A landmark new report is warning that nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating with 1,000,000 species threatened with extinction.

With 132 member Governments, the report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)  the global body that assesses the state of biodiversity and nature's contributions to people. says that the current global response is insufficient and that grave impacts on people around the world are now likely.

Launching the report, IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson said:

“The overwhelming evidence of the IPBES Global Assessment, from a wide range of different fields of knowledge, presents an ominous picture.”

“ The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”

Not too late for change and “opposition from vested interests” can be overcome for public good

However, he went on to explain that it is not too late to make a difference and that “opposition from vested interests” can be overcome for the public good.

“The Report also tells us that it is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global,” he continued. “Through ‘transformative change’, nature can still be conserved, restored and used sustainably – this is also key to meeting most other global goals. By transformative change, we mean a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values.”

“The member States of IPBES Plenary have now acknowledged that, by its very nature, transformative change can expect opposition from those with interests vested in the status quo, but also that such opposition can be overcome for the broader public good,” Watson said.

The IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is the most comprehensive ever completed.

Three years in development, at a total cost of more than US$2.4 million, the definitive new global synthesis of the state of nature, ecosystems and nature's contributions to people draws on nearly 15,000 references, including scientific papers and government information. The Report assesses changes over the past five decades, providing a comprehensive picture of the relationship between economic development pathways and their impacts on nature. It also offers a range of possible scenarios for the coming decades.

“Biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people are our common heritage and humanity’s most important life-supporting ‘safety net’. But our safety net is stretched almost to breaking point,” said Prof. Sandra Díaz (Argentina), who co-chaired the Assessment with Prof. Josef Settele (Germany) and Prof. Eduardo S. Brondízio (Brazil and USA).

“The diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems, as well as many fundamental contributions we derive from nature, are declining fast, although we still have the means to ensure a sustainable future for people and the planet.”

Around 1 million animal and plant species now threatened with extinction

The Report finds that around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history.

The average abundance of native species in most major land-based habitats has fallen by at least 20%, mostly since 1900. More than 40% of amphibian species, almost 33% of reef-forming corals and more than a third of all marine mammals are threatened.

The picture is less clear for insect species, but available evidence supports a tentative estimate of 10% being threatened. At least 680 vertebrate species have been driven to extinction since the 16th century and more than 9% of all domesticated breeds of mammals used for food and agriculture became extinct by 2016, with at least 1,000 more breeds still threatened.

“Ecosystems, species, wild populations, local varieties and breeds of domesticated plants and animals are shrinking, deteriorating or vanishing. The essential, interconnected web of life on Earth is getting smaller and increasingly frayed,” said Prof. Settele. “This loss is a direct result of human activity and constitutes a direct threat to human well-being in all regions of the world.”

The assessment has ranked the following five direct drivers of change in nature with the largest relative global impacts so far as follows in descending order:

• changes in land and sea use
• direct exploitation of organisms
• climate change
• pollution 
• invasive alien species

The Report notes that, since 1980, greenhouse gas emissions have doubled, raising average global temperatures by at least 0.7 degrees Celsius – with climate change already impacting nature from the level of ecosystems to that of genetics – impacts expected to increase over the coming decades, in some cases surpassing the impact of land and sea use change and other drivers.

Despite progress to conserve nature and implement policies, the Report also finds that global goals for conserving and sustainably using nature and achieving sustainability cannot be met by current trajectories, and goals for 2030 and beyond may only be achieved through transformative changes across economic, social, political and technological factors.

Key indirect drivers include increased population and per capita consumption;

Current negative trends in biodiversity and ecosystems will undermine progress towards 80% (35 out of 44) of the assessed targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, related to poverty, hunger, health, water, cities, climate, oceans and land.

Prof. Brondízio continued:

“Key indirect drivers include increased population and per capita consumption; technological innovation, which in some cases has lowered and in other cases increased the damage to nature; and, critically, issues of governance and accountability. A pattern that emerges is one of global interconnectivity and ‘telecoupling’ – with resource extraction and production often occurring in one part of the world to satisfy the needs of distant consumers in other regions.”

Nearly 75% of world's freshewater resources devoted to crop or livestock production

Other notable findings of the Report include:

• More than a third of the world’s land surface and nearly 75% of freshwater resources are now devoted to crop or livestock production.
• Plastic pollution has increased tenfold since 1980, 300-400 million tons of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge and other wastes from industrial facilities are dumped annually into the world’s waters, and fertilizers entering coastal ecosystems have produced more than 400 ocean ‘dead zones’
• Three-quarters of the land-based environment and about 66% of the marine environment have been significantly altered by human actions. On average these trends have been less severe or avoided in areas held or managed by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities.
• Land degradation has reduced the productivity of 23% of the global land surface, up to US$577 billion in annual global crops are at risk from pollinator loss and 100-300 million people are at increased risk of floods and hurricanes because of loss of coastal habitats and protection.
• In 2015, 33% of marine fish stocks were being harvested at unsustainable levels; 60% were maximally sustainably fished, with just 7% harvested at levels lower than what can be sustainably fished.
• Urban areas have more than doubled since 1992 totalling more than 245,000 km2 (591-595) - a combined area greater than that of the United Kingdom
• More than 85%: of wetlands present in 1700 had been lost by 2000 – loss of wetlands is currently three times faster, in percentage terms, than forest loss

Without transformative change, negative trends in nature will continue to 2050 and beyond in all of the Report finds.

The Report also presents a wide range of illustrative actions for sustainability and pathways for achieving them across and between sectors such as agriculture, forestry, marine systems, freshwater systems, urban areas, energy, finance and many others. It highlights the importance of, among others, adopting integrated management and cross-sectoral approaches that take into account the trade-offs of food and energy production, infrastructure, freshwater and coastal management, and biodiversity conservation.

The evolution of global financial and economic systems to build a global sustainable economy which steers away from the current limited paradigm of economic growth is identified as a key element of more sustainable future policies.

The report, which covers all land-based ecosystems (except Antarctica), inland water and the open oceans, projects what biodiversity could look like in decades ahead under six future scenarios:

Economic Optimism;

Regional Competition;

Global Sustainability;

Business as Usual;

Regional Sustainability

Reformed Markets

Structure of the Global Assessment

The Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Global Assessment will exploring plausible future scenarios for nature and people to 2050, focusing on the scenarios, pathways and options that lead to a sustainable future.

Showcasing opportunities and challenges for decision makers at all levels and in a range of contexts, the IPBES Global Assessment will provide an agreed, evidence-based knowledge base to inform policy making for the decade ahead and be a starting point for in-depth analyses of the role of actions and their global implications.

Click here to download Introducing IPBES 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services