A million species face extinction, landmark report warns
A sweeping UN assessment found nature declining at an unprecedented rate, threatening the foundations of human life.
Around a million animal and plant species face extinction, many within decades, according to a landmark United Nations assessment released this May, which found that nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history, threatening the very foundations of human wellbeing.
The report, the most comprehensive assessment of the state of nature ever undertaken, drew on thousands of studies and the work of hundreds of experts. It painted a grim picture of a living world under siege, with ecosystems degraded, wildlife populations collapsing and biodiversity eroding at an accelerating pace.
The drivers, the report found, were clear: changes in land and sea use, such as the conversion of forests and wetlands to agriculture; direct exploitation of species through hunting and fishing; climate change; pollution; and invasive species. Human activity, in short, was reshaping and diminishing the natural world on a massive scale.
The consequences, the authors stressed, were not merely aesthetic or ethical but existential, as human societies depend on nature for food, clean water, medicine, pollination, climate regulation and countless other services. The loss of biodiversity, they warned, undermined the systems that sustain life.
The report framed the biodiversity crisis as a threat on a par with climate change, and called for transformative changes in how humanity produces food, uses land and manages nature. It became a touchstone for efforts to halt the decline, and a sobering reminder that the fate of the natural world and of humanity are inextricably linked.