WWF is warning that the world is nearing dangerous, irrerversible tipping points driven by nature loss and climate change, with a catastrophic 73% decline in the average size of monitored wildlife populations in just 50 years (1970-2020).

The warning comes in WWF’s Living Planet Report (LPR) 2024 - the report warns that, as the Earth approaches dangerous tipping points posing grave threats to humanity, a huge collective effort will be required over the next five years to tackle the dual climate and nature crises.

The Living Planet Index (LPI), provided by ZSL (Zoological Society of London), includes almost 35,000 population trends of 5,495 species from 1970-2020. The strongest decline is in freshwater ecosystems (-85%), followed by terrestrial (-69%) and then marine (-56%).

Habitat loss and degradation, driven primarily by our food system, is the most reported threat to wildlife populations around the world, followed by overexploitation, invasive species and disease. Climate change is a particular additional threat for wildlife populations in Latin America and the Caribbean, which have recorded a staggering 95% average decline.

Declines in wildlife populations can act as an early warning indicator of increasing extinction risk and the potential loss of healthy ecosystems. When ecosystems are damaged they cease to provide humanity with the benefits we have come to depend on - clean air, water and healthy soils for food - and they can become more vulnerable to tipping points.

A tipping point is when an ecosystem is pushed beyond a critical threshold resulting in substantial and potentially irreversible change.

Global tipping points, such as the dieback of the Amazon rainforest and the mass die-off of coral reefs, would create shockwaves far beyond the immediate area impacting food security and livelihoods. The warning comes as fire outbreaks in the Amazon reached their highest level in 14 years in September and a fourth global mass coral bleaching event was confirmed earlier this year.

Six global tipping points are fast approaching

Early warning signs from monitoring and scientific evidence indicate that six global tipping points are fast approaching (Figure 2.2):

Image source: WWF LPR 2024

Biosphere the mass die-off of coral reefs would collapse fisheries and reduce coastal protection for hundreds of millions of people living on the coasts. The Amazon rainforest tipping point would release tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere and disrupt weather patterns around the globe.

Ocean circulation - the collapse of the subpolar gyre, a circular current south of Greenland, would change weather patterns in Europe and North America. The gyre is linked to the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), the main ocean current system in the Atlantic, which if shut down would create a rapid decline in air temperatures in Europe, drying in the tropics and sea level rise.

Cryosphere - in the frozen parts of the planet, the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets would unleash many metres of sea level rise, while large-scale thawing of permafrost would trigger vast emissions of carbon dioxide and methane.

Dr Kirsten Schuijt, Director General of WWF International, said:

“Nature is issuing a distress call. The linked crises of nature loss and climate change are pushing wildlife and ecosystems beyond their limits, with dangerous global tipping points threatening to damage Earth’s life-support systems and destabilize societies. The catastrophic consequences of losing some of our most precious ecosystems, like the Amazon rainforest and coral reefs, would be felt by people and nature around the world.”

The index does reveal some populations that have stabilized or increased due to effective conservation efforts - however, isolated successes are not enough.

Countries have already agreed on ambitious global goals to halt and reverse nature loss (the Global Biodiversity Framework), cap global temperature rise to 1.5ºC (the Paris Agreement), and eradicate poverty (the UN Sustainable Development Goals).

National commitments and action on the ground fall far short of what is required to meet targets for 2030 

However, according to the Living Planet Report national commitments and action on the ground fall far short of what is required to meet targets for 2030 and avoid dangerous tipping points.

The international biodiversity and climate summits taking place shortly – COP16 and COP29 – are an opportunity for countries to rise to the scale of the challenge.

WWF is calling for countries to produce and implement more ambitious national nature and climate plans (NBSAPs and NDCs) that include measures to reduce global overconsumption, halt and reverse both domestic and imported biodiversity loss and cut emissions.

WWF is urging governments to unlock greater public and private funding to allow action at scale and to better align their climate, nature and sustainable development policies and actions. Both governments and businesses should act to rapidly eliminate activities with negative impacts on biodiversity and climate, and redirect finance away from harmful practices and towards activities that will deliver on the global goals.

Dr Kirsten Schuijt continued:

“Although the situation is desperate, we are not yet past the point of no return. We have global agreements and solutions to set nature on the path to recovery by 2030, but so far there’s been little progress on delivery and a lack of urgency. The decisions made and action taken over the next five years will be crucial for the future of life on Earth. The power − and opportunity − are in our hands to change the trajectory. We can restore our living planet if we act now.”

Dr Andrew Terry, Director of Conservation and Policy at ZSL, commented:

“The Living Planet Index highlights the continued loss of wildlife populations globally, and this thinning of the tree of life is putting us at risk of breaking dangerous tipping points. We are not locked into this loss. We know what to do and we know that, given the chance, nature can rebound - what we need now is an increase in action and ambition. We have five years to reach international commitments to restore nature by 2030. World leaders will be coming together soon for COP16, and we need to see strong responses from them and an urgent upscaling of resources to reach those commitments and to put ourselves back on the path to recovery.”

Key findings in the report include:

Image source: WWF LPR 2024

Global tipping points would pose grave threats to humanity and most species, and would damage Earth’s life-support systems and destabilize societies everywhere. In the Amazon, as climate change and deforestation lead to reduced rainfall, scientists believe a tipping point could be reached where conditions become unsuitable for tropical forest. This would change regional and global weather patterns, impacting food production, and see the Amazon shift from being a carbon sink to a source of emissions.

Coral reefs are also under extreme threat from climate change, with a fourth global mass coral bleaching event confirmed this year. Each bleaching event weakens the coral, leaving it unable to cope with other pressures, like pollution and overfishing. The mass die-off of coral reefs would destroy fisheries and reduce storm protection for coastal communities, as reefs act as buffers from waves, storms and floods.

Food production is the leading cause of habitat loss, accounts for 70% of water use, and is responsible for over a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions.

Nature-based solutions harness the power of nature to boost natural ecosystems, biodiversity and human well-being to address major societal issues, including climate change. For example, regenerative farming and the restoration of forests, wetlands and mangroves can boost carbon storage, enhance water and air quality, improve food and water security, and help protect against erosion and flooding.

The LPR 2024 is the 15th edition of WWF's biennial flagship publication. WWF is an independent conservation organization, with over 30 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries.

Click here to download the report in full