MEDIA STATEMENT
Biodiversity Loss A Top Global Risk in the Coming Decade
Protecting 30 percent of the Earth’s lands and oceans offers safety net for nature, people and the climate
Today, the World Economic Forum released a new report outlining the findings of its annual Global Risks Perception Survey. Environmental concerns dominate the top long-term risks identified by survey participants, with “major biodiversity loss” named the second-most-impactful and third-most-likely risk for the next decade. The report notes its potential “irreversible consequences for the environment, resulting in severely depleted resources for humankind as well as industries.”
Enric Sala, Explorer in Residence at National Geographic, and co-author of the Global Deal for Nature that recommends 30 percent of Earth to be formally protected and an additional 20 percent designated as climate stabilization areas has issued the following response:
“The natural world is at a breaking point—and it’s increasingly clear that people’s lives and livelihoods are at stake if we don’t protect our natural world - our life support system.
The entire planet is like a bank account where every living thing makes a different unique and priceless deposit every single day. But sadly, we are the only species that keeps taking money out of that account without ever making a deposit. Our overuse of our natural resources is costing us $6 trillion every year. By 2050, those costs could rise to $28 trillion. And, there are some unique assets we are losing that truly are irreplaceable.
The total value of nature’s benefits to people is estimated to be roughly $125 trillion every year in food, water purification, pollination, protection against floods, and more. This is two-thirds more than the global GDP.
Although the global scope of the challenge is enormous, we still have time to act and we know what to do. Landmark research underlines our urgent imperative to protect at least 30 percent of the Earth’s land and ocean by 2030.
Achieving this goal will require action and collaboration among governments, business, conservation organizations, as well as the Indigenous and local communities who excel at protecting the natural world. Nature can heal itself to restore our natural safety net.”
Background
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity recently released its ‘zero draft’ text proposal for a post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Featured in the text is a target to protect at least 30 percent of the planet—land and sea—by 2030.
Available for interviews:
Explorer in Residence, Marine Ecologist, National Geographic Society, Enric Sala
Vice-Chair for Science and Biodiversity, World Commission on Protected Areas, IUCN, Stephen Woodley
Director of Campaign for Nature, Brian O’Donnell
Contact:
For Campaign for Nature interview requests and quotes, please contact:
Kirsten Weymouth
National Geographic Society
+1 703.928.4995
Greg Zimmerman
Wyss Campaign for Nature
+ 1 847.848.2881
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The Campaign for Nature is a global effort to raise awareness of the threats facing our natural world and inspire world leaders to take action to protect it. Launched in October 2018, the Wyss Campaign for Nature, the National Geographic Society and a growing coalition of conservation advocates are calling on policymakers to commit to clear and ambitious targets at the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Conference of the Parties in October 2020 to protect at least 30 percent of the planet by 2030.