With populations of many migrant wildlife species in deepening decline, Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (132 nations and EU) agree on new or greater coordinated conservation efforts

Campo Grande, Brazil — Confronted with stark new evidence that many migratory species are moving closer to extinction, governments at a major UN wildlife conservation meeting today agreed on expanded conservation efforts, including new or enhanced treaty protections for 40 species and populations of birds, aquatic wildlife, and terrestrial animals.

Meeting in Brazil, Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) adopted several measures to strengthen global or regional conservation efforts of such iconic species as the cheetah, striped hyena, snowy owl, giant otter, great hammerhead shark, and several shorebird species facing steep population declines (lists appended). 

Parties agreed to list the 40 additional species or populations of species on CMS Appendices I (species in danger of extinction) or II (species in need of coordinated international action), which now include over 1,200 unique species under the 47-year-old Convention. 

They also approved multi-species conservation plans in key regions such as the Amazon.

The week-long CMS COP15 opened with new findings that key indicators for many treaty-protected species continue to trend downward, reinforcing warnings that habitat loss, overexploitation, and infrastructure barriers are accelerating declines across species that traverse national borders.

The conference also highlighted a growing need to address threats such as deep-sea mining, climate change, plastic pollution, underwater noise, illegal wildlife killing, fisheries bycatch, and marine pollution.

CMS COP15 began with strong political and scientific warnings: migratory species are in accelerating decline and international cooperation is required to effectively respond.

• The interim State of the World’s Migratory Species report underlined that key biodiversity indicators are trending negatively, with rising extinction risk and population declines (detailed at www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1118733)
• Scientific and political leaders, including Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Santiago Peña of Paraguay, underlined threats such as habitat fragmentation, bycatch, illegal killing, and infrastructure barriers
• Parties emphasized ecological connectivity, international cooperation, expanded partnerships with CITES, IPBES, and other multilateral agreements
• There was a strong push to integrate Indigenous and local knowledge into scientific considerations, with a parallel debate on how to balance scientific rigor with multiple knowledge systems

Said CMS Executive Secretary Amy Fraenkel: “We came to Campo Grande knowing that the populations of half the species protected under this treaty are in decline. We leave with stronger protections and more ambitious plans but the species themselves are not waiting for our next meeting. Implementation has to begin tomorrow. Expanded protections for striped hyena, snowy owls, giant otters, great hammerhead sharks, and many more, demonstrate that nations can act when the science is clear. Our duty now is to close the distance between what we’ve agreed and what happens on the ground for these animals.”

Said João Paulo Capobianco, Chair of COP15 and Executive Secretary, Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, Brazil; “We protect species that may never remain within our borders. We invest in a natural heritage we do not own, but are all responsible for. In doing so, we give concrete meaning to global solidarity, recognizing that migratory species transcend nations, jurisdictions, and generations.”

With the conclusion of COP15, the Government of Brazil now holds the mantle of the CMS COP Presidency and will carry the momentum from this meeting into the next three years, not only in South America but also for all regions of the world, for the conservation of migratory species and their habitats.

* * * * *

COP15 outcomes at a glance

15 new Concerted Actions approved:

• Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Behavioral Diversity and Cultures
• Straw-colored Fruit Bat (Eidolon helvum)
• Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx)
• Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena)
• Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) of the Eastern Tropical Pacific
• Franciscana Dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei)
• Lahille Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus gephyreus)
• Antipodean Albatross (Diomedea antipodensis)
• Flesh-footed Shearwater (Ardenna carneipes)
• Peruvian or Humboldt Pelican (Pelecanus thagus)
• Magellanic plover (Pluvianellus socialis)
• Sand Tiger Shark (Carcharias taurus)
• Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus)
• Blue Shark (Prionace glauca)
• All Devil and Manta Ray species (Mobulidae)

Report on previous Concerted Actions: 

• Giraffe: The report of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation on the Concerted Action for giraffes highlighted that the combined number of the four giraffe species increased ~20% from ~113,000 to ~140,000 between 2020 and 2025. 

10 new or updated Species-focused Action Plans:

• Regional Action Plan for Jaguar Conservation 
• Single Species Action Plan for the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean Sub-Population of the Tope Shark 
• Multi-species Action Plan for Amazonian Migratory Catfish
• Single Species Action Plan for European Eel
• Conservation Management Plan for Arabian Sea Humpback Whales
• Multi-Species Action Plan for Bustards
• Steppe Eagle Global Action Plan
• Action Plan for Migratory Landbirds in the African-Eurasian Region
• Action Plans for Birds
• Conservation of African-Eurasian Vultures

New initiative on the illegal and unsustainable taking of migratory species (detailed here: Global initiative to address mounting pressures from illegal and unsustainable taking of migratory species announced at UN wildlife conference, www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1121422)

Groundbreaking new scientific studies and tools unveiled, including: 

• The Global Assessment of Migratory Freshwater Fishes (detailed here: Vital freshwater fish migrations are collapsing: UN report; www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1119433 

• An Online Atlas of the Americas Flyways (detailed here: New UN-backed atlas maps migratory lifelines of highly vulnerable bird species across the Americas; www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1121605)

9 new champions of migratory species recognized for their long-term and sustained commitments in supporting conservation initiatives, detailed here: www.cms.int/news/migratory-species-champion-award-honors-long-term-commitments-conservation-initiatives-cms 

COP15 decided that the next conference will take place in Germany. The Federal Government of Germany—depository of the Convention and host of the CMS Secretariat—had offered to host COP16 in Bonn in 2029. COP16 will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Convention, also known as the Bonn Convention, which was signed in Bonn in June 1979.

* * * * *

40 species, sub-species and populations of species added to / upgraded within CMS Appendices I and II

Terrestrial 

Added to Appendix I and II

• Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) – Zimbabwe’s cheetah population, estimated at 150 to 170 individuals. Other populations were already listed on Appendix I.
• Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena)

Avian 

Added to Appendix I and II:

• Gadfly petrels (genera Pterodroma and Pseudobulweria):
  • 16 added to Appendix II (15 species, plus two subspecies)
  • 9 added to Appendix I 

Added to Appendix II:

• Snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus)

• Flesh-footed shearwater (Ardenna carneipes)
• Iberá seedeater (Sporophila iberaensis) – added to Appendix II

Added to Appendix I:

• Hudsonian whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus hudsonicus)
• Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica)
• Lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)

Aquatic 

Added to Appendix I and II

• Giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis)

Added to Appendix II:

• Patagonian narrownose smoothhound (Mustelus schmitti)
• Spotted sorubim (Pseudoplatystoma corruscans)

Added to Appendix I (while maintaining their status under Appendix II):

• Pelagic thresher shark, bigeye thresher shark and common thresher shark (Alopias pelagicus, Alopias superciliosus, Alopias vulpinus)
• Scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini)
• Great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran)

About CMS Appendices 

Appendix I comprises migratory species in danger of extinction in the wild throughout all or a significant portion of their range. Parties that are Range States to a migratory species listed on Appendix I endeavour to strictly protect them by prohibiting the taking of such species (including the deliberate killing, capture or disturbance), with a very restricted scope for exceptions; conserving and, where appropriate, restoring their habitats; preventing, removing or mitigating obstacles to their migration; and controlling other factors that might endanger them.  

Appendix II migratory species require international agreement for their conservation and management. It also includes species whose conservation status would significantly benefit from the international cooperation that could be achieved by an international agreement. This can include setting common objectives and management measures for shared populations, preparing and implementing joint action plans, coordinating monitoring and research, sharing data and best practices, and working together to conserve and restore key habitats along the species’ migration routes. The aim is to ensure that protection and management efforts are aligned across borders so that conservation gains in one country are not lost in another.  

A species can be listed on both appendices when it is endangered and also requires coordinated international action across its migratory range.

* * * * *

At a glance: CMS and COP15   

With over 2,600 participants, COP15 adopted 39 resolutions spanning efforts to strengthen species conservation, habitats and ecological connectivity. 

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the governing body of CMS, which meets every 3 years to review progress, add new species under the Treaty, and strengthen actions to address conservation needs as well as continuing or emerging threats. Strong science underpins the COP’s agenda, ensuring that policy discussions reflect the best available evidence on threats, population trends and effective response measures.  

Venue: Bosque Expo, Campo Grande, Brazil (bosquedosipes.com/bosque-expo) , 23-29 March, 2026    

About CMS 

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)  is a legally binding international treaty under the United Nations. CMS is one of the most important global frameworks for wildlife conservation and plays a vital role in addressing the global biodiversity crisis.   

By fostering international collaboration, supporting research, and developing conservation agreements and actions among the Range States in which these species are found, CMS ensures the long-term survival of migratory species of wild animals and their habitats, and the vital benefits they provide.  

132 countries plus the European Union are Parties to CMS. In addition, several non-Party countries have signed one or more binding CMS Agreements to protect migratory species.   

Related news releases:

Share of migratory wild animal species with declining populations despite UN treaty protections worsens from 44% to 49% in two years; 24% face extinction, up 2%; https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1118733 

Amid new findings that more migratory species of animals are facing extinction nations gather in Brazil to agree on actions

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1120997

Coverage highlights

Decline in migratory fish populations prompts fight for protection
BBC, United Kingdom (157,231,841)

Epic river migrations of fish rapidly collapsing, UN report finds
The Guardian, United Kingdom (86,302,986)

Can nations save the shorebird that flies 30,000 km a year?
Agence France Presse via Yahoo! News, United States (41,919,979)

Decline of over 80 percent: Fewer and fewer migratory freshwater fish
Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany (11,052,874)

325 Long-neglected migratory freshwater fish species need protection now: Report
Mongabay, United States

Vital freshwater fish migrations are rapidly collapsing all over the world
The Independent, United Kingdom (30,231,792); also The Independent, US, 11,490,816)

Pollution, overfishing, dams… The life of freshwater migratory fish is anything but a smooth ride
Le Figaro, France (23,785,150)

Amazonian catfish, snow trout and Atlantic salmon: migratory freshwater species are among the most threatened on the planet
Le Monde, France (18,991,913)

Convention warns of decline in migratory freshwater fish and calls for coordinated action
EFE via Yahoo! Noticias, United States (2,705,919)

Two bird habitats in Raj in global Steppe Eagle plan
The Times of India, India (68,997,649)

Government expands protected areas in the Pantanal and incorporates 104,000 hectares into the conservation system.
O Globo, Brazil (20,170,680)

40 more migratory animals need protecting, warns UN group,

Green Prophet, United States

Coverage summary, click here

News release in full, click here

Prof. Kaveh Madani, architect of the ‘water bankruptcy’ framing of today’s acute global predicament, wins world’s highest water honor for his courageous and peerless ability to transform groundbreaking research into global policy, diplomacy and outreach under extreme personal risk and political complexity

Paris – March 18, 2026 — In a special ceremony at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris to mark World Water Day, Professor Kaveh Madani of Iran, Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), was named the 2026 Stockholm Water Prize recipient, to be officially presented by H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in August 2026, during World Water Week in Stockholm.

The Stockholm Water Prize is the ultimate global recognition for extraordinary achievements in water-related activities. Often described as the “Nobel Prize of Water,” it is the most prestigious water award given annually to an individual or organization for outstanding contributions to the sustainable use and protection of water resources. This year’s selection stands out not only for the scientific achievements of the laureate, but for the extraordinary journey behind them.

Professor Madani’s selection is a historic milestone for the global water community: at 44, he is the youngest laureate in the prize’s 35-year history, the first UN official, and the first former politician to receive the honor.

What makes this selection truly inspiring and unique is the resilience behind it. While many past laureates reached this pinnacle through steady institutional support, Madani reached it after being branded an enemy of the state in his own homeland.

Known to many as “Iran’s expat eco-warrior,” his journey—from a celebrated scientist to an accused “spy”, and finally to a global leader in water science and education at the United Nations—represents a triumph of scientific truth over political persecution.

A destiny in water: The academic journey of a native son

For Kaveh Madani, water was a calling long before it was a career. Born in Tehran in 1981, he was the son of two professionals who both worked in Iran’s water sector. Growing up in a country facing severe water challenges helped shape his academic path. He earned his BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Tabriz before moving to Sweden—the future home of his prize—to complete a MSc in Water Resources at Lund University. He later earned a PhD from the University of California, Davis, and conducted post-doctoral research at University of California, Riverside, before becoming an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida.

A few years later, by his early 30s, Madani was a faculty member at Imperial College London, established as a world-class systems analyst with expertise in mathematical modeling of complex human-water systems to support policy making. His interdisciplinary and innovative work at the interface of hydrology, decision sciences, and economics earned him some of the most prestigious awards of his field at an early age. Yet, the pull of his homeland remained.

In 2017, at the invitation of Iran’s government, he made the perilous decision to leave his prestigious job in London to serve as the Deputy Vice President of Iran and the Deputy Head of Iran’s Department of Environment. His move was seen as a “symbol of hope” for the return of the Iranian diaspora and the rise of a patriotic scientist dedicated to saving his country’s environment.

The scientist they called a terrorist

Madani’s tenure in government was as impactful as it was brief. He fought for bold reforms to improve water governance and transparency. He engaged the general public in the national environmental campaigns that he designed using his game theory skills. However, his reforms and courage to speak openly about the country’s growing water crisis threatened entrenched interests.

The backlash was brutal. He was targeted by hardline security forces and subjected to a surreal smear campaign. State-aligned media labeled him a “water terrorist” and a “bioterrorist,” accusing him of using water and environmental projects as a cover for espionage for the CIA, Mossad, and MI6. Some went further, spreading conspiracy theories that he was involved in weather manipulation and “cloud theft” in collaboration with Western powers. They challenged his motives for encouraging the Parliament to ratify the Paris Agreement, a treaty that they believed was a serious threat to national security and the capacity for development.

In early 2018, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) started an active crackdown on Iranian environmental experts. Despite having a senior governmental role, Madani was a target. He was arrested and interrogated multiple times. His conservationist friends were jailed and one of them, Dr. Kavous Seyed-Emami, an Iranian-Canadian university professor, died in custody under suspicious circumstances.

A few weeks later, Madani was forced into exile. He left behind a country he loved. After living in hiding for months, he accepted an academic position at Yale University, continuing to raise awareness about Iran’s water problem and advocating for his imprisoned friends to make the world hear their plight.

But he believed that a scientist who has experienced high-level decision-making firsthand can contribute far beyond the traditional role of academia. So, he took his mission to the global stage, eventually rising to lead UNU-INWEH, known as the “UN’s Think Tank on Water.” Today, the scientist whose warnings were once dismissed in his homeland shares his expertise with governments around the world.

Revolutionizing human behavior modeling

Kaveh Madani, who also serves as Research Professor of the City College of New York, is globally recognized for his fundamental contributions to integrating game theory and decision analysis into conventional water resources management models. Early in his career, his scholarly work questioned the implicit assumption of “cooperation” in conventional mathematical human-water models.

Madani argued that in the real world individual incentives often make the optimal solution infeasible. By applying game theory frameworks to human behavior, he showed why traditional engineering models often fail to capture real-world complexities. His research provided a new toolkit for understanding the “non-cooperative” nature of water resources governance, offering pathways for resolving transboundary disputes and fostering cooperation in regions where trust is scarce. This not only impacted behavior modeling in his field but also helped him develop a skillset that was a unique asset to him when he served as Iran’s lead environmental diplomat during his political tenure.

Beyond the crisis: The era of global water bankruptcy

Millions of people around the world have heard the term ‘water bankruptcy’. Many journalists have used it to refer to local water problems. But few people beyond Madani’s compatriots know that this powerful framing is the product of two decades of his work in academia, politics, and public outreach.

Water bankruptcy is not just an influential metaphor. Madani developed this concept after challenging frequently used terms such as “water crisis.” His reasoning was simple but philosophically powerful. A crisis is supposed to be a temporary shock and deviation from normal. When water shortage becomes chronic and lasts forever, using the term “water crisis” becomes misleading to societies, he argued. By formally introducing “water bankruptcy” as a post-crisis state of failure in water management, he called for a fundamental change in global water discourse to spark different policy solutions.

Madani is the author of the landmark UN report that declared that the planet entered the era of ‘Global Water Bankruptcy’ as of January 2026 with many river basins and aquifer systems around the world having lost their ability to bounce back to their historical conditions. The report sparked intense international debate by declaring that the global water problem is no longer a temporary shock, but a state of systemic insolvency and irreversibility. By shifting the discourse to “bankruptcy management,” he has forced many policymakers to confront the reality that for many regions, the old hydrological “normal” is gone forever.

He uses simple financial language to make a complex ecological reality clear: humanity is no longer living off the “interest” of the water cycle that was being deposited into its “chequing” account; it is liquidating the “principal” and “savings” accounts by draining aquifers beyond the point of return. This simplicity is what has made the term so popular. Yet, even Madani’s colleagues in science do not know how the rising adoption of the term in Iran led to conspiracy theories by the Iranian hardliners, claiming that he created this concept to discourage farming in Iran and compromise food and national security.

The people’s scientist: A global voice for water justice

Madani has shattered the traditional mold of the “cloistered academic.” With nearly one million social media followers, he is ‘the most followed water scientist in the world’. He has pioneered a new form of scientific communication, using documentaries, viral digital campaigns, and accessible storytelling to turn complex hydrological data into public knowledge.

By stripping away the jargon, he has empowered a generation of “citizen scientists” and Gen Z activists to hold their own leaders accountable for resource mismanagement. This commitment to transparency is what earned him the reputation of a tireless global influencer for the planet for the digital age; he has proven that when people understand the science of their own survival, they become the most powerful force for environmental change.

A global diplomat: Elevating water in the global agenda

Kaveh Madani’s diplomatic roles are another highlight of his career. During his political tenure, he served as Iran’s lead environmental diplomat and the official in charge of the Department of Environment’s International Affairs and Conventions Center. In 2017, he was elected Vice President of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) Bureau, overseeing the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment, comprising all 193 UN member states.

Madani’s speech at COP23 in Bonn makes him the first national delegation leader to publicly criticize the limited attention given to water in the Paris Agreement. He called for making water a central pillar of global climate negotiations. Today, as Director of the UN’s Water Think Tank, he remains a fierce champion for the Global South, bridging the gap between scientific evidence and political action, while advocating for the elevation of water in the global policy agenda as the backbone of peace, security, and sustainability.

At a time when the Middle East is once again overshadowed by war, Kaveh Madani’s life journey serves as a poignant reminder that despite the noise of politics, our shared vulnerability is what unites us; water scarcity is a common threat that transcends all political and military boundaries.

Official Stockholm Water Prize 2026 Citation, The Prize Committee of the Stockholm Water Prize at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Professor Kaveh Madani is awarded the 2026 Stockholm Water Prize “based on his unique combination of groundbreaking research on water resources management with policy, diplomacy and global outreach, often under personal risk and political complexity.”

Comments

Prof. Madani:

“In the Persian tradition of Nowruz, water is a symbol of light and purity on our New Year table. To be named the Stockholm Water Prize Laureate at this specific moment is a vindication I share with all Iranians who believed in me when I was labeled a ‘threat’ for simply speaking the truth. I accept this honor with profound humility, and I am deeply grateful to my nominators, the selection committee, and the mentors, colleagues, and students who have been my intellectual family throughout this journey.
“I share this award with the millions of compatriots who stood by me, with my friends in the conservation community, who were imprisoned and killed for their love of nature, and with the brave and innocent Iranian lives taken from us in January 2026, and those lost before and since.”
“It is a profound coincidence that this news arrives as my country and the region whose sustainability I have fought for have been burning in the fires of conflicts and a war being conducted in defiance of international law. I hope that in the midst of this fragmented world, this Prize and World Water Day serve as a reminder that water does not wait for politics. Water bankruptcy is a common threat that transcends every military line. We must recognize our shared vulnerability if we are ever to find our shared peace.”

Tshilidzi Marwala, UN Under Secretary-General and Rector, United Nations University

“Professor Kaveh Madani exemplifies the mandate of the United Nations University: turning rigorous scientific insight into practical solutions for the world’s most urgent challenges.

His work has transformed how governments and societies understand water scarcity, bringing clarity and urgency to one of the defining issues of our time. Beyond his outstanding scholarship and policy impact, Professor Madani has demonstrated exceptional strategic leadership within the UNU system, revitalizing UNU-INWEH’s global footprint and forging innovative partnerships that bridge the United Nations and academia to accelerate solutions for Member States.

The United Nations family is immensely proud to see his leadership and scholarship recognized with the Stockholm Water Prize.”

Anette Scheibe Lorentzi, Chair of Stockholm Water Foundation

“Through his work and outstanding achievements, Professor Madani has made invaluable contributions to our understanding of cross-cutting and complex water issues. In the face of a changing climate, this knowledge is more important than ever, and I congratulate Professor Madani on being awarded the Stockholm Water Prize 2026”.

Vincent Boudreau, President, City College of New York

“Only a small number of scientists succeed in bridging the worlds of research, policy, and public understanding. Professor Madani belongs to that rare group.”

“His pioneering work on water governance and the concept of ‘water bankruptcy,’ along with his dedication to policy and societal outreach, has helped elevate water to the center of global sustainability discussions.”

“This recognition reflects both his extraordinary scholarship and the vital role of science in shaping a more secure future. The City College has been a proud home to many Nobel laureates and now celebrates the well-deserved awarding of the first ‘Nobel Prize of Water’ to one of its own.”

The Stockholm Water Prize

Known as the ‘Nobel Prize of Water’, the Stockholm Water Prize is the world’s most prestigious water award. Since its inception in 1991, it has been awarded annually to individuals and organizations who have made substantial contributions to the sustainable use and protection of the world’s water resources, thereby leading to improved health and well-being of humans as well as ecosystems.

The Stockholm Water Foundation presents the Prize in collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, with H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden serving as official patron and presenter.

Each year’s Laureate is announced around World Water Day in March, then formally honored at a royal ceremony during World Water Week in August, where they play a central role in the Week’s celebrations.

stockholmwaterfoundation.org/stockholm-water-prize

UNU-INWEH

The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) is one of 13 institutions that make up the United Nations University (UNU), the academic arm of the UN. Known as ‘The UN’s Think Tank on Water’, UNU-INWEH addresses critical water, environmental, and health challenges around the world. Through research, training, capacity development, and knowledge dissemination, the institute contributes to solving pressing global sustainability and human security issues of concern to the UN and its Member States.

Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, UNU-INWEH has been hosted and supported by the Government of Canada since 1996. With a global mandate and extensive partnerships across UN entities, international organizations, and governments, UNU-INWEH operates through its UNU Hubs in Calgary, Hamburg, New York, Lund, and Pretoria, and an international network of affiliates.

unu.edu/inweh

Coverage highlights

The Guardian, United Kingdom (86,302,986) ‘They called me a water terrorist’: exiled Iranian scientist wins global prize

Reuters, United States (40,705,191) Climate Focus: World Water Day Special

El País, Spain (31,938,258) Kaveh Madani, from being accused of bioterrorism to winning the ‘Nobel’ of water: “I watch the destruction of Iran with deep anxiety”

The New York Times, United States (146,388,433)The planet’s warning signs are flashing red

Euronews, France (17,112,138)‘ Nobel Prize of Water’ awarded to Iranian scientist who was exiled from his homeland

Deutsche Welle, Germany (12,722,183) “Nobel of Water”: Kaveh Madani receives Stockholm World Water Prize

Dawn.com, Pakistan (4,192,219) Controversial Iranian scientist selected for ‘Nobel prize of water’

Yahoo! Actualités, France (4,132,067) The “Nobel Prize for Water” awarded to an exiled Iranian scientist

Yahoo! Finance, United States (42,208,246) CCNY Research Professor Kaveh Madani wins ‘Nobel Prize of Water’

Full coverage summary, click here

News release in full, click here

All businesses depend on and impact nature; All can be positive agents of change; Report highlights methods and 100+ actions to measure and respond to business impacts and dependencies for businesses, governments, financial actors and civil society

Manchester, UK —  Every business depends on biodiversity, and every business impacts biodiversity. The growth of the global economy has been at the cost of immense biodiversity loss, which now poses a critical and pervasive systemic risk to the economy, financial stability and human wellbeing. This is a central finding of a landmark new report published today by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Even companies that might seem far-removed from nature or that do not see themselves as nature-based rely, directly or indirectly, on material inputs, regulation of environmental conditions – such as flood mitigation and water supply – and non-material contributions such as spaces for tourism, recreation, education, and spiritual, aesthetic and cultural values. But businesses often bear little or no financial cost for their negative impacts and many cannot currently generate revenue from positive impacts on biodiversity.

Approved by representatives of the more than 150 member Governments of IPBES, during the 12th session of the IPBES Plenary, hosted in Manchester, United Kingdom, the IPBES Methodological Assessment Report on the Impact and Dependence of Business on Biodiversity and Nature’s Contributions to People (known as the Business and Biodiversity Report), finds that businesses are central to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, but that many often lack information to address their impacts and dependencies, as well as the risks and opportunities relating to biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people.

Enabling environment necessary for business action

Prepared over three years by 79 leading experts from 35 countries and all regions of the world, drawn from science and the private sector, in consultation with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, the Report finds that the current conditions in which businesses operate are not always compatible with achieving a just and sustainable future, and that these conditions also perpetuate systemic risks.

Businesses often face inadequate or perverse incentives, barriers that hinder efforts to reverse nature’s decline, an institutional environment with insufficient support, enforcement and compliance, as well as significant gaps in data and knowledge. These combine with business models that result in ever-increasing material consumption and an emphasis on reporting quarterly earnings, to contribute to the degradation of nature around the world. The Report makes the point that fundamental change is possible and necessary to create an enabling environment to align what is profitable for business with what is beneficial for biodiversity and people.

“This Report draws on thousands of sources, bringing together years of research and practice into a single integrated framework that shows both the risks of nature loss to business, and the opportunities for business to help reverse this,” said Matt Jones (UK), one of three Co-chairs of the Assessment. “This is a pivotal moment for businesses and financial institutions, as well as Governments and civil society, to cut through the confusion of countless methods and metrics, and to use the clarity and coherence offered by the Report to take meaningful steps towards transformative change. Businesses and other key actors can either lead the way towards a more sustainable global economy or ultimately risk extinction…both of species in nature, but potentially also their own.”

Business-as-usual Incentives are Driving Nature’s Decline

Current conditions perpetuate business-as-usual and do not support the transformative change necessary to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. For example, large subsidies that drive losses of biodiversity are directed to business activities with the support of lobbying by businesses and trade associations. In 2023, global public and private finance flows with directly negative impacts on nature, were estimated at $7.3 trillion, of which private finance accounted for $4.9 trillion, with public spending on environmentally harmful subsidies of about $2.4 trillion. 

In contrast, $220 billion in public and private finance flows were directed in 2023 to activities contributing to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity, representing just 3% of the public funds and incentives that encourage harmful business behaviour or prevent behaviour beneficial to biodiversity.

“The loss of biodiversity is among the most serious threats to business”, said Prof. Stephen Polasky (USA), Co-chair of the Assessment. “Yet the twisted reality is that it often seems more profitable to businesses to degrade biodiversity than to protect it. Business as usual may once have seemed profitable in the short term, but impacts across multiple businesses can have cumulative effects, aggregating to global impacts, which can cross ecological tipping points. The Report shows that business as usual is not inevitable – with the right policies, as well as financial and cultural shifts, what is good for nature is also what is best for profitability. To get there, the Report offers tools for choosing more effective measurements and analysis.”

Measuring Impacts and Dependencies  

The Report finds that a wide range of methods and data exist for measuring business impacts and dependencies, which can already inform decisions and action, but that more is known about applying methods for assessing impacts than for measuring dependencies. The application and uptake of methods is found to be low and uneven across and within business sectors and locales, with less than 1% of publicly reporting companies mentioning their impacts on biodiversity in their reports.

A recent survey among financial institutions representing 30% of global market capitalisation value found that the three most cited barriers to greater uptake of nature-related risk assessment and management are: a) access to reliable data, b) access to reliable models and c) access to scenarios. Prof. Polasky said: “Too often, businesses spend more time trying to decipher complex, competing frameworks for compliance and reporting than taking meaningful action. One of the powerful features of this Report is that it helps to decipher which methods, metrics and policy tools are appropriate for the scope of business, helping bring clarity and coherence to how businesses measure and report on their interactions with nature. We are moving the conversation from voluntary sustainability pledges to a science-based roadmap for system change.” 

The authors emphasize that no single method to measure and manage impacts and dependencies is suitable for all business decisions, and which aspects should be measured depends on context and the action or decision being informed – multiple methods or metrics will often be necessary. The Report proposes three overarching characteristics that can be used to assess which methods are most appropriate for any business, of any size or sector: coverage (geographic as well as the extent of impacts and dependencies included); accuracy (the degree to which results correctly describe what they are designed to measure); and responsiveness (the ability of the method to detect changes that can be attributed to the actions and activities of the business).

Decisions at the operational level require site-specific information, generated through ‘bottom-up’ approaches including location-based observations, participatory monitoring and mapping, and spatial analysis built on these data sources. Approaches more appropriate at the portfolio, corporate and value chain levels include ‘top-down’ methods such as life cycle approaches and macro-scale environmental economic models. Depending on the purpose of measurement, they can be conducted with lower spatial resolution data but wider geographic coverage.

Another key finding is that business could improve the measurement and management of impacts and dependencies through appropriate engagement with science and Indigenous and local knowledge. “Data and knowledge are often siloed,” said Prof. Ximena Rueda (Colombia), Co-chair of the Assessment. “Scientific literature is not written for businesses and a lack of translation and attention to the needs of business has slowed uptake of scientific findings. Among business there is also often limited understanding and recognition of Indigenous Peoples and local communities as stewards of biodiversity and, therefore, holders of knowledge on its conservation, restoration and sustainable use.” 

Industrial development threatens 60% of Indigenous lands around the world and a quarter of all Indigenous territories are under high pressure from resource exploitation, but Indigenous Peoples and local communities often find themselves marginalised in business research and decision-making. “Respectful collaboration resulting in the sharing and better use of data, scientific insights and Indigenous and local knowledge can translate into better management of business risk and opportunities,” said Prof. Rueda.

Priorities and options for business action

The Report makes it clear that all businesses, including financial institutions, have a responsibility to act and could take further actions, given an enabling environment, on their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people, including ecosystem services. Although trade-offs exist that prevent some transformative actions, the authors point to many actions that businesses can take now that benefit business and biodiversity – such as increasing efficiency and reducing waste and emissions. Specific options for business action that can be taken now to address their impacts and dependencies on nature are included as a table below.

“Better engagement with nature is not optional for business – it is a necessity”, said Prof. Rueda. “This is vital for their bottom line, long-term prosperity and the transformative change needed for a more just and sustainable futures. To avoid greenwashing though, it is essential that businesses have transparent and credible strategies, which clearly demonstrate their actions and how they contribute to biodiversity outcomes  and that they publicly disclose their impacts and dependencies as well as their lobbying activities”.

The Report explores both actions that can be taken by businesses themselves within their control and ‘signalling’ actions that can publicly influence and inspire action by others. Actions of each type can be pursued by businesses across four decision-making levels: corporate, operations, value-chain and portfolio.

The authors acknowledge that while there is a large existing knowledge base to guide action by businesses, there are also important gaps in knowledge and its application that constrain the ability of all actors to fully understand and effectively manage business activities. The Report groups these gaps as follows: business-relvant data; data accessibility and transparency; incomplete evidence; low adoption of methods and limitations of methods – suggesting five sets of actions to address these priorities.

100+ Concrete Actions for Governments, Financial Actors & Civil Society

Another central message of the Report is that businesses cannot, by themselves, deliver the scale of change needed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Collaboration, collective and individual actions are essential to create an enabling environment where businesses contribute to a just and sustainable future.

Five specific components are identified as central to such an enabling environment: policy, legal and regulatory frameworks; economic and financial systems; social values, norms and culture; technology and data; and capacity and knowledge. The Report provides more than 100 specific examples of concrete actions that can be taken, across each of these five components, by businesses, governments, financial actors and civil society. A table of these actions is attached. 

“Better stewardship of biodiversity is central to managing risk across the whole of the economy and throughout societies – it’s not some distant environmental issue, but a core challenge now in every boardroom and cabinet-room,” said Prof. Polasky. “We need to move beyond the fallacy of a binary choice between governments and decision-makers being either pro-environment or pro-business. All business depends on nature, so actions that conserve and sustainably use nature can also be those that help businesses thrive in the long-term. One of the innovations of this Report is that it provides a template for accelerating collaboration and collective actions at all levels among and by governments, financial actors,  other actors including civil society, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, consumers, NGOs, international organisations, and academia in addition to the action needed by businesses and financial institutions themselves.”

Vital Guidance to Achieve Global Goals

Speaking about the significance of the Business and Biodiversity Report, Dr. David Obura, Chair of IPBES said: “This first-ever fast-track IPBES Assessment Report was delivered with urgency as we begin the second half of this decade, at the request of our Governments, as a vital contribution to efforts by businesses, governments, financial actors and the whole of society to meet the goals and targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. It relates very directly to Target 15 of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which focuses on businesses, but ultimately to all our shared global goals because businesses are at the centre of how our economies, and large parts of our society, depend on and impact nature”.

“We thank the Co-chairs and all the authors of this Assessment,” said Dr. Luthando Dziba, Executive Secretary of IPBES. “This Report builds very directly on the insights and evidence of many earlier IPBES Assessments – particularly the 2019 Global Assessment, the 2022 Values Assessment and the 2024 Nexus and Transformative Change Assessments – offering much-needed clarity and coherence to guide actions by business and all decision-makers. Nature is everybody’s business and the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiversity is central to business sustainability and success.”

* * * * *

By the Numbers – Key Statistics and Findings from the Report

• $1.18 trillion-$130.11 trillion: Growth of the global economy between 1820 and 2022 (in 2011 dollars)
• +100% vs -40%: Average per capita increase in human produced capital since 1992, versus reduction in stocks of natural capital
• $7.3 trillion: Global public and private finance flows in 2023 with directly negative impacts on nature, of which private finance accounted for $4.9 trillion, with public spending on environmentally harmful subsidies of about $2.4 trillion
• $220 billion: Global public and private finance flows directed in 2023 to activities contributing to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity.
• <1%: Publicly reporting companies that mention biodiversity impacts in their reports
• 60%: Share of Indigenous lands globally threatened by industrial development
• 25%:Share of Indigenous territories under high pressure from resource exploitation
• At least 8: Number of countries (along with the European Union) in which central banks have analysed their financial institutions’ exposure to dependencies on biodiversity

* * * * *

IPBES Partner Comments

Nature remains one of the most undervalued foundations of our global economy, despite underpinning food systems, supply chains, and long-term prosperity. At a time when some may question the role of science, IPBES continues to lead the way and provide independent, authoritative evidence – because science-based decision making is not optional, it is essential. 

The first-ever Business and Biodiversity Assessment reinforces this role. It will give decision-makers clear evidence of how businesses depend on nature, how they impact it, and what this means for risk, resilience, and long-term value. By identifying risks early, we can help prevent escalating costs – higher food prices, rising insurance premiums, and economic instability – affecting families and communities worldwide. 

Time is not on our side, but this Assessment offers a clear pathway on how we can align economic decision-making with environmental reality, delivering lasting benefits for people and for the planet.

Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Businesses across the agrifood systems both depend on and significantly impact biodiversity.  To build a resilient future, we need to transform these systems to ensure the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

By effectively assessing and managing their relationship with nature, businesses can strengthen their resilience, drive innovation, and establish themselves as leaders in the global economy. Every business along the value chain has a role in advancing sustainable practices that support biodiversity. Key actions include scaling up investments in innovative, biodiversity-friendly technologies across production, processing, distribution and consumption, as well as implementing robust systems to monitor and report the impacts of their business operations.

As a UN Collaborative Partner of IPBES, FAO supports agrifood businesses in enhancing their biodiversity performance, meeting recognized standards, and conducting risk-based due diligence.

This new IPBES assessment offers a timely analysis of such measures, providing crucial data for decision-makers dedicated to building agrifood systems that are more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.

QU Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Biodiversity underpins every economy and every society. It generates jobs and income, regulates the climate, and sustains food, water, and health systems. Yet its very dependability hides the scale of our reliance on its continued stability. Too often, biodiversity is an invisible and expendable asset on a balance sheet. That is changing. Awareness is now accelerating of the risks to development if biodiversity fails—and of the economic opportunities and future prosperity that emerge where it thrives.

This IPBES Business and Biodiversity Assessment makes a vital contribution to exposing and explaining how business, economies, and development ambitions depend on biodiversity. Through our Nature Pledge, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works alongside countries and our many partners to align economic progress with the protection and restoration of Nature. Our initiatives such as the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) and our work supporting the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures reveal growing investor and policymaker demand for actionable information. UNDP therefore strongly welcomes the assessment’s focus on advancing categorization, methodologies, standardization, and other dimensions essential to scaling the value and integration of biodiversity into decision-making.

Nature-positive business transformation—aligned with global biodiversity commitments and strengthened through collaboration with governments, local communities, and Indigenous Peoples—is a fast-track to resilient, inclusive, and sustainable development. This approach is now far from optional. It is essential to our collective future.

Alexander De Croo, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Businesses are inseparable from the ecosystems they operate in: they both depend on them and profoundly impact them. As significant drivers of today’s planetary crises, businesses have contributed to climate change, biodiversity loss and cultural erosion. At the same time, they have a critical role to play in advancing more sustainable solutions, a role already reflected in a growing number of initiatives.  

UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves is a strong example. These sites serve as living laboratories where biodiversity conservation, resilient livelihoods, cultural diversity and human wellbeing can reinforce one another. Through this network, UNESCO contributes in a concrete way to the implementation of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, by promoting solutions rooted in places, communities and long-term balance between people and nature.

UNESCO is particularly proud to have contributed to this assessment by supporting the inclusion of Indigenous and local knowledge. Indigenous Peoples and local communities are often among the first to experience the impacts of unsustainable and extractive business practices, and frequently bear disproportionate social, cultural and ecological costs. At the same time, their knowledge, values and governance systems offer important insights into economic models that prioritize balance, reciprocity and long-term stewardship of nature. Recognizing and respecting these knowledge systems is a necessary condition for building sustainable, inclusive and effective responses to biodiversity crisis worldwide. 

In this context, UNESCO warmly welcomes this new IPBES assessment as an important contribution to advancing our shared understanding and collective action for biodiversity.

Khaled El-Enany, Director-General, United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

The IPBES Business and Biodiversity report is a crucial contribution to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, particularly its Target 15, which is about businesses assessing and disclosing biodiversity-related risks and impacts. This is key not only to a better understanding of the centrality of biodiversity to value chains, but also to taking action to change business models, reduce negative and increase positive biodiversity impacts.

All businesses depend on nature. Some are very obviously exposed to risks stemming from resource depletion or environmental degradation; others may need to dig deeper to understand the breadth of their dependencies and impacts on biodiversity. Hidden risks can range from breaching regulatory frameworks to damaging the company’s brand. 

In any case, biodiversity is never a marginal issue. It lies at the crux of what makes companies thrive or flounder: value chain resilience.

In too many boardrooms and offices around the world, there is a still a dearth of awareness of biodiversity protection as a business investment.  And too often, public policy still incentivises behaviour that drives biodiversity loss.

Transformative change is both necessary and possible. With the right business mindset supported by the right incentives, thriving in harmony with nature is within reach. 

Congratulations to IPBES on showing the way. 

Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary,  Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

* * * * *

For enquiries and interviews please contact:

The IPBES Media Team

ipbes.media@gmail.com; 

www.ipbes.net

+1-416-878-8712 or or +1-850-252-3931

IPBES has now released the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) of the Business and Biodiversity Report. The SPM presents the key messages and policy options, as approved by the IPBES Plenary. To access the SPM, photos, ‘B-roll’ and other media resources go to: https://ipbes.canto.de/v/IPBES12Media. As always with IPBES assessments, the full Report (including all data) will be published once the necessary edits have been made based on the final approved version of the Summary for Policymakers –in a matter of a months after the launch of the Summary for Policymakers.

This Summary for Policymakers should be cited as: IPBES (2026). Summary for Policymakers of the Methodological Assessment Report on the Impact and Dependence of Business on Biodiversity and Nature’s Contributions to People. Jones M., Polasky S., Rueda X., Brooks S., Carter Ingram J., Egoh B. N., von Hase A., Kohsaka R., Kulak M., Leach K., Loyola R., Mandle L., Rodriguez-Osuna V., Schaafsma M. and Sonter L. J. (eds.). IPBES secretariat, Bonn, Germany. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15369060

About IPBES:

Often described as the “IPCC for biodiversity”, IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body comprising more than 150 member Governments. Established by Governments in 2012, it provides policymakers with objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems and the contributions they make to people, as well as the tools and methods to protect and sustainably use these vital natural assets. For more information about IPBES and its assessments visit www.ipbes.net

Video introduction to IPBES: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOiGio7YU-M

Additional videos:

• IPBES Thematic Assessment Report on the Interlinkages among Biodiversity, Water, Food and Health (2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H6aW_j2oSA 
• IPBES Thematic Assessment Report on the Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Loss and the Determinants of Transformative Change and Options for Achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity (2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpCjEU9cPr0
• IPBES Thematic Assessment on Invasive Alien Species and Their Control (2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybg4qxfoUIo 
• PBES Assessment of the Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature (2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jju7gD2XYE&t=238s 
• IPBES Assessment on the Sustainable Use of Wild Species (2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZflgQkb3c8Q&t=12s 
• IPBES Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (2019): https://youtu.be/7eYK5ibTOMA 
• IPBES Assessment of Land Degradation and Restoration (2018): www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCt7aai17Nk 
• IPBES Regional Assessments of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (2018): www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR0HeepbWCc 
• IPBES Assessment of Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production (2016): www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwkYbeiwK5A 
• IPBES Assessment of Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity (2016):  www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZfcDmtGa9I

Follow IPBES on Social Media: https://linktr.ee/ipbes  

Listen to our podcast: https://bit.ly/IPBESPodcast 

Coverage highlights

Businesses face extinction unless they protect nature, major report warns
BBC News via Yahoo! News, United States (47,489,908)

When ‘transformative change’ meets political reality
Financial Times (Moral Money Column), United Kingdom (22,400,000)

More than 150 Countries Agree That Focus on GDP Harms Nature
Bloomberg, United States (21,825,285)

Companies told to protect nature now or face extinction themselves
Reuters newswire via MSN, United States (99,756,141)

Biodiversity loss: businesses also risk “extinction,” warn scientists
Les Echos, France (6,875,153)

Investing in life: what lies behind a biodiversity portfolio
Les Echos (commentary), France (6,875,153)

U.N. body confirms what we have known for decades: Companies that pillage nature risk extinction
Reuters (commentary), United States (45,139,177)

“Biodiversity loss is one of the most serious threats to businesses,” scientists warn
France Télévisions via francetv info, France (25,060,401)

Report: Without nature conservation, companies risk their future
Deutsche Presse Agentur newswire via t-online.de, Germany (18,210,152)

Time to align economic practice with ecological reality: the critical need to include nature in macroeconomic models
London School of Economics, United Kingdom 

This Is What Collapse Feels Like: Nothing
Medium, United States (45,225,719)

“Those who destroy nature endanger their own economy.”
Focus Online, Germany (13,461,430)

“Change course or die out”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Print Edition), Germany (263,910)

The economy that devours the planet
El País, Spain (36,902,599)

Analysis: “Biodiversity loss is one of the most serious threats to businesses,” warns a report
Libération, France (11,000,000)

UN report aims to map out ways to make business and biodiversity both sustainable
Globe and Mail, Canada (6,600,000)

World Biodiversity Council: Environmental protection must be good for business
Der Tagesspiegel, Germany (14,248,647)

Business and biodiversity: moving forward together – Businesses play a central role in restoring nature
Asahi Shimbun, Japan (33,632,776)

Global organization sounds biodiversity alarm: $113 trillion spent on nature annually
Nikkei Business, Japan (3,289,618)

Why financial leadership on nature matters for sustainable growth
World Economic Forum, Switzerland (2,808,455)

Environment: Many investments have a negative impact on biodiversity
Mainichi Shimbun, Japan (22,931,492)

Less than 1% of companies worldwide report impacts on biodiversity, says UN study.
Valor Econômico, Brazil (3,632,054)

Coverage summary in full, click here

News release in full, click here

Flagship report calls for fundamental reset of global water agenda as irreversible damage pushes many basins beyond recovery

UN Headquarters, New York – Amid chronic groundwater depletion, water overallocation, land and soil degradation, deforestation, and pollution, all compounded by global heating, a UN report today declared the dawn of an era of global water bankruptcy, inviting world leaders to facilitate “honest, science-based adaptation to a new reality.”

“Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era,” argues that the familiar terms “water stressed” and “water crisis” fail to reflect today’s reality in many places: a post-crisis condition marked by irreversible losses of natural water capital and an inability to bounce back to historic baselines.

“This report tells an uncomfortable truth: many regions are living beyond their hydrological means, and many critical water systems are already bankrupt,” says lead author Kaveh Madani, Director of the UN University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), known as ‘The UN’s Think Tank on Water.’

Expressed in financial terms, the report says many societies have not only overspent their annual renewable water “income” from rivers, soils, and snowpack, they have depleted long-term “savings” in aquifers, glaciers, wetlands, and other natural reservoirs.

This has resulted in a growing list of compacted aquifers, subsided land in deltas and coastal cities, vanished lakes and wetlands, and irreversibly lost biodiversity.

The UNU report is based on a peer-reviewed paper in the journal of Water Resources Management that formally defines water bankruptcy as

1) persistent over-withdrawal from surface and groundwater relative to renewable inflows and safe levels of depletion; and

2) the resulting irreversible or prohibitively costly loss of water-related natural capital.

By contrast:

• “Water stress” reflects high pressure that remains reversible
• “Water crisis” describes acute shocks that can be overcome

The report is issued prior to a high-level meeting in Dakar, Senegal (26–27 Jan.) to prepare the 2026 UN Water Conference, to be co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates and Senegal 2-4 Dec. in the UAE. 

While not every basin and country is water-bankrupt, Madani says, “enough critical systems around the world have crossed these thresholds. These systems are interconnected through trade, migration, climate feedbacks, and geopolitical dependencies, so the global risk landscape is now fundamentally altered.”

Madani underlines the following four essential points:

• Water cannot be protected if we allow the hydrological cycle, the climate, and the underlying natural capital that produces water to be interrupted or damaged. The world has an important and still largely untapped strategic opportunity to act.
• Water is an issue that crosses traditional political boundaries. It belongs to north and south, and to left and right. For that reason, it can serve as a bridge to create trust and unity between and within nations. In the fragmented world we live in, water can become a powerful focus for cooperation and for aligning national security with international priorities.
• Investment in water is also investment in mitigating climate change, biodiversity loss, and desertification. Water should not be treated only as a downstream sector affected by other environmental crises. On the contrary, targeted investment in water can address the immediate concerns of communities and nations while also advancing the objectives of the Rio Conventions (climate, biodiversity, desertification).
• A renewed global emphasis on water could help reaccelerate stalled negotiations and potentially reenergize halted international processes. A practical and cooperative focus on water offers a way to connect urgent local needs with long-term global goals.

Hotspots

In the Middle East and North Africa region, high water stress, climate vulnerability, low agricultural productivity, energy-intensive desalination, and sand and dust storms intersect with complex political economies;

In parts of South Asia, groundwater-dependent agriculture and urbanization have produced chronic declines in water tables and local subsidence; and

In the American Southwest, the Colorado River and its reservoirs have become symbols of over-promised water.

A world in the red

Drawing on global datasets and recent scientific evidence, the report presents a stark statistical overview of trends, the overwhelming majority caused by humans:

50%: Large lakes worldwide that have lost water since the early 1990s (with 25% of humanity directly dependent on those lakes)

50%: Global domestic water now derived from groundwater

40%+: Irrigation water drawn from aquifers being steadily drained

70%: Major aquifers showing long-term decline

410 million hectares: Area of natural wetlands – almost equal in size to the entire European Union – erased in the past five decades

30%+: Global glacier mass lost since 1970, with entire low- and mid-latitude mountain ranges expected to lose functional glaciers altogether within decades

Dozens: Major rivers that now fail to reach the sea for parts of the year

50+ years: How long many river basins and aquifers have been overdrawing their accounts

100 million hectares: Cropland damaged by salinization alone

And the human consequences:

75%: Humanity in countries classified as water-insecure or critically water-insecure

2 billion: People living on sinking ground.

25 cm: Annual drop being experienced by some cities

4 billion: People facing severe water scarcity at least one month every year

170 million hectares: Irrigated cropland under high or very high water stress – equivalent to the areas of France, Spain, Germany, and Italy combined

US$5.1 trillion: Annual value of lost wetland ecosystem services

3 billion: People living in areas where total water storage is declining or unstable, with 50%+ of global food produced in those same stressed regions.

1.8 billion: People living under drought conditions in 2022–2023

US$307 billion: Current annual global cost of drought

2.2 billion: People who lack safely managed drinking water, while 3.5 billion lack safely managed sanitation

Says Madani: “Millions of farmers are trying to grow more food from shrinking, polluted, or disappearing water sources. Without rapid transitions toward water-smart agriculture, water bankruptcy will spread rapidly.”

A new diagnosis for a new era

A region can be flooded one year and still be water bankrupt, he adds, if long-term withdrawals exceed replenishment. In that sense, water bankruptcy is not about how wet or dry a place looks, but about balance, accounting, and sustainability.

Says Madani: As with global climate change or pandemics, a declaration of global water bankruptcy does not imply uniform impact everywhere, but that enough systems across regions and income levels have become insolvent and crossed irreversible thresholds to constitute a planetary-scale condition.

“Water bankruptcy is also global because its consequences travel,” Madani explains. “Agriculture accounts for the vast majority of freshwater use, and food systems are tightly interconnected through trade and prices. When water scarcity undermines farming in one region, the effects ripple through global markets, political stability, and food security elsewhere. This makes water bankruptcy not a series of isolated local crises, but a shared global risk that demands a new type of response: Bankruptcy management,  not crisis management.”

A call to reset the global water agenda

The report warns that the current global water agenda – largely focused on drinking water, sanitation, and incremental efficiency improvements – is no longer fit for purpose in many places and calls for a new global water agenda that:

• Formally recognizes the state of water bankruptcy
• Recognizes water as both a constraint and an opportunity for meeting climate, biodiversity, and land commitments
• Elevates water issues in climate, biodiversity, and desertification negotiations, development finance, and peacebuilding processes.
• Embeds water-bankruptcy monitoring in global frameworks, using Earth observation, AI, and integrated modelling
• Uses water as a catalyst to accelerate cooperation between the UN Member States

In practical terms, managing water bankruptcy requires governments to focus on the following priorities:

• Prevent further irreversible damage such as wetland loss, destructive groundwater depletion, and uncontrolled pollution
• Rebalance rights, claims, and expectations to match degraded carrying capacity
• Support just transitions for communities whose livelihoods must change
• Transform water-intensive sectors, including agriculture and industry, through crop shifts, irrigation reforms, and more efficient urban systems
• Build institutions for continuous adaptation, with monitoring systems linked to threshold-based management

The report underlines that water bankruptcy is not merely a hydrological problem, but a justice issue with deep social and political implications requiring attention at the highest levels of government and multilateral cooperation. The burdens fall disproportionately on smallholder farmers, Indigenous Peoples, low-income urban residents, women and youth while the benefits of overuse often accrued to more powerful actors.

“Water bankruptcy is becoming a driver of fragility, displacement, and conflict,” says UN Under-Secretary-General Tshilidzi Marwala, Rector of UNU. “Managing it fairly – ensuring that vulnerable communities are protected and that unavoidable losses are shared equitably – is now central to maintaining peace, stability, and social cohesion.”

“Bankruptcy management requires honesty, courage, and political will,” Madani adds. “We cannot rebuild vanished glaciers or reinflate acutely compacted aquifers. But we can prevent further loss of our remaining natural capital, and redesign institutions to live within new hydrological limits.”

Upcoming milestones —  the 2026 and 2028 UN Water Conferences, the end of the Water Action Decade in 2028, and the 2030 SDG deadline, for example — provide critical opportunities to implement this shift, he says.

“Despite its warnings, the report is not a statement of hopelessness,” adds Madani. “It is a call for honesty, realism, and transformation.  Declaring bankruptcy is not about giving up — it is about starting fresh. By acknowledging the reality of water bankruptcy, we can finally make the hard choices that will protect people, economies, and ecosystems. The longer we delay, the deeper the deficit grows.”

* * * * *

Report in brief

Media highlights

• This report declares that the world has already entered the era of Global Water Bankruptcy. The condition is not a distant threat but a present reality. Many human water systems are now in a post-crisis failure state where past baselines can no longer be restored.
• Global Water Bankruptcy is defined as a persistent post-crisis state of failure. In this state, long-term water use and pollution have exceeded renewable inflows and safe depletion limits. Key parts of the water system can no longer realistically be brought back to previous levels of supply and ecosystem function.
• Terms such as water stress and water crisis are no longer sufficient descriptions of the world’s new water realities. Many rivers, lakes, aquifers, wetlands, and glaciers have been pushed beyond tipping points and cannot bounce back to past baselines. The language of temporary crisis is no longer accurate in many regions.
• The global water cycle has moved beyond its safe planetary boundary. Together with climate, biodiversity, and land systems, freshwater has been pushed outside its safe operating space. The report concludes that the world is living beyond its hydrological means.
• Billions of people are living with chronic water insecurity. Around 2.2 billion people still lack safely managed drinking water, 3.5 billion lack safely managed sanitation, and nearly 4 billion face severe water scarcity for at least one month each year. Almost three-quarters of the world’s population live in countries classified as water insecure or critically water insecure.
• Surface waters and wetlands are shrinking on a massive scale. More than half of the world’s large lakes have lost water since the early 1990s, affecting about one-quarter of the global population that relies on them directly. Over the last five decades, humanity has lost roughly 410 million hectares of natural wetlands, almost the land area of the European Union. This includes about 177 million hectares of inland marshes and swamps, roughly the size of Libya or seven times the area of the United Kingdom. The loss of ecosystem services from these wetlands is valued at over US$5.1 trillion, similar to the combined GDP of around 135 of the world’s poorest countries.
• Groundwater depletion and land subsidence show that hidden reserves are being exhausted. Around 70 percent of the world’s major aquifers show long-term declines. Land subsidence linked to groundwater over-pumping now affects more than 6 million square kilometers, almost 5 percent of the global land area, and nearly 2 billion people. This permanently reduces storage and increases flood risk in many cities, deltas, and coastal zones.
• Water quality degradation further reduces usable water and accelerates bankruptcy. Growing loads of untreated wastewater, agricultural runoff, industrial pollution, and salinization are degrading rivers, lakes, and aquifers. Even where volumes appear sufficient on paper, the fraction of water that is safe for drinking, irrigation, and ecosystems continues to shrink.
• The cryosphere is melting, eroding a critical long-term water buffer. The world has already lost more than 30 percent of its glacier mass since 1970. Some mountain ranges risk losing functional glaciers within decades, undermining water security for hundreds of millions of people who depend on rivers fed by glacier and snowmelt.
• Farmers and food systems sit at the very heart of Global Water Bankruptcy. Roughly 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals are used for agriculture, much of it in the Global South. Groundwater provides about 50 percent of domestic water use and over 40 percent of irrigation water worldwide. Both drinking water and food production now depend heavily on aquifers that are being depleted faster than they can realistically recharge.
• Global food production is increasingly exposed to water decline and degradation. About 3 billion people and more than half of global food production are concentrated in areas where total water storage is already declining or unstable. More than 170 million hectares of irrigated cropland, about the combined land area of France, Spain, Germany, and Italy, are under high or very high water stress. Salinization has degraded roughly 82 million hectares of rainfed cropland and 24 million hectares of irrigated cropland, eroding yields in key global breadbaskets.
• Drought impacts are becoming steadily more human-made and extremely costly. The report identifies a growing pattern of anthropogenic drought, meaning water deficits caused by overuse and degradation rather than natural variability alone. These impacts already cost around US$307 billion per year, more than the annual GDP of almost three-quarters of United Nations Member States.
• Global Water Bankruptcy is also a justice, security, and political economy challenge. Without a deliberate commitment to equity, the costs of adjustment will fall disproportionately on farmers, rural communities, Indigenous Peoples, informal urban residents, women, youth, and other vulnerable groups. This imbalance increases the risk of social unrest and conflict in many regions.
• Governments need to urgently shift from crisis management to bankruptcy management. The report calls for an end to short-term emergency thinking. Instead, it urges strategies that prevent further irreversible damage, reduce and reallocate demand, transform water-intensive sectors, tackle illegal withdrawals and pollution, and ensure just transitions for people whose livelihoods must change.
• The current global water agenda is no longer fit for the Anthropocene. A narrow focus on drinking water, sanitation, and small efficiency gains will not be sufficient to resolve escalating water risks. In fact, that limited approach will increasingly compromise progress on climate action, biodiversity protection, land management, food security, and peace.
• Water can be a bridge in a fragmented world. Every country, sector, and community depends on freshwater. Investing in water bankruptcy management therefore becomes an investment in climate stability, biodiversity protection, land restoration, food security, employment, and social harmony. This shared reliance offers practical common ground for cooperation between North and South and across political divides within nations.
• World leaders are urged to use upcoming UN water milestones as decisive turning points. The report calls on governments and the UN system to use the 2026 and 2028 UN Water Conferences, the conclusion of the Water Action Decade in 2028, and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal deadline to reset the global water agenda. It urges formal recognition of Global Water Bankruptcy, stronger monitoring and diagnostics, and a renewed effort to position water as a bridge for peace, climate action, biodiversity protection, and food security in an increasingly fragmented world.

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Key Policy Messages

• The world is already in the state of “water bankruptcy”. In many basins and aquifers, long-term overuse and degradation mean that past hydrological and ecological baselines cannot realistically be restored. While not every basin or country is water-bankrupt, enough critical systems around the world have crossed these thresholds, and are interconnected through trade, migration, climate feedbacks, and geopolitical dependencies, that the global risk landscape is now fundamentally altered.
• The familiar language of “water stress” and “water crisis” is no longer adequate. Stress describes high pressure that is still reversible. Crisis describes acute, time-bound shocks. Water bankruptcy must be recognized as a distinct post-crisis state, where accumulated damage and overshoot have undermined the system’s capacity to recover.
• Water bankruptcy management must address insolvency and irreversibility. Unlike financial bankruptcy management, which deals only with insolvency, managing water bankruptcy is concerned with rebalancing demand and supply under conditions where returning to baseline conditions is no longer possible.
• Anthropogenic drought is central to the world’s new water reality. Drought and water shortage are increasingly driven by human activities, over-allocation, groundwater depletion, land and soil degradation, deforestation, pollution, and climate change, rather than natural variability alone. Water bankruptcy is the outcome of long-term anthropogenic drought, not just bad luck with hydrological anomalies.
• Water bankruptcy is about both quantity and quality. Declining stocks, polluted rivers, and degrading aquifers, and salinized soils mean that the truly usable fraction of available water is shrinking, even where total volumes may appear stable.
• Managing water bankruptcy requires a shift from crisis management to bankruptcy management. The priority is no longer to “get back to normal”, but to prevent further irreversible damage, rebalance rights and claims within degraded carrying capacities, transform water-intensive sectors and development models, and support just transitions for those most affected.
• Governance institutions must protect both water and its underlying natural capital. The existing institutions focus on protecting water as a good or service disregarding the natural capital that makes water available in the first place. Efforts to protect a product are ineffective when the processes that produce it are disrupted. Recognizing water bankruptcy calls for developing legal and governance institutions that can effectively protect not only water but also the hydrological cycle and natural capital that make its production possible.
• Water bankruptcy is a justice and security issue. The costs of overshoot and irreversibility fall disproportionately on smallholder farmers, rural and Indigenous communities, informal urban residents, women, youth, and downstream users, while benefits have often accrued to more powerful actors. How societies manage water bankruptcy will shape social cohesion, political stability, and peace.
• Water bankruptcy management combines mitigation with adaptation. While water crisis management paradigms seek to return the system to normal conditions through mitigation efforts only, water bankruptcy management focuses on restoring what is possible and preventing further damages through mitigation combined with adaptation to new normals and constraints.
• Water can serve as a bridge in a fragmented world. Water can align national priorities with international priorities and improve cooperation between and within nations. Roughly 70% of global freshwater withdrawals are used for agriculture, much of it by farmers in the Global South. Elevating water in global policy debates can help rebuild trust between South and North but also within nations, between rural and urban, left and right constituencies.
• Water must be recognized as an upstream sector. Most national and international policy agendas treat water as a downstream impact sector where investments are focused on mitigating the imposed problems and externalities. The world must recognize water as an upstream opportunity sector where investments have long-term benefits for peace, stability, security, equity, economy, health, and the environment.
• Water is an effective medium to fulfill the global environmental agenda. Investments in addressing water bankruptcy deliver major co-benefits for the global efforts to address its environmental problems while addressing the national security concerns of the UN member states. Elevating water in the global policy agenda can renew international cooperation, increase the efficiency of environmental investments, and reaccelerate the halted progress of the three Rio Conventions to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and desertification.
• A new global water agenda is urgently needed. Existing agendas and conventional water policies, focused mainly on WASH, incremental efficiency gains and generic IWRM guidelines, are not sufficient for the world’s current water reality. A fresh water agenda must be developed that takes Global Water Bankruptcy as a starting point and uses the 2026 and 2028 UN Water Conferences, the conclusion of the Water Action Decade in 2028, and the 2030 SDG 6 timeline as milestones for resetting how the world understands and governs water.

* * * * *

Report Information

Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era, United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, doi: 10.53328/INR26KAM001

Support Paper

Madani K. (2026) Water Bankruptcy: The Formal Definition, Water Resources Management.

About UNU-INWEH

The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) is one of 13 institutions that make up the United Nations University (UNU), the academic arm of the UN. Known as ‘The UN’s Think Tank on Water’, UNU-INWEH addresses critical water, environmental, and health challenges around the world. Through research, training, capacity development, and knowledge dissemination, the institute contributes to solving pressing global sustainability and human security issues of concern to the UN and its Member States.

Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, UNU-INWEH has been hosted and supported by the Government of Canada since 1996. With a global mandate and extensive partnerships across UN entities, international organizations, and governments, UNU-INWEH operates through its UNU Hubs in Calgary, Hamburg, New York, Lund, and Pretoria, and an international network of affiliates.

unu.edu/inweh

Coverage highlights

News release in full, click here

Food, water, energy crises, human tragedies in 2023-2025 detailed in sweeping analysis

Fuelled by climate change and relentless pressure on land and water resources, some of the most widespread and damaging drought events in recorded history have taken place since 2023, according to a UN-backed report launched today.

Prepared by the U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), with support from the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA), the report, “Drought Hotspots Around the World 2023-2025,” available at https://bit.ly/4kkHApR, provides a comprehensive account of how droughts compound poverty, hunger, energy insecurity, and ecosystem collapse.

“It is here, escalating, and demands urgent global cooperation. When energy, food, and water all go at once, societies start to unravel. That’s the new normal we need to be ready for.”

“This is not a dry spell,” says Dr. Mark Svoboda, report co-author and NDMC Director. “This is a slow-moving global catastrophe, the worst I’ve ever seen. This report underscores the need for systematic monitoring of how drought affects lives, livelihoods, and the health of the ecosystems that we all depend on.”

“The Mediterranean countries represent canaries in the coal mine for all modern economies,” he adds. “The struggles experienced by Spain, Morocco and Türkiye to secure water, food, and energy under persistent drought offer a preview of water futures under unchecked global warming. No country, regardless of wealth or capacity, can afford to be complacent.”

A wide-ranging crisis

The new report synthesizes information from hundreds of government, scientific and media sources to highlight impacts within the most acute drought hotspots in Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia), the Mediterranean (Spain, Morocco, Türkiye), Latin America (Panama, Amazon Basin), Southeast Asia, and beyond.

Africa: 

• Over 90 million people across Eastern and Southern Africa face acute hunger. Some areas have been enduring their worst ever recorded drought.
• Southern Africa, already drought-prone, was devastated with roughly 1/6th of the population (68 million) needing food aid in August 2024. 
• In Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi, maize and wheat crops have failed repeatedly.  In Zimbabwe alone, the 2024 corn crop was down 70% year on year, and maize prices doubled while 9,000 cattle died of thirst and starvation. 
• In Somalia, the government estimated 43,000 people died in 2022 alone due to drought-linked hunger. As of early 2025, 4.4 million people – a quarter of the population – face crisis-level food insecurity, including 784,000 expected to reach emergency levels.
• Zambia suffered one of the world’s worst energy crises as the Zambezi River in April 2024 plummeted to 20% of its long-term average. The country’s largest hydroelectric plant, the Kariba Dam, fell to 7% generation capacity, causing blackouts of up to 21 hours per day and shuttering hospitals, bakeries, and factories.

Mediterranean:

• Spain: Water shortages hit agriculture, tourism, and domestic supply. By September 2023, two years of drought and record heat caused a 50% drop in Spain’s olive crop, causing its olive oil prices to double across the country. 
• Morocco: The sheep population was 38% smaller in 2025 relative to 2016, prompting a royal plea to cancel traditional Eid sacrifices.
• Türkiye: Drought accelerated groundwater depletion, triggering sinkholes that present hazards to communities and their infrastructure while permanently reducing aquifer storage capacity.

Latin America

• Amazon Basin: Record-low river levels in 2023 and 2024 led to mass deaths of fish and endangered dolphins, and disrupted drinking water and transport for hundreds of thousands. As deforestation and fires intensify, the Amazon risks transitioning from a carbon sink to a carbon source.
• Panama Canal: Water levels dropped so low that transits were slashed by over one-third (from 38 to 24 ships daily between October 2023 and January 2024), causing major global trade disruptions. Facing multi-week delays, many ships were rerouted to longer, costlier paths via the Suez Canal or South Africa’s infamous Cape of Good Hope. Among the knock-on effects, U.S. soybean exports slowed, and UK grocery stores reported shortages and rising prices of fruits and vegetables.

Southeast Asia

• Drought disrupted production and supply chains of key crops such as rice, coffee, and sugar. In 2023-2024, dry conditions in Thailand and India, for example, triggered shortages leading to a 8.9% increase in the price of sugar and sweets in the US.

“A Perfect Storm” of El Niño and climate change

The 2023–2024 El Niño event amplified already harsh climate change impacts, triggering dry conditions across major agricultural and ecological zones. Drought’s impacts hit hardest in climate hotspots, regions already suffering from warming trends, population pressures, and fragile infrastructure.

“This was a perfect storm,” says report co-author Dr. Kelly Helm Smith, NDMC Assistant Director and drought impacts researcher. “El Niño added fuel to the fire of climate change, compounding the effects for many vulnerable societies and ecosystems past their limits.”

Co-author Dr. Cody Knutson, who oversees NDMC drought planning research, underlined a recent OECD estimate that a drought episode today carries an economic cost at least twice as high as in 2000, with a 35% to 110% increase projected by 2035.

“Ripple effects can turn regional droughts into global economic shocks,” she adds. “No country is immune when critical water-dependent systems start to collapse.”

Women, children among the most affected

Most vulnerable to the effects of drought: Women, children, the elderly, pastoralists, subsistence farmers, and people with chronic illness.  Health risks include cholera outbreaks, acute malnutrition, dehydration, and exposure to polluted water.

The report highlights in particular the disproportionate toll on women and children.

In Eastern Africa, forced child marriages more than doubled as families sought dowries to survive. Though outlawed in Ethiopia, child marriages more than doubled in frequency in the four regions hit hardest by the drought. Young girls who marry can bring their family income in the form of a dowry while lessening the financial burden of providing food and other necessities.

In Zimbabwe, entire school districts saw mass dropouts due to hunger, costs, and sanitation issues for girls.

In the Amazon, the drought upended life for remote Indigenous and rural communities. In some areas, the Amazon River fell to its lowest level ever recorded, leaving residents stranded – including women giving birth – and entire towns without potable water.

“The coping mechanisms we saw during this drought grew  increasingly desperate,” says lead author Paula Guastello, NDMC drought impacts researcher. “Girls pulled from school and forced into marriage, hospitals going dark, and families digging holes in dry riverbeds just to find contaminated water — these are signs of severe crisis.”

“As droughts intensify, it is critical that we work together on a global scale to protect the most vulnerable people and ecosystems and re-evaluate whether our current water use practices are sustainable in today’s changing world,” Guastello says.

Says Deputy Executive Secretary of UNCCD Andrea Meza: “The report shows the deep and widespread impacts of drought in an interconnected world: from its rippling effects on price of basic commodities like rice, sugar and oil from Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean; to disruptions in access to drinking water and food in the Amazon due to low river levels, to tens of millions affected by malnutrition and displacement across Africa.”

“The evidence is clear”, adds Meza. “We must urgently invest in sustainable land and water management, land-use planning and integrated public policies to build our  resilience to drought or face increasingly harsh consequences.”

Public policies and international cooperation frameworks must urgently prioritize drought resilience for the sake of societies and economies.”

Wildlife killed en masse

• Beyond the 200 endangered river dolphins and thousands of fish lost to the Amazon drought, impacts on wildlife include:
• 100 elephants died in Zimbabwe’s Hwange Park due to starvation and limited access to water between August and December 2023.
• Hippos were stranded in dry riverbeds in Botswana in 2024.
• Some countries last year culled wild animals (e.g., 200 elephants in Zimbabwe and Namibia) to feed rural communities and protect ecosystems from overgrazing.

Lessons and recommendations

The report calls for urgent investments in drought preparedness, including:

• Stronger early warning systems and real-time drought and drought impact monitoring, including conditions contributing to food and water insecurity.
• Nature-based solutions such as watershed restoration and indigenous crop use.
• Resilient infrastructure, including off-grid energy and alternative water supply technologies.
• Gender-responsive adaptation, ensuring that women and girls are not further marginalized.
• Global cooperation, especially in protecting transboundary river basins and trade routes.

“Drought is not just a weather event – it can be a social, economic, and environmental emergency,” says Dr. Smith. “The question is not whether this will happen again, but whether we will be better prepared next time.”

“Drought has a disproportionate effect on those with fewest resources. We can act now to reduce the effects of future droughts by working to ensure that everyone has access to food, water, education, health care and economic opportunity.”

“The nations of the world have the resources and the knowledge to prevent a lot of suffering,” Dr. Smith adds. “The question is, do we have the will?”

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By the Numbers:

• 68 million: People needing food aid in Southern Africa
• 23 million: People facing acute hunger in Eastern Africa
• 70%: Maize crop lost in Zimbabwe (2024)
• Up to 21 hours/day: Power outages in Zambia
• 200+: Endangered river dolphins killed by heat in the Amazon (Sept 2023)
• 38: Daily Panama Canal transits before drought; 24 during drought
• 50%: Olive oil production drop in Spain
• 1 million+: People in Somalia displaced due to drought (2022); 4.4 million at crisis-level hunger (early 2025); 1.7 million children suffering acute malnutrition (Apr–Jun 2025)
• 70%: Victoria Falls water level drop compared with 2023 (Zambia side, 2024)
• 100+: Drought-related elephant deaths in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park
• 1,600+: Estimated number of sinkholes in Türkiye due to groundwater depletion
• Nearly doubled: Price increase of maize in Zambia
• €22.84 billion: Spain’s investment in irrigation and water infrastructure

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About the report

The National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification sought to document drought’s recent impacts comprehensively to inform global policy and better prepare societies for future droughts.  The report draws on over 250 peer-reviewed studies, official data sources, and news reports across more than a dozen countries and regions.

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News release in full, click here

Coverage highlights

Recent droughts are ‘slow-moving global catastrophe’ – UN report, BBC, United Kingdom (144,490,956)

Droughts worldwide pushing tens of millions towards starvation, says report, The Guardian, United Kingdom (80,836,345)

Earth has seen some of its worst droughts ever recorded in last two years, report finds
CBS News, United States (online reach 43,927,397)

Seca é ‘catástrofe global em câmera lenta’, alerta relatório da ONU, G1, Brazil (62,344,597)

Drought claims victims and fuels social injustices: the UN warns, La Repubblica, Italy (18,488,679)

UN agency report: The world faces severe drought challenges, news.sina.com.cn / 新浪新闻, China (17,922,693)

UN-backed report warns of escalating global drought risk, calls for urgent action, 新华网 (Xinhua), China (2,479,924)

El mapa mundial de la sequía sitúa a España en primera línea de una “catástrofe global”, El Mundo, Spain (22,880,882)

„Eine langsam voranschreitende globale Katastrophe: Wo Wassermangel Menschen am härtesten trifft, Der Tagesspiegel, Germany (9,207,919)

UN schlagen Alarm: Dürre-Bericht sieht fortschreitende globale Katastrophe, dpa via ZEIT online, Germany (4,196,119)

Eventos recordes de seca ocorreram nos últimos dois anos, alerta ONU, Folha de S. Paulo, Brazil (8,765,184)

Record temperatures, failed crops, and power outages: the triple impact of climate change-induced droughts, Infobae, Argentina (97,611,329)

UN-backed report warns of escalating global drought risk, calls for urgent action, IANS newswire via ProKerala.com, India (10,017,911)

How climate change-fuelled drought hit India’s sugar production, India Today, India (39,529,942)

Global drought exacerbates famine and displaces millions, Al Jazeera Arabic Online, Qatar (8,817,968)

Recent droughts are “global catastrophe in slow motion”, SAPO, Portugal (6,257,857)

Climate change is causing increasingly devastating droughts, Presse Canadienne newswire via MSN Canada, Canada (3,375,680)

Full coverage summary, click here

Amid deepening inequalities and escalating crises, including climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, a new United Nations report presents a bold approach for change. 

The 2025 Interconnected Disaster Risks report, Turning Over a New Leaf, issued by the UN University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), shifts focus from diagnosing problems to mapping out solutions. It establishes that many of today’s solutions are surface-level fixes, and that to create lasting change, we need to question the societal structures and mindsets that perpetuate these challenges.

 “Society is at a crossroads,” says Prof. Shen Xiaomeng, Director of UNU-EHS. “For years, scientists have warned us about the damage we’re doing to our planet, and how to stop it. But we aren’t taking meaningful actions. We know climate change is worsening, yet fossil fuel consumption keeps hitting record highs. We already have a waste crisis, yet household waste is projected to double by 2050. Time and again, we see the danger ahead, yet we keep moving towards it. In many cases, we see the abyss, we know how to turn around, and yet we confidently keep walking towards it. Why?” 

To answer this question, the report offers a more holistic analysis of what lies at the heart of human actions, and how true change can be achieved, and it also gives real-world examples of positive changes that have been made around the world and can serve as a model and source of inspiration.

The Theory of Deep Change

The previous edition of Interconnected Disaster Risks had warned about irreversible risk tipping points, and this year the authors picked up where the last report left off by developing a path forward: The Theory of Deep Change (ToDC).

This theory dives down to root causes of global problems, identifying structures and assumptions in society that allow them to persist. For example, when a river is so clogged with plastic waste that it creates disastrous floods, people might criticize the waste management system and call for more recycling. However, the Theory of Deep Change goes deeper: it first identifies the structures that allow waste to accumulate to begin with, such as single-use items or mass production systems, and then dives deeper into the assumptions that led to the creation of those systems, and that incentivize people to keep them going, such as believing that ‘new is better’ or that material production and consumption is a sign of progress. 

Change starts at the roots

The scientists relate their model to a tree, where the visible outcomes are the fruits, but the real issues lie at the roots: Rotten roots produce rotten fruits.

True change, the report emphasizes, starts at the roots. Without rethinking the values and mindsets underpinning these systems, the systems themselves will never change. Interventions such as recycling or conservation will remain inadequate because they are superficial fixes that do not address the root causes of waste and biodiversity loss. Society cannot recycle its way out of the plastic crisis without questioning why so much plastic waste is produced in the first place.

Caitlyn Eberle, a lead author of the report, remarks: “There are many people who are trying to change the world for the better. But trying to do the right thing can seem like an impossible challenge, and when we feel as though things aren’t moving in the right direction, it is easy to feel defeated. Our report shows that many of the actions we take, as well-intentioned as they are, won’t work as long as there is a whole system working against us. We need to go deeper, envision the world that we want to live in, and change the structures to match that vision.”

Recognizing and going beyond superficial fixes

Solar geoengineering is one example cited in the report of how not addressing the deep roots of a problem can cause even further risks. Currently, there is growing interest in research and deployment of solar geoengineering technologies, such as spraying aerosols into the Earth’s stratosphere to reflect sunlight back to space and lower average global temperatures. Hailed as a solution for climate change, this approach could have unpredictable impacts on weather patterns all across the globe. 

But additionally, seen through the lens of the Theory of Deep Change, solar geoengineering is also an attempt to leave the current system in place rather than committing to the real solution. By addressing the negative consequences of human actions (global warming), instead of the actions themselves (burning fossil fuels), it is a superficial fix. Moreover, when executed by individual governments or companies, it is also an example of a unilateral decision being made in one part of the world that could have far-reaching consequences for others.

Five deep changes

The report outlines five areas where deep systemic changes are urgently needed:

• Rethink waste: From trash to treasure
• Realign with nature: From separation to harmony
• Reconsider responsibility: From me to we
• Reimagine the future: From seconds to centuries
• Redefine value: From economic wealth to planetary health.

Levers: How to make change happen

To create truly deep change, the Theory of Deep Change recognizes two types of levers that can be used to affect change: inner and outer levers. While it is possible to start with one lever, both are needed to create lasting change.

• Inner levers: Inner levers are the ways we can change the current assumptions of our systems. They include paradigm or mindset shifts that allow people to redefine the boundaries of what is possible.
• Outer levers: Outer levers translate the new goals of a system into practical structures to produce more positive outcomes. They involve changes to policy, institutions or education, for instance.

In respect to the previously mentioned example of solar geoengineering, an inner lever would shift assumptions from prioritizing self-interest to viewing ourselves as responsible people caring about the global community. Outer levers can also be pulled to create structures for international governance and commitments to work together to solve global problems. Both of these are needed in combination to create a deep change that will last and result in a better future. 

Overcoming barriers to change

The report acknowledges major challenges to change, such as the “Delta of Doom” – even when solutions are clear and change is already underway, implementation can be stalled by conflicts of interest, fear and systemic inertia. This may aptly describe the strong headwinds against meaningful action we see today.   

The key to overcoming them lies in recognizing that positive change can and does happen every day, and that systems can change because they are human-made.

“Change can be uncomfortable, but going backwards won’t solve the challenges of a rapidly evolving world,” says Dr. Zita Sebesvari, another lead author of the report. “This report is not just about avoiding disaster – it’s about breaking free from the mindset of merely mitigating harm. We limit ourselves when we focus only on preventing the worst, rather than striving for the best. By addressing the root causes of the problems, fostering global cooperation and believing in our collective power, we can shape a world where future generations do not just survive but thrive. It’s time for fresh thinking, and ultimately, turning over a new leaf.”

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Further information on the five broad changes

1. Rethink waste: The world’s “take-make-waste” model is unsustainable, generating 2 billion tonnes of household waste annually – enough to fill a line of shipping containers wrapped around the equator 25 times. The report calls for a rethinking of the concept of “waste” and for shifting to a circular economy that prioritizes durability, repair and reuse. Kamikatsu, Japan is highlighted as a model of success, a town that has embraced circular strategies such as composting, upcycling, clothing exchanges, and waste separation, and that has achieved a recycling rate four times the average in Japan. The report warns that failure to keep resources in use can also affect their availability in the future. Lithium, which is used in batteries for rechargeable items like phones, is taken in great quantities, but rarely reused. Lithium reserves are currently estimated to be depleted by around 2050. At the same time, it is projected that over 75 per cent of lithium mined by 2050 will end up in the garbage. We are depleting lithium reserves while letting the lithium that has been used go to waste. 
2. Realign with nature: Humanity must stop seeing itself as separate from, and superior to, nature. Humans have attempted to control natural processes instead of coexisting with them, but centuries of exploitation have led to deforestation, species extinction and ecosystem collapse. Destroying nature destroys some of the most precious resources needed for human survival, such as clean air and water, food or the materials used for shelter. One example in the report is river channelization, a process that alters rivers to flow in straight lines, to improve navigability, create more agricultural land or to protect cities from flooding. In the 1960s, the Kissimmee River in Florida, USA, was channelized, drying out around 160 square kilometres of wetlands and leading to a massive decline in species. Furthermore, while channelization is often done to reduce flooding in one area, it frequently makes flooding worse for downstream communities. But the Kissimmee River is also a positive example: having recently been restored, wetland species have returned, corridors for panthers and bears to cross the state reinstated, and the wetlands are again serving as a sponge, storing billions of gallons of water to help prevent flooding during storms, especially important as hurricanes become more frequent and severe.
3. Reconsider responsibility: The world is a shared home to more than 8 billion people, but resources and opportunities are unevenly distributed. This disparity also extends to greenhouse gas emissions and how the impacts of climate change are felt. The wealthiest nations and individuals contribute disproportionately to emissions, while the poorest bear the brunt of climate-related disasters. One example highlighted in the report is carbon offsetting, where rich countries avoid ambitious climate goals by balancing out their own emissions through tree planting in another part of the world, thereby also shifting negative effects to these other countries (“carbon colonialism”). The report calls for a shift from individualism and unilateralism to collective global accountability, advocating for a multilateral vision for the future.
4. Reimagine the future: Short-term thinking – the problem of “presentism” – dominates decision-making. Because society tends to focus on the here and now, we often shift responsibility to future generations. The people alive today determine the conditions for the trillions of people yet to be born, and in many respects, we will be leaving future generations a world with more challenges rather than setting them up for success. One example highlighted in the report is nuclear waste. While some view nuclear energy as a clean and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, it also produces radioactive waste with a lifespan of over 100,000 years. At present, humanity has found no way to properly dispose of this toxic waste, so it is most often deposited in temporary storage sites, which pose containment risks, in the hopes that future generations will solve the problem. The report urges for more long-term thinking, for example by institutionalizing future visioning in policymaking.
5. Redefine value: The world is becoming richer, with world GDP rising, but more global wealth does not equate more global prosperity and well-being. Benefits are not shared equally, and planetary health is declining. The report reveals an imbalance in values where economic value is usually put before other values. One example cited are forests, which support biodiversity, as well as human health and well-being. However, in some places, deforested land is valued up to 7.5 times more than forested land, leading to strong economic pressure on forests and to deforestation. A narrow focus on monetary value fuels inequality and environmental degradation and strains planetary boundaries. The report cites alternative models like Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index, which prioritizes well-being and ecological balance over economic growth.

By the Numbers

Rethink waste:

• 2 billion: Tonnes of household waste produced annually 
• 95% less: Energy required to produce recycled aluminum compared to primary production
• 7.4 million: Tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions saved annually in the UK by keeping organic waste out of landfills
• 80%: Recycling rate achieved by Kamikatsu, Japan (4x the national average)

Realign with nature:

• 1 million: Species of plants and animals at risk of extinction 
• 95%: Land altered by human activities
• 25,000: Kilometres of rivers planned for restoration to free-flowing conditions in Europe by 2030

Reconsider responsibility:

• 75%: of relative income losses due to climate change felt by the poorest half of the population, despite being responsible for just 12% of greenhouse gas emissions
• 98%: Decrease in ozone-depleting substances since the Montreal Protocol was enacted
• 8.2 billion: People who share planet Earth as a home
• 30%: Of the reserves of minerals essential to global manufacturing and technology are located in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet over 30% of the local population experiences severe poverty
• 1.3 million: Deaths from COVID-19 around the world that could have been prevented with equitable vaccine coverage

Reimagine the future:

• 6.75 trillion: Predicted number of births over the next 50,000 years
• 7 generations: The minimum impact window considered in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s decision-making principle
• $659 billion: Global investment in renewable energy in 2023, a record high

Redefine value:

• $100 trillion: Global GDP in 2022, up from $4.5 trillion in 1973
• 10%: Proportion of the global population that owns 76% of all wealth

Some examples of proven success stories: change is possible

In addition to the examples noted earlier, the report highlights many global and national initiatives where society has managed to make deep positive changes, including:

• USB-C law: In 2022 the EU passed a law requiring all portable electronics to use USB-C charging ports to reduce e-waste
• Kamikatsu Zero Waste Center: a hub for zero-waste activities in the town of Kamikatsu, Japan that allowed it to achieve an 80 per cent recycling rate
• UK Peatland Conservation: A nature-based solution benefiting both ecosystems and communities 
• Earth jurisprudence: In 2008, Ecuador’s constitution established enforceable rights of Pachamama, or Mother Earth. Under this framework, one court ruled that flooding caused by dumping construction debris into the Vilcabamba River violated rights of nature, ordering the removal of the debris to restore the right of the river to flow.
• Montreal Protocol: Successfully reversed ozone layer depletion through coordinated global action
• The Aboriginal Carbon Foundation: Indigenous-led framework to supply carbon credits
• Finland’s Committee for the Future advises on policies with multi-generational impacts
• Svalbard Global Seed Vault: Protecting biodiversity for future generations
• Green prescriptions: In countries like Canada, New Zealand and Japan, doctors give out “green prescriptions” to promote health by spending time in nature – recognizing the diverse values that nature provides.
• Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index prioritizes well-being and ecological balance over economic growth
• Smoking: Example of a big societal shift where a mindset shift and regulations have come together to drastically reduce an unhealthy behaviour

About the Interconnected Disaster Risks Report (#InterconnectedRisks)

Interconnected Disaster Risks is a science-based report designed to be accessible to the general public. First released in 2021, it has a different topical focus for each edition, with the aim to shed light on the interconnections that are at the root of today’s global challenges, as well as solutions. Based on thorough scientific analysis, it includes technical background reports for each of the cases it discusses in the main report, this year for each of the five changes that are highlighted.

The main report, technical reports, executive summary, along with additional multimedia resources, are available post embargo at interconnectedrisks.org

About the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)

The United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) was established in 2003 in Bonn, Germany. The institute conducts research work focusing on advancing human security and well-being by addressing present and future risks arising from environmental hazards and climate change. Its main areas of work are risk & adaptation and transformation. In addition to its research work, UNU-EHS offers education opportunities at the master’s level and hosts a number of international PhD projects and capacity-development courses on global issues of environmental risks and sustainable development. More information: https://unu.edu/ehs

@UNUEHS

News release in full, click here

Example media coverage (with headline translations):

Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA):

1. UN: We have to get to the root of problems,
2. Coping with environmental crises: does a changed mindset help humanity?
3. Thinking differently: is this the salvation of humanity?

Correio Braziliense, Brazil (12,940,904): Humanity must change the way it relates to planet Earth, warns UN

Agencia EFE, Spain via Infobae, Argentina (9,304,035): New UN report proposes a profound change in structures and mentality

Anadolu Ajansı, Turkey (7,713,511): UN University urges addressing root causes of environmental challenges

ORF Online, Austria (6,546,203): Deep change necessary in five areas

El Periódico Diario Informacion, Spain (3,292,443): “Five profound changes to save the planet”: UN identifies urgent actions to address the climate crisis

Frankfurter Rundschau, via MSN Deutschland (Germany, 2,021,232): UN: We have to get to the root of problems

The Times of India (India, 30,569,186) UN University finds five deep changes urgently needed for a safer world, how to achieve them

Full coverage summary, click here

1) Nexus Assessment Report: Tackle together five interlinked global crises in biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change

>70 response options assessed for maximum co-benefits across cascading or compounding crises; Unaccounted-for costs of current approaches estimated to be at least US$10-25 trillion per year

Environmental, social and economic crises – such as biodiversity loss, water and food insecurity, health risks and climate change – are all interconnected. They interact, cascade and compound each other in ways that make separate efforts to address them ineffective and counterproductive. 

A landmark new report was launched today by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The Assessment Report on the Interlinkages Among Biodiversity, Water, Food and Health – known as the Nexus Report – offers decision-makers around the world the most ambitious scientific assessment ever undertaken of these complex interconnections and explores more than five dozen specific response options to maximize co-benefits across five ‘nexus elements’: biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change.

Approved on Monday by the 11^th session of the IPBES Plenary, composed of representatives of the 147 Governments that are members of IPBES, the report is the product of three years of work by 165 leading international experts from 57 countries from all regions of the world. It finds that existing actions to address these challenges fail to tackle the complexity of interlinked problems and result in inconsistent governance. 

“We have to move decisions and actions beyond single issue silos to better manage, govern and improve the impact of actions in one nexus element on other elements,” said Prof. Paula Harrison (United Kingdom), co-chair of the Assessment with Prof. Pamela McElwee (USA). “Take for example the health challenge of schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia) – a parasitic disease that can cause life-long ill health and which affects more than 200 million people worldwide – especially in Africa. Treated only as a health challenge – usually through medication – the problem often recurs as people are reinfected. An innovative project in rural Senegal took a different approach – reducing water pollution and removing invasive water plants to reduce the habitat for the snails that host the parasitic worms that carry the disease – resulting in a 32% reduction in infections in children, improved access to freshwater and new revenue for the local communities.” 

“The best way to bridge single issue silos is through integrated and adaptive decision-making. ‘Nexus approaches’ offer policies and actions that are more coherent and coordinated – moving us towards the transformative change needed to meet our development and sustainability goals,” said Prof. McElwee.

Past and Current Challenges

The report states that biodiversity – the richness and variety of all life on Earth – is declining at every level from global to local, and across every region. These ongoing declines in nature, largely as a result of human activity, including climate change, have direct and dire impacts on food security and nutrition, water quality and availability, health and wellbeing outcomes, resilience to climate change and almost all of nature’s other contributions to people.

Building on previous IPBES reports, in particular the 2022 Values Assessment Report and the 2019 Global Assessment Report, which identified the most important direct drivers of biodiversity loss, including land- and sea-use change, unsustainable exploitation, invasive alien species and pollution, the Nexus Report further underscores how indirect socioeconomic drivers, such as increasing waste, overconsumption and population growth, intensify the direct drivers – worsening impacts on all parts of the nexus. The majority of 12 assessed indicators across these indirect drivers – such as GDP, population levels and overall food supply, have all increased or accelerated since 2001. 

“Efforts of Governments and other stakeholders have often failed to take into account indirect drivers and their impact on interactions between nexus elements because they remain fragmented, with many institutions working in isolation – often resulting in conflicting objectives, inefficiencies and negative incentives, leading to unintended consequences,” said Prof. Harrison.

The report highlights that more than half of global gross domestic product – more than $50 trillion of annual economic activity around the world – is moderately to highly dependent on nature. “But current decision making has prioritized short-term financial returns while ignoring costs to nature, and failed to hold actors to account for negative economic pressures on the natural world. It is estimated that the unaccounted-for costs of current approaches to economic activity – reflecting impacts on biodiversity, water, health and climate change, including from food production – are at least $10-25 trillion per year,” said Prof. McElwee.

The existence of such unaccounted-for costs, alongside direct public subsidies to economic activities that have negative impacts on biodiversity (approximately $1.7 trillion per year), enhances private financial incentives to invest in economic activities that cause direct damage to nature (approximately $5.3 trillion per year), in spite of growing evidence of biophysical risks to economic progress and financial stability.

Delaying the action needed to meet policy goals will also increase the costs of delivering it. Delayed action on biodiversity goals, for example, could as much as double costs – also increasing the probability of irreplaceable losses such as species extinctions. Delayed action on climate change adds at least $500 billion per year in additional costs for meeting policy targets. 

Unequal Impacts and Need for Inclusive Decision-Making

“Another key message from the report is that the increasingly negative effects of intertwined global crises have very unequal impacts, disproportionately affecting some more than others,” said Prof. Harrison. 

More than half of the world’s population is living in areas experiencing the highest impacts from declines in biodiversity, water availability and quality and food security, and increases in health risks and negative effects of climate change. These burdens especially affect developing countries, including small island developing states, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, as well as those in vulnerable situations in higher-income countries. 41% of people live in areas that saw extremely strong declines in biodiversity between 2000 and 2010, 9% in areas that have experienced very high health burdens and 5% in areas with high levels of malnutrition.

Some efforts – such as research and innovation, education and environmental regulations – have been partially successful in improving trends across nexus elements, but the report finds these are unlikely to succeed without addressing interlinkages more fully and tackling indirect drivers like trade and consumption. Decision-making that is more inclusive, with a particular focus on equity, can help ensure those most affected are included in solutions, in addition to larger economic and financial reforms.

Future Scenarios

The report also examines future challenges – assessing 186 different scenarios from 52 separate studies, which project interactions between three or more of the nexus elements, mostly covering the periods up to 2050 and 2100.

A key message from this analysis is that if current “business as usual” trends in direct and indirect drivers of change continue, the outcomes will be extremely poor for biodiversity, water quality and human health – with worsening climate change and increasing challenges to meet global policy goals. 

Similarly, a focus on trying to maximize the outcomes for only one part of the nexus in isolation will likely result in negative outcomes for the other nexus elements. For example, a ‘food first’ approach prioritizes food production with positive benefits on nutritional health, arising from unsustainable intensification of production and increased per capita consumption. This has negative impacts on biodiversity, water and climate change. An exclusive focus on climate change can result in negative outcomes for biodiversity and food, reflecting competition for land. Weak environmental regulation, made worse by delays, results in worsening impacts for biodiversity, food, human health and climate change. 

“Future scenarios do exist that have positive outcomes for people and nature by providing co-benefits across the nexus elements,” said Prof Harrison. “The future scenarios with the widest nexus benefits are those with actions that focus on sustainable production and consumption in combination with conserving and restoring ecosystems, reducing pollution, and mitigating and adapting to climate change.”

An important aim of IPBES work is to provide the science and evidence needed to support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement on climate change. The Nexus Report shows that scenarios focusing on synergies among biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change have the best likely outcomes for the SDGs – and that focusing on addressing the challenges in just one sector – such as food, biodiversity or climate change in isolation – seriously limits the chances of meeting other goals.

Response Options

The report shows that there are a significant number of responses – on a policy, political and community level – currently available to sustainably manage across biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change, some of which are also low cost. 

The authors present more than 70 of these ‘response options’ to help manage the nexus elements synergistically, representing 10 broad categories of action. Examples of these response options that have broadly positive impacts across nexus elements are: restoring carbon-rich ecosystems such as forests, soils, mangroves; managing biodiversity to reduce risk of diseases spreading from animals to humans; improving integrated landscape and seascape management; urban nature-based solutions; sustainable healthy diets; and supporting Indigenous food systems.

Other response options are important, but may not have as many synergistic benefits for all nexus elements. Some, such as offshore wind power and dams, may have negative impacts on other nexus elements if not carefully implemented.

The more than 70 response options presented in the report, taken together, support the achievement of all 17 SDGs, all 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the long-term goals for climate change mitigation and adaptation of the Paris Agreement. Twenty four of the response options advance more than five SDGs and more than five of the Global Biodiversity Framework targets. 

Implementing response options together or in sequence can further improve their positive impacts and achieve cost savings. Ensuring inclusive participation, such as including Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the co-design, governance and implementation of response options, can also increase the benefits and equity of these measures. 

“Some good examples include marine protected areas that have included communities in management and decision-making,” said Prof. McElwee. “These have led to increases in biodiversity, greater abundance of fish to feed people and improved incomes for local communities and often increased tourism revenues as well.”

Nexus Governance Approaches & Action

Speaking about what will be needed to advance effective responses, policies and actions, Prof. McElwee said: “Our current governance structures and approaches are not responsive enough to meet the interconnected challenges that result from the accelerated speed and scale of environmental change and rising inequalities. Fragmented and siloed institutions, as well as short-term, contradictory and non-inclusive policies have significant potential to put achievement of the global development and sustainability targets at risk. This can be addressed by moving towards ‘nexus governance approaches’: more integrated, inclusive, equitable, coordinated and adaptive approaches.”

The report offers a series of eight specific and deliberative steps to help policymakers, communities, civil society and other stakeholders identify problems and shared values in order to work together towards solutions for just and sustainable futures – presented as a graphical road map for nexus action.

Speaking about the immediate relevance and value of the report, Dr. David Obura, Chair of IPBES said: “The past two months have seen three separate major global negotiations – COP16 of both the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification, as well as COP29 of the climate Convention. Together with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDGs, it is clear that the Governments of the world are working harder than ever before to address the global challenges – grounded in the environmental crises – that confront us all. The Nexus Report helps to better inform all of these actions, policies and decisions, particularly in addressing their interlinkages, and the greater benefits achieved by devising integrated solutions at all scales. I would like to thank and congratulate the co-chairs, authors and everyone who has contributed to this tremendously complex and important assessment process.”

* * * * *

By the Numbers – Key Statistics and Thematic Findings from the Report

• 2-6%: Biodiversity decline per decade across all assessed indicators for the last 30-50 years
• >50%: Global population living in areas experiencing highest impacts from declines in biodiversity, water availability and quality and food security, and increases in health risks and negative effects of climate change
• ~$58 trillion: Value in 2023 of global annual economic activity generated in sectors moderately to highly dependent on nature (i.e. more than 50% of global GDP)
• Up to $25 trillion: Annual ‘external’ costs (not considered as part of decision-making) across the fossil fuel, agriculture and fisheries sectors, reflecting the negative impacts of production and consumption in these sectors on biodiversity, climate change, water, and health
• $5.3 trillion: Annual private-sector financial flows directly damaging to biodiversity
• $1.7 trillion: Annual public subsidies incentivizing damage to biodiversity, distorting trade and increasing pressure on natural resources
• $100 billion-$300 billion: Annual value of illegal resource extraction activities including in the wildlife, timber and fish trades
• Up to $200 billion: Annual expenditure aimed at improving the status of biodiversity
• Up to $1 trillion: Estimated annual financing gap to meet global resource needs for biodiversity
• At least $4 trillion: Estimated annual financing gap to meet the SDGs in addition to the biodiversity funding gap
• Economic impacts of biodiversity loss are expected to affect developing countries, where there are also higher barriers to mobilizing sustainable financial flows (exacerbated in some cases by burdens of high debt)
• 43%: Proportion of total biodiversity-financing flows that also directly include benefits for another nexus element
• 81%: Proportion of funding for biodiversity that comes from public institutions
• $42 billion: Current funding for payments for ecosystem services, which often fund activities for both biodiversity and another nexus element like water
• €47 million: Investment by the city of Paris to help farmers transition to ecological intensification, resulting in reduced pollution and cleaner water
• 30%: Proportion of world’s land, waters and seas to be protected by 2030 under target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – supported by the scenario analysis of the assessment and can provide nexus-wide benefits if effectively managed for nature and people
• Reduction of plastics has led to increased water quality and wildlife protection, fewer floods and reductions in incidence of associated water-borne diseases
• Urban nature-based solutions that increase urban green and blue space help to manage heat island effects, improve water quality and availability and reduce air pollution, as well as reducing allergens and zoonotic disease risk
• Response options that are implemented in more equitable ways also provide greater potential benefits across the nexus elements, indicating that effectiveness and equity often are not trade-offs but go hand-in-hand
• Knowledge and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities can help successfully conserve biodiversity and sustainably manage other nexus elements. For example, strong reductions in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon were achieved after formalizing and enforcing tenure rights to territories of Indigenous Peoples and local communities

Water

• Freshwater biodiversity is being lost faster than terrestrial biodiversity. Unsustainable freshwater withdrawal, wetland degradation and forest loss have decreased water quality and climate change resilience in many areas of the world, impacting biodiversity, water and food availability with consequences for human, plant and animal
• Many marine systems globally have been overharvested and degraded through human activities
• The water cycle is regulated by ecosystem and geophysical processes – supporting biodiversity and providing many contributions that are essential to human health and well-being
• Forest cover loss decreases water regulation, quality and availability, resulting in increasing water treatment costs and negative health outcomes
• ~80%: Proportion of humanity’s demand for freshwater used to meet food production needs
• 75%: Proportion of global population in 2005 dependent on forests for accessible freshwater
• At least 50: Diseases attributable to poor water supply, water quality and sanitation
• ~33%: Reef-building coral species at high risk of extinction
• Nearly 1 billion: people living within 100km of a coral reef and who benefit from them in terms of food, medicine, protection from coastal storms and erosion, tourism and recreation and livelihoods
• Transboundary water cooperation facilitates the sustainable management of resources at the basin scale, and better collaboration between sectors and stakeholders. Improving groundwater governance through cooperation across scales, including support for community water management, increases benefits across the nexus elements, while integrated water infrastructure and water-sensitive urban infrastructure take advantage of natural systems to reduce risks from floods and other hazards, deliver benefits for food production and contribute to climate change mitigation

Food

• Increases in food production have improved health through greater caloric intake, but unsustainable agricultural practices have also resulted in loss of biodiversity, unsustainable water usage, reduced food diversity and quality, and increased pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
• Negative impacts on the nexus elements from food systems have decreased biodiversity and consequently many of nature’s contributions to people, especially through diminished regulating contributions (e.g., regulation of water quality and climate); increased non-communicable disease risks; emerging infectious diseases; and global temperatures and other climatic changes
• Global agrobiodiversity is declining, including genetic resources for food and agriculture, with impacts on ecosystem functioning, food system resilience, food security and nutrition, as well as on social (employment and health) and economic (income and productivity) systems
• Global malnutrition and inequalities in food security persist despite a decline in the total number of undernourished people –the cost of healthy diets can be high, particularly in developing countries, and consequently inaccessible to many
• Unsustainable exploitation and pollution of freshwater and marine ecosystems impact millions of people, including those highly dependent on protein-rich food obtained from these ecosystems, such as Indigenous Peoples and local communities
• 42%: Proportion of global population in 2021 unable to afford healthy diets, 86% for low-income and 70% for lower-middle income countries
• 80%: Proportion of total undernourished people who live in developing countries, primarily living in rural areas
• >800 million: People affected by food insecurity in Asia and Africa
• Nearly 3 million: Deaths in 2017 associated with diets low in whole grains
• Adopting sustainable agricultural practices (such as improving nitrogen use efficiency, integrated pest management, agroecology, agroforestry and sustainable intensification, reductions in food losses and waste, adoption of novel food/feed sources and sustainable healthy diets would enable the current agricultural land area to meet the calorific and nutritional needs of future generations in the medium to long term
• 30%: Increase in cereal yields, as well as enhancing soil health and biodiversity in some parts of south-central Niger through farmer-managed natural regeneration of 5 million hectares with native trees and agroforestry systems
• Indigenous food systems, grounded in reciprocal worldviews and values regarding people and nature in balance and in the sustainable use of biodiversity are supplying sustainable and healthy foods while also contributing to biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation and adaptation

Health

• Greater life expectancy and childhood survival are partly a result of increased production and access to food. Worsening outcomes from several communicable and non-communicable diseases are linked to biodiversity loss, unhealthy diets, lack of clean water, pollution and climate change among other causes
• Unsustainable farming systems contribute to biodiversity loss, excessive water use, pollution and climate change
• 20: Years of average life expectancy difference between regions
• 10x: Extent to which child mortality rates are higher in least-developed-countries compared to high-income countries
• 11 million: Adult deaths in 2017 (and 255 million disability-adjusted life years among adults) accounted for by unhealthy diets
• 9 million: Premature deaths in 2019 (16% of all deaths) estimated to have been caused by increased air and water pollution
• 50%: Proportion of emerging and reemerging infectious disease events driven by changes in land use, agricultural practices and activities that encroach on natural habitats and lead to increased contact between wildlife, domestic animals and humans – highlighting the interconnections between ecosystem, animal and human health
• The One Health approach supports integrating food system and biodiversity management with local health services to reduce risks from zoonotic pathogen emergence and spillover at source, malnutrition and other risks such as to wildlife health, food production and ecosystems. For example, Brazil’s successful Unified Health System joins human health professionals, veterinarians and environmental health practitioners working together with farmers and policymakers to jointly design holistic practices aimed at addressing social and environmental determinants of health and contributing to preventing pathogen emergence and disease outbreaks for both people and animals

Climate Change

• Climate change affects biodiversity, water, food and health through changes in average climatic conditions and the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events
• Climate change impacts terrestrial food production with consequences for human health and well-being including exacerbating food insecurity for vulnerable populations 
• Intensifying climate change will stress water resources and undermine agricultural productivity and food productivity in food production systems, cause increased mortality from heat waves and expand the epidemic belt for vector-borne diseases towards higher latitudes and altitudes
• Extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, flooding, droughts and wildfires result in direct health impacts and increased dispersal of pathogens and pollutants (e.g., untreated wastewater, fertilizers, pesticides, sediments and air pollutants) 
• Under current trends, climate change leads to irreversible loss of marine biodiversity, such as coral reefs, and negative effects on coastal fisheries; both provide diets that prevent malnutrition, stunted child growth and other conditions
• Exposure to risks from climate change is projected to double between the 1.5°C and 2°C global warming levels and double again between a 2°C and 3°C world, across multiple sectors 
• 21-37%: Proportion of total greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the global food system
• 58%: Proportion of known human infectious diseases likely to worsen due to climate change
• 12,000-19,000: Heat-related child deaths in Africa between 2011 and 2020 to which climate change directly contributed
• 62,000: Heat-related deaths in Europe in 2022
• 1,500: Heat-related deaths in the United States in 2023
• 12,000: Disasters caused in the last 50 years by extreme weather-, climate and water-related events, leading to 2 million human deaths (90% in low- and lower-middle-income countries) and $4.3 trillion in total costs
• >50%: Proportion of carbon sequestration in the ocean attributable to coastal ecosystems
• >$500 billion: Minimum additional annual costs for delivering adaptation and mitigation to meet climate change goals for each year of additional delay
• Restoration contributes to climate change adaptation and socio-ecological resilience and can also contribute to climate change mitigation when it targets carbon storage in forests, peatlands, seagrass beds, salt marshes and marine and coastal ecosystems that contribute to carbon sequestration

IPBES Partner Comments

“Biodiversity loss, water scarcity, food security, human health, and climate change are not isolated issues. They are indivisible, interrelated and interdependent. As they are intricately linked when one falters, the others follow. 

Despite these challenges being interconnected, our responses are far too often siloed, fixing one problem while creating another. 

The IPBES Nexus Assessment is the first comprehensive global assessment that looks at the interlinkages between these crises and identifies solutions. 

As governments continue work toward achieving commitments made in the Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Biodiversity Framework, and the Paris Agreement, this report comes at a critical moment to support countries achieve our global goals.”

• Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

“Biodiversity is vital to the efforts to meet humanity’s growing need for food, feed, fibre and fuel, while protecting the planet for future generations. We need to produce more with less, through the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life – leaving no one behind. 

The IPBES assessments help us to understand the interlinkages between biodiversity, food, and livelihoods, as well as the urgent need to address biodiversity loss with solutions that enhance sustainability and resilience. These assessments clearly highlight the essential role of agrifood system solutions in meeting the Paris Agreement, the Global Biodiversity Framework, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – especially SDG 2 to end hunger. 

FAO’s mandate aligns closely with the 2050 vision for biodiversity, promoting sustainable agrifood systems that ensure food security – by ensuring food availability, food accessibility and food affordability – with safe, sufficient and nutritious food for all, while conserving biodiversity and addressing the impacts of the climate crisis. 

With decades of experience in technical and policy support and guided by its Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Agricultural Sectors, FAO is well-positioned to lead the transition towards more sustainable agrifood systems. By leveraging our expertise, resources, and global network, we can help implement the assessments’ recommendations, ensuring agrifood systems contribute positively to biodiversity conservation, sustainable use, and climate action. 

Together, we can build a future where agrifood systems support sustainability and resilience, benefiting both people and the planet. Let us seize this opportunity to create a lasting impact.”

• QU Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

“Our ecological and planetary systems are deeply interconnected with all life on Earth, including humanity. Yet, decisions to address threats to biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate, are too often made in isolation, leading to misalignment, unplanned trade-offs, or unintended consequences at best — and negative outcomes at worst.   

By illuminating the intersections between environmental, social, and economic crises, the IPBES Nexus Assessment exposes both the limitations of isolated action — and the opportunities and acceleration possible from better aligning our global efforts. 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) welcomes the insights of this assessment as we work with the United Nations (UN) family and our many partners to drive systemic, rather than linear shifts. This is essential to enabling the scale and urgency of action needed to protect and restore our planet’s irreplaceable ecosystems and biodiversity.”

• Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

“The environmental and social crises our planet is facing are interconnected and cannot be addressed in isolation. It is therefore essential to fully understand the interlinkages that exist between biodiversity, water and food systems, health and well-being, climate disruption and global energy systems. 

As an institutional partner of IPBES, UNESCO is proud to have supported this new assessment report, which demonstrates that we can – and must – move beyond a siloed approach. We must design holistic strategies to manage environmental and social challenges while accounting for trade-offs and enhancing mutual benefits in our global system. 

The report underscores the need for diverse knowledge systems, values and governance approaches to effectively tackle today’s interconnected global challenges. UNESCO takes pride in having supported the work on indigenous and local knowledge in this assessment, which illustrates the importance of these knowledge systems in conceptualizing, understanding and managing the complex relationships between people and nature. 

By recognizing and integrating diverse perspectives, the assessment report will be invaluable for policymakers and decision makers at all levels. UNESCO stands ready to support efforts towards holistic approaches to governance and action.” 

• Audrey Azoulay, Director-General, United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

“One of the most challenging aspects of policymaking is to navigate complexity while avoiding unintended negative consequences. Actions to address global challenges affecting biodiversity, water, food, health and the climate system are often taken without sufficient regard to the interlinkages between them. Such actions inevitably result in shortcomings, if not adverse impacts on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. 

By shedding light on the interactions, trade-offs and opportunities inherent to addressing these intertwined challenges, the IPBES Nexus Report lays a strong foundation for evidence-based decisions that enhance biodiversity conservation and restoration, while also supporting food and water security, public health and climate resilience.

The IPBES Nexus Assessment Report makes an invaluable contribution to efforts by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in achieving the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) by 2030. 

I thank and congratulate the IPBES experts and members for the tremendous amount of work, expertise and innovation that went into the preparation of the Nexus Report. I look forward to seeing this asset being widely used by Parties to the CBD, Stakeholders and Partners supporting the implementation of the KMGBF.”

• Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

2) Transformative Change Assessment Report news release

Planet in Peril: IPBES Report Reveals Options to Achieve Urgently Needed Transformative Change to Halt Biodiversity Collapse

Focuses on the Underlying Causes of the Biodiversity Crisis & Options for a Just and Sustainable World

Acting Immediately Could Generate $10 Trillion in Business Opportunity Value and Support 395 Million Jobs by 2030

Issued by the IPBES Secretariat on 18 December 2024

Windhoek, Namibia. Deep, fundamental shifts in how people view and interact with the natural world are urgently needed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and safeguard life on Earth, warns a landmark new report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

The IPBES Assessment Report on the Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Loss and the Determinants of Transformative Change and Options for Achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity – also known as the Transformative Change Report – builds on the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report, which found that the only way to achieve global development goals is through transformative change, and on the 2022 IPBES Values Assessment Report.

Prepared over three years by more than 100 leading experts from 42 countries from all regions of the world, the report explains what transformative change is, how it occurs, and how to accelerate it for a just and sustainable world.

“Transformative change for a just and sustainable world is urgent because there is a closing window of opportunity to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and to prevent triggering the potentially irreversible decline and the projected collapse of key ecosystem functions,” said Prof. Karen O’Brien (Norway/USA), co-chair of the assessment with Prof. Arun Agrawal (India & USA) and Prof. Lucas Garibaldi (Argentina). “Under current trends, there is a serious risk of crossing several irreversible biophysical tipping points including die-off of low altitude coral reefs, die back of the Amazon rainforest, and loss of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets. Transformative change is also necessary because most previous and current approaches to conservation, which aim to reform rather than transform systems, have failed to halt or reverse the decline of nature around the world, which has serious repercussions for the global economy and human well-being.”

The cost of delaying actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and nature’s decline around the world by even a decade is estimated to be double that of acting now. Acting immediately can also unlock massive business and innovation opportunities through sustainable economic approaches, such as nature-positive economy, ecological economy and Mother-Earth centric economy. Recent estimates are that more than $10 trillion in business opportunity value could be generated and 395 million jobs could be supported globally by 2030.

Approved on Monday in Windhoek, Namibia by the IPBES Plenary, composed of the 147 Governments that are members of IPBES, the report defines transformative change as fundamental system-wide shifts in views – ways of thinking, knowing and seeing; structures – ways of organizing, regulating and governing; and practices – ways of doing, behaving and relating. Current dominant configurations of views, structures and practices perpetuate and reinforce the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and nature’s decline. Transforming them is central to delivering on the global commitments for a just and sustainable world.

“Promoting and accelerating transformative change is essential to meeting the 23 action-oriented targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by 2030 and four goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework by 2030 and for achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, which describes a world where all life can thrive,” said Prof. Agrawal. “Transformative change is rarely the outcome of a single event, driver, or actor. It is better understood as changes that each of us can create, and multiple cascading shifts that trigger and reinforce one another, often in unexpected ways.”

The underlying causes of biodiversity loss identified by the report are the disconnection of people from nature and domination over nature and other people; the inequitable concentration of power and wealth; and the prioritization of short-term individual and material gains.

“As complex and challenging as it is to address these underlying causes of biodiversity loss, it is possible,” said Prof. Garibaldi. “History has shown us that societies can transform at immense scale – as they did during the Industrial Revolution. While that era wrought terrible environmental and human costs, it stands as proof that fundamental, system-wide change is achievable, although it occurred over a much longer period of time than is needed for current transformative change for a just and sustainable world. To meet our shared global development goals today means we need to embark on a new transformation – one that urgently conserves and restores our planet’s biodiversity rather than depleting it, while enabling everyone to prosper.”

The authors created and analyzed a database of hundreds of separate case studies of initiatives around the world with transformative potential. Their analysis shows that positive outcomes for diverse economic and environmental indicators can happen in a decade or less. The analysis also demonstrates that initiatives addressing greater numbers of indirect drivers of biodiversity loss and nature’s decline, and those in which diverse actors work together, lead to more positive outcomes for societies, economies and nature.

Principles and Obstacles

The report identifies four principles to guide deliberate transformative change: equity and justice; pluralism and inclusion; respectful and reciprocal human-nature relationships; and adaptive learning and action.

Speaking about the obstacles that prevent transformative change and reinforce the status quo, Prof. O’Brien said: “The impacts of actions and resources devoted to blocking transformative change, for example through lobbying by vested interest groups or corruption, currently overshadow those devoted to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity”.

The report also identifies five overarching challenges to transformative change: relations of domination over nature and people, especially those that emerged and were propagated in colonial eras and that persist over time; economic and political inequalities; inadequate policies and unfit institutions; unsustainable consumption and production patterns including individual habits and practices; as well as limited access to clean technologies and uncoordinated knowledge and innovation systems.

“The underlying causes of biodiversity loss and nature’s decline also create inequalities and injustices,” said Prof. Agrawal. “Those who have benefited most from the economic activities associated with damage to nature – in particular, wealthy actors – have more opportunities and resources to create change. Doing so while involving others in balanced decision-making processes can unleash agency as well as resources to create change.”

5 Strategies

Embracing insights and evidence from diverse knowledge systems, disciplines and approaches, the Transformative Change Report highlights five key strategies and associated actions that have complementary and synergistic effects, and which countries and people can pursue to advance deliberate transformative change for global sustainability:

1. Conserve, restore and regenerate places of value to people and nature that exemplify biocultural diversity: This includes a focus on places of biocultural diversity – where place- based actions, such as restoration activities, can also support cultural values, sustainable production and biodiversity. An example is the Community Forestry Programme in Nepal – integrating decentralized forest policy into local community needs, views and practices to restore and manage degraded forests. 
2. Drive systematic change and mainstreaming biodiversity in the sectors most responsible for nature’s decline: The agriculture and livestock, fisheries, forestry, infrastructure and urban development, mining and fossil fuel sectors contribute heavily to the worst outcomes for Transformative approaches such as multifunctional and regenerative land use can promote a variety of benefits for nature and people. “Studies have suggested that increasing biodiversity, protecting natural habitats and reducing external inputs in agricultural landscapes can enhance crop productivity, for instance by enhancing pollinator abundance and diversity,” said Prof. Garibaldi. 
3. Transform economic systems for nature and equity: Global public explicit subsidies to sectors driving nature’s decline ranged from $1.4 trillion to $3.3 trillion per year in 2022 and total public funding for environmentally harmful subsidies has increased by 55% since 2021. It is estimated that between $722 billion and $967 billion per year is needed to sustainably manage biodiversity and maintain ecosystem integrity Currently, $135 billion per year is spent on biodiversity conservation, leaving a biodiversity funding gap of $598-824 billion per year. Some of the actions that could be taken to advance the necessary transformations include: internalizing environmental costs and using true cost accounting, reforming subsidies in sectors that contribute to biodiversity loss and nature’s decline, reconsidering global debts, greater positive private sector engagement, establishing sustainability as a core tax principle, and redefining goals, metrics and indicators to acknowledge social (including cultural), economic and environmental dimensions, as well as the different values of nature. 
4. Transform governance systems to be inclusive, accountable and adaptive: Integrating biodiversity into sector policies and decision-making, engaging a greater diversity of actors and holding actors accountable are important elements in transforming governance systems for more just and sustainable outcomes for people and nature. An example of this kind of approach to governance is the ecosystems-based spatial management of the Galapagos Marine Reserve, which supports sustainable fisheries and tourism – vital for more than 30,000 residents and 300,000 annual visitors.

5. Shift views and values to recognize human-nature interconnectedness: Many human behaviours are habitual, learned within social and environmental conditions – and they can be changed. Enhancing the visibility of desired behaviours and supporting these with targeted policy measures can catalyze and sustain new social norms and behaviours. Cultivating feelings of nature-connectedness is also important, as is transformative learning and education, experiential nature-based activities and knowledge co-creation by combining different knowledge systems including Indigenous and local knowledge.

Visions of Transformative Change

Visions are fundamentally important to inspire transformative change. The authors assessed more than 850 separate visions of a sustainable world for nature and people. They find that visions of a better future for humans and nature are abundant, but most do not change the status quo.

“The diversity of societies, economies, cultures and peoples means that no single theory or approach provides a complete understanding of transformative change or how to achieve it,” said Prof. O’Brien. “Many knowledge systems, including Indigenous and local knowledge, provide complementary insights into how it occurs and how to promote, accelerate and navigate the change needed for a just and sustainable world.”

Indigenous and local knowledge systems offer philosophies, ethics of care and reciprocity, values, and practices to shape approaches to transformative change. These include the use of ancestral, embodied and experiential knowledge and non-human ways of knowing and making sense of the world in decision making for conservation. Visions where Indigenous Peoples and local communities play a meaningful role are found to have a greater likelihood of advancing transformative change. Visions for living in harmony with nature are more likely to succeed when they emerge from inclusive, rights-based approaches and stakeholder processes and when they incorporate collaboration for change across sectors.

Roles for All

A key message from the report is that there is a role for every person and organization to create transformative change at multiple levels, but that coalitions of actors and actor groups are more effective in pursuing transformative change than change pursued individually. Such coalitions include individual citizens, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, funders, faith-based organizations, governments at all levels, the private sector, financial institutions and the scientific community.

Governments across all levels are found to be key in engaging diverse coalitions of State and non- State actors. Governments are powerful enablers of transformative change when they foster policy coherence, enact and enforce stronger regulations to benefit nature and nature’s contributions to people in policies and plans across different sectors, deploy innovative economic and fiscal tools, phase out or reform environmentally harmful subsidies and promote international cooperation. The report finds that current government actions for transformative change are undermined by a mismatch between the scale of biodiversity challenges and the jurisdiction of separate, siloed institutions or the length of time for policy implementation compared to the length of time between elections that can bring new political authorities to power that oppose such policies.

Civil society plays important and effective roles in bringing about transformative change by mobilizing citizens, creating initiatives that propagate change and by holding governments and the private sector accountable for harmful environmental practices. The report finds that a way to support transformative change is by supporting and amplifying civil society initiatives for a just and sustainable world and protecting environmental defenders from violence and violations of rights.

“We thank the co-chairs and all the authors of the Transformative Change Report for making it clear that there is path to a more just and sustainable world,” said Dr. Anne Larigauderie, Executive Secretary of IPBES. “Acting decisively now to shift views, structures and practices to address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss will be tremendously challenging but is urgent, necessary and possible.”

* * * * *

By the Numbers – Key Statistics from the Report

• >50%: Proportion of annual global GDP generated by economic activities moderately to highly dependent on nature, amounting to $58 trillion
• $13 trillion: Annual value of industries highly dependent on nature, accounting for 15% of global GDP
• $31 trillion: Annual value of industries moderately dependent on nature, representing 37% of global GDP
• $10 trillion: Estimated business opportunity value that could be generated while supporting 395 million jobs globally by 2030
• 55%: Increase in public funding of environmentally harmful subsidies since 2021
• $10.7 trillion: Estimated annual external costs of sectors most responsible for nature’s decline
• <15%: Global proportion of forests certified as sustainably managed
• 46,955: Documented environmental threats contested by civil society analyzed by authors
• ~40%: Proportion of protected areas and intact ecosystems across 87 countries managed by or with tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities
• 2%: Proportion of global wealth held by top 1% of global population in 2021, with 1.85% owned by the bottom 50%

Media coverage highlights:

A Biodiversity Solution Might Be Hiding in Plain Sight — The New York Times (United States, 184,546,007)

Major Report Joins Dots Between World’s Nature Challenges — BBC (United Kingdom, 162,425,058)

‘Fundamental Change’ to Nature-Harming Industries Needed, UN Report Warns — UK Press Association via MSN.com (United States, 127,645,172)

IPBES Warns of a Decline in Biodiversity of Between 2% and 6% Per Decade in the Last 50 Years — EFE via Infobae (Argentina, 95,236,694)

Biodiversity Hit to Economic Estimated at Up to $25tn a Year in Landmark Report — Financial Times (United Kingdom, 16,362,693)

Scientists Call for Urgent Transformative Change to Save Biodiversity on Earth — Infobae (Argentina, 95,236,694)

The Nature Crisis Puts More Than 50% of the World’s GDP at Risk — ABC (Spain, 14,634,135)

Activities That Damage the Natural World Receive 35 Times More Resources Than Their Protection — La Vanguardia (Spain, 22,228,512)

Unified Approach Could Improve Nature, Climate and Health All at Once — New Scientist via MSN.com (United States, 127,645,172)

Full coverage summary: here

News releases in full:

Nexus: here

Transformative Change: here

Aridity: The ‘existential crisis’ redefining life on Earth; Five billion people could be affected by 2100

Even as dramatic water-related disasters such as floods and storms intensified in some parts of the world, more than three-quarters of Earth’s land became permanently drier in recent decades, UN scientists warned today in a stark new analysis.

Some 77.6% of Earth’s land experienced drier conditions during the three decades leading up to 2020 compared to the previous 30-year period, according to the landmark report from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Over the same period, drylands expanded by about 4.3 million km2 – an area nearly a third larger than India, the world’s 7th largest country – and now cover 40.6% of all land on Earth (excluding Antarctica).

In recent decades some 7.6% of global lands – an area larger than Canada – were pushed across aridity thresholds (i.e. from non-drylands to drylands, or from less arid dryland classes to more arid classes).

Most of these areas have transitioned from humid landscapes to drylands, with dire implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and the people living there. 

And the research warns that, if the world fails to curb greenhouse gas emissions, another 3% of the world’s humid areas will become drylands by the end of this century. 

In high greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, expanding drylands are forecast across the Midwestern United States, central Mexico, northern Venezuela, north-eastern Brazil, south-eastern Argentina, the entire Mediterranean Region, the Black Sea coast, large parts of southern Africa, and southern Australia.

The report, The Global Threat of Drying Lands: Regional and global aridity trends and future projections, was launched at the 16th conference of UNCCD’s nearly 200 Parties in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (COP16), the largest UN land conference to date, and the first UNCCD COP to be held in the Middle East, a region profoundly affected by impacts from aridity.

“This analysis finally dispels an uncertainty that has long surrounded global drying trends,” says Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary. “For the first time, the aridity crisis has been documented with scientific clarity, revealing an existential threat affecting billions around the globe.” 

“Unlike droughts—temporary periods of low rainfall—aridity represents a permanent, unrelenting transformation,” he adds. “Droughts end. When an area’s climate becomes drier, however, the ability to return to previous conditions is lost.  The drier climates now affecting vast lands across the globe will not return to how they were and this change is redefining life on Earth.”

The report by UNCCD Science-Policy Interface (SPI) — the UN body for assessing the science of land degradation and drought — points to human-caused climate change as the primary driver of this shift. Greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, transport, industry and land use changes warm the planet and other human activities warm the planet and affect rainfall, evaporation and plant life, creating the conditions that increase aridity.

Global aridity index (AI) data track these conditions and reveal widespread change over the decades. 

Aridification hotspots

Areas particularly hard-hit by the drying trend include almost all of Europe (95.9% of its land), parts of the western United States, Brazil, parts of Asia (notably eastern Asia), and central Africa.

• Parts of the Western United States and Brazil: Significant drying trends, with water scarcity and wildfires becoming perennial hazards.
• Mediterranean and Southern Europe: Once considered agricultural breadbaskets, these areas face a stark future as semi-arid conditions expand.
• Central Africa and parts of Asia: Biologically megadiverse areas are experiencing ecosystem degradation and desertification, endangering countless species.

By contrast, less than a quarter of the planet’s land (22.4%) experienced wetter conditions, with areas in the central United States, Angola’s Atlantic coast, and parts of Southeast Asia showing some gains in moisture.

The overarching trend, however, is clear: drylands are expanding, pushing ecosystems and societies to suffer from aridity’s life-threatening impacts.

The report names South Sudan and Tanzania as nations with the largest percentage of land transitioning to drylands, and China as the country experiencing the largest total area shifting from non-drylands into drylands.

For the 2.3 billion people – well over 25% of the world’s population – living in the expanding drylands, this new normal requires lasting, adaptive solutions. Aridity-related land degradation, known as desertification, represents a dire threat to human well-being and ecological stability. 

And as the planet continues to warm, report projections in the worst-case scenario suggest up to 5 billion people could live in drylands by the century’s end, grappling with depleted soils, dwindling water resources, and the diminishment or collapse of once-thriving ecosystems.

Forced migration is one of aridity’s most visible consequences. As land becomes uninhabitable, families and entire communities facing water scarcity and agricultural collapse often have no choice but to abandon their homes, leading to social and political challenges worldwide. From the Middle East to Africa and South Asia, millions are already on the move—a trend set to intensify in coming decades.

Aridity’s devastating impact

The effects of rising aridity are cascading and multifaceted, touching nearly every aspect of life and society, the report says.

It warns that one fifth of all land could experience abrupt ecosystem transformations from rising aridity by the end of the century, causing dramatic shifts (such as forests becoming grasslands and other changes) and leading to extinctions among many of the world’s plants, animals and other life.

• Aridity is considered the world’s largest single driver behind the degradation of agricultural systems, affecting 40% of Earth’s arable lands

• Rising aridity has been blamed for a 12% decline in gross domestic product (GDP) recorded for African countries between 1990–2015

• More than two thirds of all land on the planet (excluding Greenland and Antarctica) is projected to store less water by the end of the century, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise even modestly

• Aridity is considered one of the world’s five most important causes of land degradation (along with land erosion, salinization, organic carbon loss and vegetation degradation)

• Rising aridity in the Middle East has been linked to the region’s more frequent and larger sand and dust storms

• Increasing aridity is expected to play a role in larger and more intense wildfires in the climate-altered future—not least because of its impacts on tree deaths in semi-arid forests and the consequent growing availability of dry biomass for burning

• Rising aridity’s impacts on poverty, water scarcity, land degradation and insufficient food production have been linked to increasing rates of sickness and death globally —especially among children and women

• Rising aridity and drought play a key role in increasing human migration around the world—particularly in the hyper-arid and arid areas of southern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and southern Asia. 

Report marks a turning point

For years, documenting the rise of aridity proved a challenge, the report states. Its long-term nature and the intricate interplay of factors such as rainfall, evaporation, and plant transpiration made analysis difficult. Early studies produced conflicting results, often muddied by scientific caution.

The new report marks a turning point, leveraging advanced climate models and standardized methodologies to deliver a definitive assessment of global drying trends, confirming the inexorable rise of aridity, while providing critical insights into its underlying drivers and potential future trajectory.

Recommendations

The report offers a comprehensive roadmap for tackling aridity, emphasizing both mitigation and adaptation. Among its recommendations:

• Strengthen aridity monitoring
  Integrate aridity metrics into existing drought monitoring systems. This approach would enable early detection of changes and help guide interventions before conditions worsen. Platforms like the new Aridity Visual Information Tool provide policymakers and researchers with valuable data, allowing for early warnings and timely interventions. Standardized assessments can enhance global cooperation and inform local adaptation strategies.
   
• Improve land use practices
  Incentivizing sustainable land use systems can mitigate the impacts of rising aridity, particularly in vulnerable regions. Innovative, holistic, sustainable approaches to land management are the focus of another new UNCCD SPI report, Sustainable Land Use Systems: The path to collectively achieving Land Degradation Neutrality, available at https://bit.ly/3ZwkLZ3. It considers how land-use at one location affect others elsewhere, makes resilience to climate change or other shocks a priority, and encourages participation and buy-in by Indigenous and local communities as well as all levels of government. Projects like the Great Green Wall—a land restoration initiative spanning Africa—demonstrate the potential for large-scale, holistic efforts to combat aridity and restore ecosystems, while creating jobs and stabilizing economies.
   
• Invest in water efficiency
  Technologies such as rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation, and wastewater recycling offer practical solutions for managing scarce water resources in dry regions.
   
• Build resilience in vulnerable communities
  Local knowledge, capacity building, social justice and holistic thinking  are vital to resilience. Sustainable land use systems encourage decision makers to apply responsible governance, protect human rights (including secure land access) and ensure accountability and transparency. Capacity-building programmes, financial support, education programmes, climate information services and community-driven initiatives empower those most affected by aridity to adapt to changing conditions. Farmers switching to drought-resistant crops or pastoralists adopting more arid-tolerant livestock exemplify incremental adaptation.
   
• Develop international frameworks and cooperation
  The UNCCD’s Land Degradation Neutrality framework provides a model for aligning national policies with international goals, ensuring a unified response to the crisis. National Adaptation Plans must incorporate aridity alongside drought planning to create cohesive strategies that address water and land management challenges. Cross-sectoral collaboration at the global level, facilitated by frameworks like the UNCCD, is essential for scaling solutions.

Comments

“For decades, the world’s scientists have signalled that our growing greenhouse gas emissions are behind global warming. Now, for the first time, a UN scientific body is warning that burning fossil fuels is causing permanent drying across much of the world, too—with potentially catastrophic impacts affecting access to water that could push people and nature even closer to disastrous tipping points.  As large tracts of the world’s land become more arid, the consequences of inaction grow increasingly dire and adaptation is no longer optional—it is imperative.”

• UNCCD Chief Scientist Barron Orr

“Without concerted efforts, billions face a future marked by hunger, displacement, and economic decline. Yet, by embracing innovative solutions and fostering global solidarity, humanity can rise to meet this challenge. The question is not whether we have the tools to respond—it is whether we have the will to act.”

• Nichole Barger, Chair, UNCCD Science-Policy Interface

The report’s clarity is a wake-up call for policymakers: tackling aridity demands more than just science—it requires a diversity of perspectives and knowledge systems. By weaving Indigenous and local knowledge with cutting-edge data, we can craft stronger, smarter strategies to slow aridity’s advance, mitigate its impacts and thrive in a drying world.”

• Sergio Vicente-Serrano, co-lead author of the report and an aridity expert with Spain’s Pyrenean Institute of Ecology

“This report underscores the critical need to address aridity as a defining global challenge of our time. By uniting diverse expertise and leveraging breakthrough technologies, we are not just measuring change—we are crafting a roadmap for resilience. Tackling aridity demands a collaborative vision that integrates innovation, adaptive solutions, and a commitment to securing a sustainable future for all.”

• Narcisa Pricope, co-lead author, professor of geosciences and associate vice president for research at Mississippi State University, USA.

“The timeliness of this report cannot be overstated.  Rising aridity will reshape the global landscape, challenging traditional ways of life and forcing societies to reimagine their relationship with land and water.  As with climate change and biodiversity loss, addressing aridity requires coordinated international action and an unwavering commitment to sustainable development.”

• Andrea Toreti, co-lead author and senior scientist, European Commission’s Joint Research Centre

By the Numbers: 

Key global trends / projections

1. 77.6%: Proportion of Earth’s land that experienced drier climates from 1990–2020 compared to the previous 30 years.
2. 40.6%: Global land mass (excluding Antarctica) classified as drylands, up from 37.5% over the last 30 years.
3. 4.3 million km²: Humid lands transformed into drylands in the last three decades, an area one-third larger than India
4. 40%: Global arable land affected by aridity—the leading driver of agricultural degradation.
5. 30.9%: Global population living in drylands in 2020, up from 22.5% in 1990
6. 2.3 billion: People living in drylands in 2020, a doubling from 1990, projected to more than double again by 2100 under a worst-case climate change scenario.
7. 1.35 billion: Dryland inhabitants in Asia—more than half the global total.
8. 620 million: Dryland inhabitants in Africa—nearly half of the continent’s population.
9. 9.1%: Portion of Earth’s land classified as hyperarid, including the Atacama (Chile), Sahara (Africa), Namib (Africa), and Gobi (China/Mongolia) deserts.
10. 23%: Increase in global land at “moderate” to “very high” desertification risk by 2100 under the worst-case emissions scenario
    1. +8% at “very high” risk.
    2. +5% at “high” risk.
    3. +10% at “moderate” risk.

Environmental degradation

• 5: Key drivers of land degradation: Rising aridity, land erosion, salinization, organic carbon loss, and vegetation degradation
• 20%: Global land at risk of abrupt ecosystem transformations by 2100 due to rising aridity
• 55%: Species (mammals, reptiles, fish, amphibians, and birds) at risk of habitat loss from aridity. Hotspots: (Arid regions): West Africa, Western Australia, Iberian Peninsula; (Humid regions): Southern Mexico, northern Amazon rainforest

Economics

• 12%: African GDP decline attributed to aridity, 1990–2015
• 16% / 6.7%: Projected GDP losses in Africa / Asia by 2079 under a moderate emissions scenario
• 20M tons maize, 21M tons wheat, 19M tons rice: Expected losses in global crop yields by 2040 due to expanding aridity
• 50%: Projected drop in maize yields in Kenya by 2050 under a high emissions scenario

Water 

• 90%: Rainfall in drylands that evaporates back into the atmosphere, leaving 10% for plant growth
• 67%: Global land expected to store less water by 2100, even under moderate emission scenarios
• 75%: Decline in water availability in the Middle East and North Africa since the 1950s
• 40%: Predicted Andean runoff decline by 2100 under a high emissions scenario, threatening water supplies in South America

Health

• 55%: Increase in severe child stunting in sub-Saharan Africa under a medium emissions scenario due to combined effects of aridity and climate warming
• Up to 12.5%: Estimated rise in mortality risks during sand and dust storms in China, 2013–2018
• 57% / 38%: Increases in fine and coarse atmospheric dust levels, respectively, in the southwestern U.S. by 2100 under worst case climate scenarios
• 220%: Projected increase in premature deaths due to airborne dust in the southwestern United States by 2100 under the high-emissions scenario
• 160%: Expected rise in hospitalizations linked to airborne dust in the same region

Wildfires and Forests

• 74%: Expected increase in wildfire-burned areas in California by 2100 under high emission scenarios
• 40: Additional annual high fire danger days in Greece by 2100 compared to late 20th century levels

Notes to editors:

Aridity versus drought

Highly arid regions are places in which a persistent, long-term climatic condition lacks available moisture to support most forms of life and atmospheric evaporative demand significantly exceeds rainfall. 

Drought, on the other hand, is an anomalous, shorter-term period of water shortage affecting ecosystems and people and often attributed to low precipitation, high temperatures, low air humidity and/or anomalies in wind. 

While drought is part of natural climate variability and can occur in almost any climatic regime, aridity is a stable condition for which changes occur over extremely long-time scales under significant forcing.

Coverage highlights

Three-Quarters of Earth’s Land Got Drier in Recent Decades, U.N. Says — The New York Times (United States, 184,546,007)

Drylands now make up 40% of land on Earth, excluding Antarctica, study says — The Guardian (United Kingdom, 91,177,292)

More than 5 billion people will live in arid areas by 2100, warns UN — EFE via Infobae (Argentina, 95,236,694)

Three Quarters Of Earth’s Landmass Is Drying Out, Creating “Existential Peril” — IFL Science via MSN.com (United States, 127,645,172)

An existential threat affecting billions’: Three-quarters of Earth’s land became permanently drier in last 3 decades — Live Science via MSN.com (United States, 127,645,172)

Earth’s lands are drying out. Nations are trying to address it in talks this week — Associated Press (United States, 77,170,183)

Almost all of earth became permanently drier since 1990: Report — The Hill via MSN.com (United States, 127,645,172)

Aridity extends over three-quarters of the Earth, and the Mediterranean is one of the most affected areas — El Mondo via MSN.com (United States, 127,645,172)

The drying of the land continues to spread as flood damage intensifies — Gizmodo via Yahoo!ニュース Japan (Japan, 140,575,859)

UN warns of an impending ‘existential crisis’ that destroys crops — Daily Mail (United Kingdom, 55,445,356)

Up to 5 billion people living in arid lands: new UN report projects impact of climate change on soil — G1 (Brazil, 62,846,751)

Scientists reveal existential crisis: 77% of the land is heading towards long-term drought — NetEase News / 网易新闻 (China, 50,418,699)

Drought, degrading land take centrestage at UN talks in Riyadh — The Hindu (India, 31,028,125)

Three-Quarters of the Earth Has Gotten Permanently Drier — TIME via MSN.com (United States, 127,645,172)

Drying of the Earth threatens the survival of humans, animals and plants… UNCCD report — Naver (South Korea, 54,124,792)

Coverge summary in full, click here

News release in full, click here

CALI, Colombia  — The sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16) was suspended in the morning of Nov. 2 but not before countries agreed on an expanded role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in saving biodiversity and a groundbreaking agreement on the operationalization of a new global mechanism to share benefits from digital genetic information.

The strong results, built on a spirit of compromise, and dialogue, demonstrate that multilateralism can still achieve results in a fractious time.  After roughly 12 hours of meeting in the Plenary session, at roughly 9 am COP 16 lost quorum and was suspended before approval of a few last items.

It will resume at a later date and venue to complete the agenda. 

The results at COP 16 are important strides towards achievement of the 23 targets for 2030 laid out in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), adopted at the previous meeting of the Convention’s 196 Parties in Montreal in 2022.

With billions of people depending on nature’s contributions, threats to biodiversity intensifying, and financial resources in short supply, the stakes at COP 16 were high.

Among the notable achievements after 12-days of negotiations:

“Cali Fund” is Launched: Sharing the Benefits from Digital Genetic Information

Having agreed at COP 15 to establish a multilateral mechanism, including a global fund, to share the benefits from uses of digital sequence information on genetic resources (DSI) more fairly and equitably, delegates at COP 16 advanced its operationalization – a historic decision of global importance.

This complex decision addresses how pharmaceutical, biotechnology, animal and plant breeding and other industries benefiting from DSI should share those benefits with developing countries and Indigenous Peoples and local communities. 

Under the agreed guidelines, large companies and other major entities benefiting commercially from DSI uses should contribute to “the Cali Fund,” based on a percentage of their profits or revenues. The model targets larger companies most reliant on DSI and exempts academic, public research institutions and other entities using DSI but not directly benefiting. 

Developing world countries will benefit from a large part of this fund, with allocations to support implementation of the KMGBF, according to the priorities of those governments.

At least half of the funding is expected to support the self-identified needs of indigenous peoples and local communities, including women and youth within those communities, through government or by direct payments through institutions identified by indigenous peoples and local communities.  Some funds may support capacity building and technology transfer.

Strong monitoring and reporting will ensure industries see the impact of their contributions in a transparent and open way, and regular reviews will build the mechanism’s efficiency and efficacy over time.

This agreement marks a precedent for benefit-sharing in biodiversity conservation with a fund designed to return some of the proceeds from the use of biodiversity to protect and restore nature where help is needed most.

Strengthening the role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Biodiversity Efforts

In a landmark decision at COP 16, Parties adopted a new Programme of Work on Article 8(j) and other provisions of the Convention related to indigenous peoples and local communities. This transformative programme sets out specific tasks to ensure the meaningful contribution of indigenous peoples and local communities towards the three objectives of the Convention ((a) the conservation of biological diversity, b) the sustainable use of biological diversity, and c) the fair and equitable sharing of benefits), as well as the implementation of the KMGBF. Through this Programme, rights, contributions and traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples and local communities are further embedded in the global agenda. 

Parties also agreed to establish a new permanent subsidiary body on article 8j and other Provisions, with its modus operandi to be developed over the next two years. The new Subsidiary Body is expected to elevate issues related to the implementation of Article 8j and enhance the engagement and participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in all convention processes.

A further decision was taken to recognize the role of people of African descent, comprising collectives embodying traditional lifestyles, in implementing the Convention and in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Funding Biodiversity: A Strategy for Resource Mobilization 

Parties at COP 16 will resume discussions later will resume discussions later to approve a new “Strategy for Resource Mobilization” to help secure $200 billion annually by 2030 from all sources to support biodiversity initiatives worldwide, representing one of the KMGBF’s goals.  Another is the redirection by 2030 of $500 billion per year in subsidies that harm biodiversity. 

Parties will also look at the possible creation of a new dedicated global financing instrument for biodiversity to receive, disburse, mobilize and articulate funding needs.

To date the Convention has been able to count on resources mobilized to support the goals and targets of the GBF through a variety of bilateral arrangements, private, and philanthropic sources, as well as dedicated funds such as: 

• The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), agreed at COP 15 in 2022 and established in less than a year by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).  The fund accepts contributions from governments, the private sector, and philanthropies, and finances high-impact projects in developing regions, with emphasis on supporting countries with fragile ecosystems, such as small island states and economies in transition. To date, 11 donor countries as well as the Government of Quebec have pledged nearly US $400 million to the GBF Fund, with US $163 million pledged during COP 16. 
• The Kunming Biodiversity Fund (KBF), launched at COP 16 with a US $200 million contribution from the Government of China.  The KBF supports accelerated action to deliver 2030 Agenda and SDG targets and 2050 goals of the Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework, particularly in developing countries.

COP 16 also considered an evaluation of the effectiveness of the GEF, which serves as the financial mechanism of the Convention.  The evaluation noted that the GEF has made significant progress in its role in resource mobilization and in supporting the implementation of activities that achieve the objectives of the CBD.  Parties recommended ways to enhance the governance of the GEF and how to effectively engage with IPLCs, women and youth.  The Convention also outlined a four year outcome-oriented framework of biodiversity priorities that can help enhance GEF support to the Parties to the Convention for its next replenishment cycle, the 9th to date.  The report of the GEF to COP 16 noted that during the first two years of its current funding cycle (GEF-8), the GEF approved 2.42 billion in direct support to the KMGBF.

Implementing and Monitoring the KMGBF

Delegates also took stock of progress in implementing the KMGBF since its creation in 2022. Some 119 countries, representing the majority of CBD’s 196 Parties, submitted national biodiversity targets – policy measures and actions to help reach the 23 KMGBF targets.

Additionally, to date 44 countries have submitted National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans as the policy document which will support the implementation of these national targets. COP 16 acknowledged the remarkable progress made within two years and highlighted the need to accelerate action.

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology was a prominent topic at COP 16, with an eye toward its potential benefits while considering the risks. To address inequity in the participation of developing countries in the synthetic biology field, the decision introduces a new thematic action plan to help address the capacity-building, technology transfer and knowledge-sharing needs of Parties, and Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. By helping countries assess and apply synthetic biology technologies, COP 16 aims to foster innovation while safeguarding biodiversity.

An expert group will guide identification of synthetic biology’s potential benefits and review the potential impacts of recent technological developments – a unique opportunity to explore synthetic biology in relation to the CBD’s three fundamental objectives and in implementing the KMGBF. 

Invasive Alien Species

COP 16’s decision on invasive alien species addresses one of the top five direct drivers of biodiversity loss, highlighting the need for international cooperation, capacity-building, and technical support for developing countries.  It proposes guidelines for managing invasive alien species, touching on issues such as e-commerce, multicriteria analysis methodologies and others. 

New databases, improved cross-border trade regulations, and enhanced coordination with e-commerce platforms aim to address gaps in managing invasive species risks and align with the goals of KMGBF, where cross-sectoral and collaborative approaches are central to biodiversity protection.

Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs)

COP 16 agreed on a new and evolved process to identify ecologically or biologically significant marine areas (EBSAs). Under the CBD, work on EBSAs, which identifies the most critical and vulnerable parts of the ocean, began in 2010 and became a central area of onean-related work.  Continued development of the programme was stymied for more than 8 years due to legal and political concerns. 

COP 16 gave new life to this process, agreeing on new mechanisms to identify new EBSAs and update existing ones, ensuring that the cataloging of information of these areas can support planning and management with the most advanced science and knowledge available.

This comes at a time when EBSAs can play an important role for marine biodiversity protection, with major steps being taken to implement the 30×30 protected areas target and to prepare for the future implementation of the new agreement for marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction..

Sustainable Wildlife Management and Plant Conservation

Among the most crucial areas of discussion was the protection of wild species. A decision on sustainable wildlife management underscores the necessity of monitoring, capacity-building, and the inclusive participation of indigenous peoples, local communities, and women. To this end, the decision calls for the cooperation of international bodies like CITES and FAO to implement. The framework encourages research on how wildlife use, biodiversity loss, and zoonotic diseases are interconnected, a vital area for a world increasingly aware of the public health implications of biodiversity loss.

Additionally, COP 16 saw a commitment to align plant conservation efforts with the KMGBF monitoring framework. This includes updating the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation with specific indicators and a standardized reporting template, ensuring that progress in plant protection is measurable and consistent with global biodiversity targets.

Biodiversity and health

At COP 16, CBD Parties approved a Global Action Plan on Biodiversity and Health designed to help curb the emergence of zoonotic diseases, prevent non-communicable diseases, and promote sustainable ecosystems.  The strategy embraces a holistic “One Health” approach that recognizes the health of ecosystems, animals, and humans as interconnected.

Recognizing that biodiversity loss and poor health often share common drivers—such as deforestation, pollution, and climate change—the Plan emphasizes the urgency of tackling these threats to benefit both ecosystems and humans. 

The strategy underlines the need for education and promoting understanding of the connections between biodiversity and health, and the need to strengthen policies that promote sustainable ecosystems, support traditional medicine, and reduce habitat destruction. Special attention is accorded to vulnerable populations, including Indigenous peoples, who depend on local biodiversity for food, medicine, and cultural identity, as well as youth, seen as vital contributors to conservation and health initiatives.

At the heart of the plan is a collaborative framework that brings together health professionals, conservationists, and policymakers. The COP decision invites nations to designate national focal points for biodiversity and health, and to develop policies reflecting these interconnections, integrating biodiversity-health considerations in policies across the range of sectors from agriculture to urban planning.

Parties further called for close cooperation with international organizations, including the World Health Organization, to develop monitoring tools and metrics for assessing the progress of biodiversity-health initiatives. 

Risk assessment

In Cali, Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety welcomed new, voluntary guidance on assessing the risks posed by living modified organisms (LMOs) containing engineered gene drives, a milestone in international biosafety management aiming to bolster the scientific rigor and transparency of risk assessment procedures in the Protocol.

Engineered gene drives have the capacity to propagate genetic modifications rapidly through wild populations and the move to strengthen protocols comes amid increased debate over genetic engineering, particularly for applications for pest control, disease control, and agriculture.  The new guidance prioritizes scientific transparency and accuracy in risk assessments, an essential step toward unified safety standards for managing LMOs worldwide.

The new guidance materials bring together the best available scientific resources and guidance materials available for environmental risk assessment, while also emphasizing the precautionary approach.

The voluntary nature of these guidelines allows individual countries to tailor assessments to national contexts, considering ecological variables unique to their environments. This flexibility is crucial in regions with diverse ecosystems and will help regulators make informed decisions, taking into account both the benefits and risks of LMOs with gene drives.

* * * * * 

Comment

“Over the last weeks, we have seen the largest, whole-of-society mobilization for biodiversity unfold in Cali, triggering interest from around the globe. We have seen Indigenous Peoples and local communities, civil society, businesses and financial institutions, sub-national governments, cities and local authorities, women and youth present remarkable initiatives and action.

And through it all, this COP delivered a seminal message: the time has come to make peace with nature. 

“From Cali, this UN Biodiversity Conference sent a powerful call to action. It has never been clearer that the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement in a synergistic fashion will make peace with nature within reach.” 

• Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity  

“We arrived in Cali with a heavy agenda of work, and thanks to the determination of countries and the energy from this ‘People’s COP’, we’ve made good progress. COP16 has delivered important commitments on the interconnections on nature and climate, biodiversity and health and Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs). The new agreement on Article 8J is a critical step forward and commits us to embed the knowledge and role of Indigenous Peoples and local custodians across our work to deliver the Global Biodiversity Framework. Another big win is the new mechanism and fund for fair and equitable benefit-sharing from Digital Sequencing Information of genetic resources which will ensure that those who profit from biodiversity give back to nature, countries and communities. Of course, we would have liked to achieve more on resource mobilization and advances on the monitoring framework, but we will not slow down the pace of work. 2030 is rapidly approaching and action cannot wait.”

Inger Andersen, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme

Coverage highlights:

New York Times, USA, A Major Push to Protect Nature Is Happening Now Delegates from around the world are meeting in Colombia in what is expected to be the biggest U.N. biodiversity conference in history https://nyti.ms/3AbOrkr 

2) COP16 Talks in Colombia Adopt a Novel Way to Pay for Conservation

Washington Post, USA, Some of the countries richest in nature are poor. Here’s what it will take to save them https://bit.ly/3YhCG44 

The Associated Press, USA, Environmental delegates gather in Colombia for a conference on dwindling global biodiversity https://bit.ly/3YzHGm1

2) At U.N. summit, historic agreement to give Indigenous groups voice on nature conservation decisions

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany, UN-Biodiversitätskonferenz: Will denn keiner die Natur retten? / UN Biodiversity Conference: Doesn’t anyone want to save nature? https://bit.ly/4ePPOEp

Le Monde, France: COP16 sur la biodiversité : à Cali, les Etats devront transformer en actes leurs promesses de stopper la destruction de la nature / COP16 on biodiversity: in Cali, States will have to transform their promises to stop the destruction of nature into actions https://bit.ly/40eDNE6

Reuters, World lags on 2030 nature goals headed into UN COP16 talks, https://bit.ly/3AaS3TW

The Guardian, United Kingdom. Humanity is on the verge of ‘shattering Earth’s natural limits’, say experts in biodiversity warning, https://bit.ly/3YaLdpk  

Financial Times, United Kingdom, 

• Do businesses need to care about biodiversity? https://bit.ly/48ismNK, 
• The new corporate green goal: being ‘nature positive’ https://bit.ly/48gDfzy
• UN summit agrees deal on genetic data but fails on wider finance to protect nature

Forbes, United States, Investors wake to the threat of biodiversity risk 

New Scientist, United Kingdom, Simple plan could raise the billions needed to stem biodiversity loss, https://bit.ly/4fgP37s 

The Lancet, United Kingdom, Biodiversity loss: a health crisis

Science Magazine, United States, Move past promises for biodiversity 

News release in full, click here

Additional coverage highlights: here

Bonn/Ulaanbaatar – Degradation of Earth’s extensive, often immense natural pastures and other rangelands due to overuse, misuse, climate change and biodiversity loss poses a severe threat to humanity’s food supply and the wellbeing or survival of billions of people, the UN warns in a stark report today.

Authors of the Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralists, launched May 21 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (and available post-embargo at www.unccd.int), say up to 50% of rangelands are degraded.

Symptoms of the problem include diminished soil fertility and nutrients, erosion, salinization, alkalinization, and soil compaction inhibiting plant growth, all of which contribute to drought, precipitation fluctuations, and biodiversity loss both above and below the ground.

The problem is driven largely by converting pastures to cropland and other land use changes due to population growth and urban expansion, rapidly rising food, fibre and fuel demands, excessive grazing, abandonment (end of maintenance by pastoralists), and policies that incentivise overexploitation.

What are rangelands?

The rangelands category of Earth’s land cover consists mostly of the natural grasslands used by livestock and wild animals to graze and forage. 

They also include savannas, shrublands, wetlands, tundra and deserts.  

Altogether, these lands constitute 54% of Earth’s land cover, account for one sixth of global food production and represent nearly one third of the planet’s carbon reservoir.

“When we cut down a forest, when we see a 100-year-old tree fall, it rightly evokes an emotional response in many of us. The conversion of ancient rangelands, on the other hand, happens in ‘silence’ and generates little public reaction,” says UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw. 

“Sadly, these expansive landscapes and the pastoralists and livestock breeders who depend on them, are usually under-appreciated,” Mr. Thiaw adds. “Despite numbering an estimated half a billion individuals worldwide, pastoralist communities are frequently overlooked, lack a voice in policy-making that directly affects their livelihoods, are marginalised, and are even often seen as outsiders in their own lands.”

Mongolia Environment Minister H.E. Bat-Erdene Bat-Ulzii says: “As custodian of the largest grasslands in Eurasia, Mongolia has always been cautious in transforming rangelands. Mongolian traditions are built on the appreciation of resource limits, which defined mobility as a strategy, established shared responsibilities over the land, and set limits in consumption. We hope this report helps focus attention on rangelands and their many enormous values – cultural, environmental, and economic –  which cannot be overstated. If these rangelands cannot support these massive numbers of people, what alternatives can they turn to?”

Mongolia will host the 17th UNCCD Conference of the Parties meeting in 2026, the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP), declared by the United Nations General Assembly on Mongolia’s initiative.

Two billion people – small-scale herders, ranchers and farmers, often poor and marginalised – depend on healthy rangelands worldwide. 

Indeed, in many West African states, livestock production employs 80% of the population. In Central Asia and Mongolia 60% of the land area is used as grazing rangelands, with livestock herding supporting nearly one third of the region’s population.

Ironically, the report underlines, efforts to increase food security and productivity by converting rangelands to crop production in mostly arid regions have resulted in degraded land and lowered agricultural yields.

The report calls out “weak and ineffective governance,” “poorly implemented policies and regulations,” and “the lack of investment in rangeland communities and sustainable production models” for undermining rangelands.

An innovative approach

The new report’s 60+ expert contributors from over 40 countries agree that past estimates of degraded rangeland worldwide – roughly 25% – “significantly underestimates the actual loss of rangeland health and productivity” and could be as much as 50%. 

Rangelands are often poorly understood and a lack of reliable data undermines the sustainable management of their immense value in food provisioning and climate regulation, the report warns.

The report details an innovative conceptual approach that would enable policy-makers to stabilise, restore and manage rangelands.  

The new approach is backed by experience detailed in case studies from nearly every world region, drawing important lessons from successes and missteps of rangeland management.

A core recommendation: protect pastoralism, a mobile way of life dating back millennia centred on the pasture-based production of sheep, goats, cattle, horses, camels, yaks, llamas or other domesticated herbivores, along with semi-domesticated species such as bison and reindeer.  

Says Mr. Thiaw: “From the tropics to the Arctic, pastoralism is a desirable default and often the most sustainable option that should be incorporated into rangeland use planning.”

The economic engine of many countries 

Rangelands are an important economic engine in many countries and define cultures. Home to one quarter of the world’s languages, they also host numerous World Heritage Sites and have shaped the value systems, customs and identities of pastoralists for thousands of years. 

The report includes detailed analyses of individual countries and regions.

For example, livestock production accounts for 19% of Ethiopia’s GDP, and 4% of India’s. 

Brazil – with over 250 million cattle — produces 16% of the world’s beef, valued at $7.6 billion in 2019.

In Europe, many rangelands have given way to urbanization, afforestation and renewable energy production. 

In the United States, large tracts of grassland have been converted to crops, while some Canadian grasslands have been left fragile by large-scale mining and infrastructure projects.  There are also positive developments noted, such as growing efforts in both countries to reintroduce bison – an animal of great cultural importance to indigenous peoples – to promote rangeland health and food security. 

World areas most acutely affected by rangelands degradation, ranked in descending order:

Central Asia, China, Mongolia

The replacement of government management and oversight with privatization and agricultural industrialization left herders abandoned and dependent on insufficient natural resources causing widespread degradation.

The gradual restoration of traditional and community-based pastoralism is leading to critical advances in sustainable rangeland management.”

North Africa and Near East

The impact of climate change in one of the world’s driest regions is pushing pastoralists into poverty and degrading the rangelands on which they rely.

Updated traditional institutions, such as Agdals – reservoirs of fodder used to feed animals in periods of critical need and allowing for the regeneration of natural resources – and incipient supportive policies are improving the way rangelands are managed.

Sahel and West Africa

Conflict, power balance and border issues have interrupted livestock mobility leading to rangelands degradation.

Unified policies, recognition of pastoralists’ rights and cross-border agreements are reestablishing mobility for animal herders, crucial for landscape restoration. 

South America

Climatic change, deforestation linked to industrialised agriculture and extractive activities, and land use conversion are South America’s main drivers of rangeland degradation.

Multifunctionality and diversity of pastoralist systems hold the key for restoring some of the most interesting rangelands in the world, including the Pampa, the Cerrado and Caatinga savannahs, and the Puno Andean systems.

East Africa

Migration and forced displacement caused by competing uses of land (such as hunting, tourism, etc), are evicting pastoralists from their traditional lands, causing unanticipated degradation consequences.

Women-led initiatives and improved land rights are securing pastoralists’ livelihoods, protecting biodiversity, and safeguarding the ecosystem services provided by rangelands.

North America

The degradation of ancient grasslands and dry rangelands threatens the biodiversity of iconic North American ecosystems such as the tall-grass prairies or the southern deserts.

The incorporation of indigenous people to rangeland governance is a clear step to help recover these historic landscapes.

Europe

Policies favouring industrial farming over pastoralism and misguided incentives are causing rangelands and other open ecosystems to be abandoned and degraded.

Political and economic support, including legal recognition and differentiation, can turn the tide and help address critical environmental crises such as the rising frequency and intensity of wildfires and climate change.

South Africa and Australia

Afforestation, mining, and the conversion of rangelands to other uses are causing the degradation and loss of rangelands.

The co-creation of knowledge by producers and researchers, and respect for and use of traditional wisdom held by indigenous communities, open new paths for restoring and protecting rangelands. 

Paradigm shift

Halting the deterioration requires a paradigm shift in management at every level – from grassroots to global, the report concludes. 

Pedro Maria Herrera Calvo, the report’s lead author, says: “The meaningful participation of all stakeholders is key to responsible rangeland governance, which fosters collective action, improves access to land and integrates traditional knowledge and practical skills”. 

Achieving “land degradation neutrality” (Sustainable Development Goal 15.3) – balancing the amount and quality of healthy land to support ecosystem services and food security – also requires cross-border cooperation.  

Pastoralists with generations of experience in achieving life in balance with these ecosystems should help inform this process at every step, from planning to decision-making to governance, the report says.  

Solutions must be tailored to the characteristics and dynamics of rangelands, which vary widely from arid to sub-humid environments, as seen in West Africa, India or South America.

The report notes that traditional assessment methods often undervalue the real economic contribution of rangelands and pastoralism, highlighting the need for the innovative approach recommended. 

Among key recommendations: 

• Integrated climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies with sustainable rangeland management plans to increase carbon sequestration and storage while boosting the resilience of pastoralist and rangeland communities
• Avoid or reduce rangeland conversion and other land use changes that diminish the diversity and multifunctionality of rangelands, especially on indigenous and communal lands
• Design and adopt rangeland conservation measures, within and outside protected areas, that support biodiversity above and below ground while boosting the health, productivity, and resilience of extensive livestock production systems

• Adopt and support pastoralism-based strategies and practices that help mitigate harms to rangeland health, such as climate change, overgrazing, soil erosion, invasive species, drought, and wildfires
• Promote supportive policies, full people’s participation and flexible management and governance systems to boost the services that rangelands and pastoralists provide  to the whole society.

Additional key figures

• 80 million sq. km: Area of the world’s terrestrial surface covered by rangelands (over 54%)
• 9.5 million sq. km: Protected rangelands worldwide (12%)
• 67 million sq. km (45% of Earth’s terrestrial surface): Rangelands’ area devoted to livestock production systems (84% of rangelands), almost half of which are in drylands.  Livestock provide food security and generate income for the majority of the 1.2 billion people in developing countries living under the poverty threshold
• 1 billion: animals across more than 100 countries maintained by pastoralists, supporting 200 million households while providing about 10% of world meat supply, as well as dairy, wool and leather products 
• 33%: global biodiversity hotspots found in rangelands
• 24%: proportion of world languages found in rangelands
• 5,000 years ago: When pastoralism first emerged as a land-use system in sub-Saharan Africa 

REGIONAL FACTS & FIGURES

• Over 25% and 10%: Supply of world beef and milk, respectively, provided by Latin America’s cattle industry
• Over 25%: GDP of Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Chad attributed to livestock production
• Over 50%: land in the Middle East and North Africa regions deemed degraded (25% of arable land)
• 60%: area of Central Asia and Mongolia used as grazing rangelands, with livestock herding supporting nearly one third of the region’s population
• 40%: area of China covered by pastoral lands. (Notably, the country’s livestock population tripled between 1980 and 2010 to 441 million livestock units)
• 308 million hectares: area of the contiguous United States covered by rangelands, 31% of the country’s total land area, with ~55% of rangelands privately owned

Comments

“Imbalance between the supply of and demand for animal forage lands leads to overgrazing, invasive species, and the increased risk of drought and wildfires – all of which accelerate desertification and land degradation trends around the world.”

“We must translate our shared aspirations into concrete actions – stopping indiscriminate conversion of rangelands into unsuitable land uses, advocating for policies that support sustainable land management, investing in research that enhances our understanding of rangelands and pastoralism, empowering pastoralist communities to preserve their sustainable practices while also gaining tools to thrive in a changing world, and supporting all stakeholders, especially pastoralists, to implement measures that effectively thwart further degradation and preserve our land, our communities, and our cultures.”

Maryam Niamir-Fuller, Co-Chair, International Support Group for the UN’s International Year for Rangelands and Pastoralists – 2026

For the sake of future generations and economic stability, we need to improve awareness of and safeguard the immense value of rangelands. Due to their dynamic nature, predicting the consequences of rangelands degradation on economics, ecology, and societies is challenging. Managers require authoritative insights into the response of rangelands to different disturbances and management approaches, including policy tools that better capture the broad social importance of rangelands.

Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility 

“More than half of the world’s land mass is rangeland – and yet these landscapes and the people who inhabit and manage them have been largely neglected. They are a main source of food and feed for humanity, and yet they are also the world economy’s dumping ground.  It is time to shift perspective – from ‘a rangeland problem’ to ‘a sustainable rangeland solution’.

UN International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists (IYRP) Working Group

“Pastoralists produce food in the world’s harshest environments, and pastoral production supports the livelihoods of rural populations on almost half of the world’s land. They have traditionally suffered from poor understanding, marginalization, and exclusion from dialogue. We need to bring together pastoralists and the main actors working with them to join forces and create the synergies for dialogue and pastoralist development

UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

“To have any chance of meeting global biodiversity, climate and food security goals, we simply cannot afford to lose any more of our rangelands, grasslands and savannahs. Our planet suffers from their ongoing conversion, as do the pastoralists who depend on them for their livelihoods, and all those who rely on them for food, water and other vital ecosystem services. The Global Land Outlook reinforces that too little political attention or finance is invested in protecting and restoring these critical ecosystems. National and sub-national authorities must take place-based action to safeguard and improve the health and productivity of rangelands, grasslands and savannahs – to benefit people and planet.”

Joao Campari, Global Food Practice Leader, World Wildlife Fund

* * * * * 

About UNCCD

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is an international agreement on good land stewardship. It helps people, communities and countries create wealth, grow economies and secure enough food, clean water and energy by ensuring land users an enabling environment for sustainable land management. Through partnerships, the Convention’s 197 parties set up robust systems to manage drought promptly and effectively. Good land stewardship based on sound policy and science helps integrate and accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, builds resilience to climate change and prevents biodiversity loss. 

https://unccd.int

About the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists

On the initiative of Mongolia, the United Nations General Assembly has designated 2026 the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026) to enhance rangeland management and the lives of pastoralists. With this declaration, UN Member States are called upon to invest in sustainable rangeland management, to restore degraded lands, to improve market access by pastoralists, to enhance livestock extension services, and to fill knowledge gaps on rangelands and pastoralism. The IYRP 2026 will coincide with the UNCCD COP17 to be hosted by Mongolia.

https://iyrp.info

Media coverage highlights

Agence France Presse, Demise of rangelands ‘severely underestimated’: report https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-13441605/Demise-rangelands-severely-underestimated-report.html

Agence France Presse (French version) via Orange actu, France (3,114,035), La dégradation des grands pâturages mondiaux est “gravement sous-estimée”, alerte l’ONU (The degradation of the world’s great pastures is “seriously underestimated”, warns the UN) https://actu.orange.fr/societe/environnement/la-degradation-des-grands-paturages-mondiaux-est-amp-quot-gravement-sous-estimee-amp-quot-alerte-l-onu-CNT000002dVn8N.html

Reuters, United Kingdom, Half of world’s pastures degraded by overuse, climate change, UN report says, https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/half-worlds-pastures-degraded-by-overuse-climate-change-un-report-says-2024-05-21

Reuters Portuguese, Metade das pastagens do mundo está degradada por uso excessivo e clima, mostra relatório da ONU (Half of the world’s pastures are degraded by overuse and climate, UN report shows) https://www.terra.com.br/noticias/mundo/metade-das-pastagens-do-mundo-esta-degradada-por-uso-excessivo-e-clima-mostra-relatorio-da-onu,824cede2269d9c4bfb5fbe0c31add9c46utdeu33.html

Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA), Germany 1) Natur: UN: Graslandschaften in Not(UN: Grasslands in need) https://www.focus.de/wissen/diverses/natur-un-graslandschaften-in-not_id_259961607.html; 2) Fast die Hälfte der Graslandschaften in schlechtem Zustand(Almost half of the grasslands are in poor condition) https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/uno-bericht-fast-die-haelfte-der-graslandschaften-in-schlechtem-zustand-a-1bb638fc-e973-4dd4-99b8-b7a8f6d47c4b

Agencia EFE, Spain, La degradación de los pastizales del planeta ponen en riesgo el suministro de alimentos (The degradation of the planet’s grasslands puts the food supply at risk) https://www.infobae.com/america/agencias/2024/05/21/la-degradacion-de-los-pastizales-del-planeta-ponen-en-riesgo-el-suministro-de-alimentos

Xinhua Chinese, China, 联合国报告呼吁加强保护牧场 (UN report calls for greater protection of rangelands) https://www.163.com/dy/article/J2NQM4BJ05346RC6.html

Xinhua English, Silent demise of rangelands threatens climate, food security: UN report https://english.news.cn/20240521/0692447051764f068998b629cd2023e6/c.html

Press Trust of India, India ‘Silent demise’ of rangelands threatens climate survival of billions worldwide UN report, https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2024/05/21/del40-env-rangelands.html

BBC, United Kingdom (98,593,830), starts at 45’09’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172zb8w3kb84ys

Radio France International (RFI), France, Les pâturages, des terres fragiles qu’il faut préserver https://www.rfi.fr/fr/podcasts/questions-d-environnement/20240521-les-p%C3%A2turages-des-terres-fragiles-qu-il-faut-pr%C3%A9server

The Indian Express, India (60,889,380) Pastoralists in India need better access to land and rights recognition, says UN report https://indianexpress.com/article/india/pastoralists-india-land-un-report-9342969/

Down to Earth, India, Rangelands are facing a ‘silent demise’, suffering losses as high as 50% https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/rangelands-are-facing-a-silent-demise-suffering-losses-as-high-as-50–96257

Full coverage summary, click here

News release in full, click here