The 2024 WWF’s Living Planet Report warns that the world is dangerously close to irreversible global tipping points such as the melting of polar ice sheets and decline of the Amazon rainforest. Passing these tipping points, the report warns, would “pose grave threats to humanity and most species, and would damage Earth’s life-support systems and destabilise societies everywhere”.
The report calls for urgent action on the food, finance and energy systems. “What happens in the next five years will determine the future of life on Earth,” warns WWF ahead of the vital COP16 and COP29 summits.
Latin American and Caribbean species have faced steepest decline with average population sizes falling by 95% since 1970. Monitored global wildlife populations have seen a catastrophic average decline in size of 73% in 50 years (1970-2020), the latest edition of the Living Planet Index has found. The less severe declines in Europe and North America are due to countries there, including the UK, having destroyed much of their biodiversity before the 1970 benchmark. The Living Planet Index is compiled by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) as part of the Living Planet Report and includes almost 35,000 population trends of 5,495 species of vertebrates from 1970-2020. The report and index are published every two years, and this 15th edition is the most extensive yet.
“It is no exaggeration to say that what happens in the next five years will determine the future of life on Earth,” the report warns, in a wake-up call to global leaders ahead of the vital COP16 and COP29 summits on biodiversity and climate in Colombia and Azerbaijan this Autumn.
Declines in wildlife populations often act as an early warning indicator of increasing extinction risk and the potential loss of healthy ecosystems. When ecosystems are damaged, they can become more vulnerable to tipping points – being pushed beyond a critical threshold resulting in substantial and potentially irreversible change. The report warns that global tipping points such as the dieback of the Amazon rainforest, or the mass die-off of coral reefs, could create shockwaves far and wide, impacting food security and livelihoods on a global scale.
The Amazon – home to 10% of all the wildlife species on the planet – has been ravaged by extreme drought and catastrophic wildfires in recent months. Last year, extreme heat and drought resulted in the mass die-offs of rare pink river dolphins and other species. The span and intensity of the drought has sparked fears that the world’s largest tropical rainforest is perilously close to reaching its tipping point – experts predict that if 20-25% of the Amazon is lost, it could go into irretrievable decline. Yet even before this year’s wildfires, up to 17% of the Amazon rainforest was estimated to have already been destroyed. The world’s richest and most-varied forest appears to be losing its resilience to change – the tipping point warnings are flashing red. Especially worrying, considering recent finds by scientists about the sudden collapse of carbon sinks, not factored into climate models, could rapidly accelerate global heating.
Reviewing global progress towards the critical 2030 nature and climate goals, the report offers ways forward on the major drivers of the destruction of nature and climate change – the food, finance and energy sectors. The report calls for urgent action from world leaders to transform these systems and help them become a force for good instead of fuelling the destruction of nature ahead of the vital COP16 biodiversity summit and COP29 climate summit.
According to the WWF, the urgency of the situation demands a reimagining of:
- Food production: The dysfunction in our food system means production uses 40% of the Earth’s habitable land and is the leading cause of habitat loss as biodiverse forests and grasslands are converted to farmland. Coordinated action is needed to scale up nature-friendly production of enough nutritious food for everyone and reducing food loss and waste.
- Finance: Finance needs to be redirected away from environmentally harmful activities and toward restoration. £150 billion of finance currently flows to nature-based solutions, while around £5 trillion flows to activities damaging to nature.
- Transitioning to clean energy: We must rapidly transition away from fossil fuels to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 and keep 1.5ºC within reach.
Although 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), the report also warns that national commitments and action on the ground currently fall far short of what’s required to meet 2030 targets and avoid dangerous tipping points that will have devastating impacts on people and nature all around the world.
Ahead of the COP16 biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia, and COP29 on climate in Baku, Azerbaijan, WWF-UK is urging the UK government to introduce a Living Planet Act and announce an ambitious plan to protect and restore nature in the UK and around the world.
Tanya Steele, chief executive at WWF-UK, said: “The Living Planet Report serves as a health check for the planet, with wildlife population sizes a key indicator for the state of the wider natural world. A staggering 73% decline in just 50 years is truly shocking and must be a wake-up call for our leaders ahead of the crucial COP16 and COP29 summits. More worrying still is the prospect of reaching global tipping points, risking not just the survival of precious animal species, but the basis for human society as well. We rely on nature for so much – the food we eat, the air we breathe, our mental health and well-being. If we pass these tipping points, we’ll be putting our societies, our economies, and the future of our children at risk.
“It’s not too late to change course – this could be a turning point instead of a tipping point. As a G7 nation, the UK must take bold action to transform our finance, energy and food systems to protect our world. We are calling for a Living Planet Act to ensure the UK government leads the way in tackling this global crisis and works tirelessly to meet the crucial 2030 global targets.”
Mauricio Voivodic, executive director at WWF-Brazil said: “If we keep going as we are, it is a question of when we pass the Amazon tipping point, not if. The areas on the edges of the rainforest are already emitting more carbon than they are absorbing, and the dry conditions – that are being driven in part by deforestation – are now leading to fires breaking out in remote areas of the forest. The collapse of the rainforest would have huge effects on the region, and also the world as vast amounts of carbon are released and its role in regulating the world’s climate is lost. We must urgently stop deforestation and accelerate large-scale restoration of the Amazon and neighbouring Cerrado and Pantanal.
“Since restoration also captures carbon from the atmosphere, it both benefits biodiversity loss and helps tackle the climate crisis. If we don’t succeed, the consequences for the Amazon, and the world, could be catastrophic.”
Matthew Gould, CEO of ZSL, said: “The message from ZSL’s Living Planet Index is clear – nature is under threat, endangering the ecosystems that all life relies on. We are dangerously close to tipping points for nature loss and climate change. But we know nature can recover, given the opportunity, and that we still have the chance to act. The world’s governments coming together at the Colombia Biodiversity COP in a few weeks can do so.”