Coincidentally, I received a petition to the NSW Parliament from Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, pointing out that we are facing an extinction crisis and calling on the government to end logging in our public native forests, restore protections for native vegetation on private land and transition to a net zero emissions economy by 2040.

The use of the word "extinction" should be a wake-up call for all of us - and a timely reminder that the use of the name Extinction Rebellion by the protest group isn't just catchy labelling, for as this open letter made clear, it is all too real. The letter also emphasised that the extinction crisis is due to anthropogenic (i.e. caused by human activity) global warming and climate change.

Let's look at the background and detail of the scientists' letter, to prove my point.

The more than 240 conservation scientists called on Scott Morrison to drop his opposition to stronger environment laws and seize a "once-in-a-decade opportunity" to fix a system that is failing to stem a worsening extinction crisis.

With the federal government due to this week announce a 10-yearly legislated review of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, the scientists' open letter to the PM urged him to increase spending and back laws to help protect the natural world from further destruction.

The letter says three native species have become extinct in the past decade and another 17 will following the next 20 years. More than 1800 Australian plants and animals are formally listed as threatened with extinction, but the scientists have said this is an underestimate.

"Since they were established in 1999, 7.7 million hectares of threatened species habitat have been destroyed. That's an area larger than Tasmania. Meanwhile, the number of extinctions continue to climb, while new threats emerge and spread unchecked."

Environmental law was an issue during this year's election, with Morrison pledging to cut "green tape" he falsely claimed cost jobs, while Labor promised a new environment act and a federal environment protection authority. "Green tape" and "red tape" are of course code use by the right wing to cover plans to eliminate regulations that protect workers and consumers, or in this case the environment.

Morrison is simply responding to the business groups who regularly call for the environmental approval process to be simplified to stop delays to major projects. Don't be fooled by his glib and oily words.

Lesley Hughes, a distinguished professor of biology at Macquarie University and a signatory to the letter, said environmental protections had been consistently wound back over the past decade, most often by conservative governments.

Morrison's pledge not to increase environmental laws came as a United Nations global assessment found biodiversity was declining at an unprecedented rate, with one million species across the globe at risk of extinction and human populations in jeopardy if the trajectory was not reversed.

The scientists' letter was organised by the Australian Conservation Foundation and is backed by the Places You Love Alliance, a collection of 57 organisations including BirdLife Australia, Humane Society International and WWF Australia. The letter calls for laws that "safeguard our intact ecosystems and protect the critical areas people and wildlife need to survive".

Suzanne Milthorpe, nature campaign manager with The Wilderness Society, urged the government to use the review to upgrade the EPBC Act from a piece of legislation that catalogued the loss of nature into one that helps prevent it.

Lest readers think the extinction of a few threatened species is nothing to worry about, I must point out we rely on some of them. The decline in bee numbers, which are needed for pollination not just of pretty flowers but also for the food we eat, is a telling example.

Everything is connected, and if "lesser" species go, the entire human race will surely follow them to extinction.