areas that have been heavily impacted by resource extraction. She has decades of experience working in more than 10 countries where she has focused on everything from biodiversity monitoring and market-based approaches to conservation to community-based conservation planning and policy. She assists companies and lenders in adopting and promoting practices that benefit biodiversity and ecosystem services and coordinates with governments to support the establishment of policies and regulations that create opportunities for better conservation outcomes. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at