WWF has released its 2024 Living Planet Report: A System in Peril (October 2024). This flagship publication, released every two years, is a comprehensive study of trends in global biodiversity and the health of the planet. The report is based on data from the Living Planet Index provided by the Zoological Society of London.
Human Level’s Take
- The next five years are critical for determining the future of life on Earth-- amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles…and our lives as human beings.
- Over the past 50 years (between 1970 and 2020), we have lost 73% of the wildlife population.
- A decline in wildlife populations serves as an early warning system for ecosystem health and extinction risk. When species populations decline below critical levels, they no longer play roles in seed dispersal, pollination, grazing, and nutrient cycling. This in turn diminishes ecosystem resilience and threatens vital benefits for humans. It turns out we rely on wildlife for much more than we think.
- Why is this happening? Our current food system is the primary culprit, because it leads to habitat degradation and loss. Overexploitation is the second. Other threats combine with these such as invasive species and disease, climate change and pollution.
- The report provides a stark warning: the Earth is approaching dangerous tipping points and these are posing grave threats to humanity. Bold leadership and huge collective effort from business, governments and society will be required – with a particular emphasis on the transformation of systems: the food system, the energy system and the finance system – as well as conservation.
"A 73% decline in wildlife population sizes over the past 50 years is shocking and must be a wake-up call. We need to take urgent action to protect and restore nature both in the UK and around the world.”
Tanya Steele - Chief Executive, WWF-UK
For Further Reading
- The state of nature: Nature is being lost, with monitored wildlife populations shrinking by 73% over the past 50 years (1970–2020). This has significant implications for biodiversity and human life. The average 73% wildlife populations decline is based on 35,000 population trends and 5,495 species of amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles. Freshwater species experienced the sharpest declines (85%), followed by terrestrial (69%) and marine populations (56%). Latin America and the Caribbean saw a 95% decline, followed by Africa (76%), Asia and the Pacific (60%), Europe and Central Asia (35%), and North America (39%).
- The drivers: Habitat degradation and loss, primarily driven by our food system, is the most reported threat in each region, followed by overexploitation, invasive species and disease. Other threats include climate change (most cited in Latin America) and pollution (particularly notable in North America and Asia-Pacific).
- Why it matters: The Living Planet Index (LPI) serves as an early warning system for extinction risk and ecosystem health. When species populations decline below critical levels, their roles in processes such as seed dispersal, pollination, grazing, and nutrient cycling are compromised, diminishing ecosystem resilience and threatening vital benefits for humans, including food security, clean water, carbon storage, and contributions to cultural and spiritual well-being.
- Tipping points: The report warns that “dangerous tipping points are approaching”, defining a tipping point as the moment when cumulative impacts reach a threshold, the change becomes self-perpetuating, resulting in substantial, often abrupt and potentially irreversible change. Potential tipping points include coral reef die-offs (impacting fisheries and coastal populations protection), disruptions in the Amazon rainforest (affecting weather patterns), shifts in ocean circulation shifts (altering weather patterns), and melting ice sheets in the cryosphere (raising sea levels and releasing greenhouse gases).
- Falling short: Despite the adoption of global goals (e.g. Convention on Biological Diversity, Paris agreement, SDGs), the report indicates that we are falling short of meeting them, with current national commitments inadequate to meet 2030 targets for halting biodiversity loss, limiting temperature rise to 1.5ºC, and eradicating poverty.
- Systems transformation needed: The report supports a coordinated approach that integrates climate, biodiversity, and development goals to minimize conflicts and simultaneously enhance nature conservation, climate change mitigation, and human well-being. The report finds that the next five years are critical for determining the future of life on Earth. All stakeholders, governments, companies, organisations, and individuals must act and hold each other accountable. To maintain a living planet where people and nature thrive, we need action that meets the scale of the challenge through the transformation of systems. some text
- Transformation of conservation: While some wildlife populations have stabilised due to conservation efforts, isolated successes are not enough. Effective conservation must respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, enhance protected areas, and develop other nature-based solutions.
- Transformation of the food system: The global food system must be transformed, as it is currently unsustainable and drives biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and climate change. The report calls for coordinated action to scale nature-positive production for everyone, reduced food waste, healthy diets, and ensure redirection of finance as well as foster good governance.
- Transformation of the energy system: A rapid transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy is needed to cut greenhouse emissions in half by 2030 and keep the temperature rise within 1.5ºC. This should be achieved through a faster (renewable energy needs to triple over the next five years), greener (energy transition must be consistent with the protection and restoration of nature), and fairer (just transition is essential to ensure access to modern and safe sources of energy) transformations.
- Transformation of the finance system: Redirecting finance from harmful activities to sustainable models is crucial for a habitable planet. The report calls for development of green finance as it has extremely powerful lever for changing how the economy operates and who it benefits. While 55% of global GDP relies on nature, over $7 trillion annually is spent on harmful subsidies, compared to just $200 billion on nature-based solutions. Redirecting 7.7% of these negative flows could close the funding gap, helping meet climate, biodiversity, and development goals.
