Nature is our life-support system. From the fresh air we breathe to the clean water we drink, nature provides the essentials we all rely on for our survival and well-being. And it also holds the key to our prosperity, with millions of livelihoods and much of our economic activity also depending on the natural world. These immense benefits to humanity, estimated to be worth around US$125 trillion a year, are only possible if we maintain a rich diversity of wildlife.
We know that we are losing nature faster than it can restore itself. And without urgent action, significant harm to people and planet is inevitable: inadequate food and water for our growing global population, significant harm to our economies, and the mass extinction of an estimated one million species.
The world is no stranger to these issues, with governments already pledging action to tackle nature loss through the UN’s global agreement on nature, the Convention on Biological Diversity. But the convention’s targets for 2020, set almost a decade ago, will in all cases not be met.
Meanwhile, the warning signs continue to mount. Populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish have declined on average by 60 per cent in the past 40 years – and 75 per cent of land has been significantly altered by human activities.
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