Driven by Science
In order to achieve the transformative change necessary to safeguard our future and that of countless species, we need solutions that make use of the best information. Campaign for Nature is underpinned by the latest work of leading scientific experts from around the world. Below is just a small sample of the science behind our goal to achieve protection for 30% of the planet by 2030.
A Review of Scientific, Economic, Indigenous Rights, Health, and other Research Relevant to the Proposal to Protect or Conserve at least 30% of the Planet by 2030
In January 2021, a group of scientists from around the world issued a stark warning: “Humanity is causing a rapid loss of biodiversity, and, with it, Earth's ability to support complex life.” Viewed alongside other research, including the landmark 2019 IPBES report, the paper reinforces the urgency for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to approve an ambitious and transformative strategy to curb global biodiversity loss.
This document is intended to support Parties participating in the CBD negotiations by compiling, linking to, and summarizing some of the most relevant scientific, economic, rights-based and other expert analyses regarding biodiversity loss and climate change. It focuses in particular on research that relates to protected areas and the proposal to protect or conserve at least 30% of the planet by 2030 (30x30).
This 30x30 proposal has been incorporated in Action Target 3 in the Convention on Biological Diversity’s First Draft of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and is championed by over 70 countries in the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People.
Specifically, this document compiles expert research across the following topics:
Scientific evidence for an increased spatial target
Evidence for a rights-based approach to conservation
Economic implications of biodiversity loss
Measuring the biodiversity funding gap
Economic benefits of nature conservation and the 30x30 proposal
Evidence for better linking climate and biodiversity strategies
How nature conservation can prevent pandemics
How Marine Protected Areas provide food security and other benefits to people
Featured Publications:
Loss and damage finance should apply to biodiversity loss
This paper discusses how Global biodiversity loss has been disproportionately driven by consumption of people in rich nations. The concept of ‘loss and damage’ — familiar from international agreements on climate change — should be considered for the effects of biodiversity loss in countries of the Global South.
Science Advances Digital Cover Vol. 5, no. 4, May 2019 Image Credit: Greg Asner and Nick Vaughn, ASU Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science.
Reprinted with permission from AAAS.
GLOBAL DEAL FOR NATURE, SCIENCE ADVANCES (APRIL 2019)
This paper presents a “Global Deal for Nature” (GDN), a time-sensitive, science-driven plan to save the diversity and abundance of life on Earth from the climate crisis. The GDN aims to prevent the average global temperature from rising above 1.5 ºC by achieving formal protection for 30% of the Earth and securing an additional 20% of the planet as designated climate stabilization areas by 2050.
According to the report’s authors, preserving at least 50% of the planet as intact natural habitats by 2050, is the only path that will enable a climate-resilient future.
GLOBAL ASSESSMENT REPORT ON BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, INTERGOVERNMENTAL SCIENCE-POLICY PLATFORM ON BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (IPBES)
This report provides the most comprehensive global assessment on biodiversity and ecosystem services to date. Its findings indicate that about 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades.
IPBES-IPCC CO-SPONSORED WORKSHOP BIODIVERSITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE WORKSHOP REPORT
This peer-reviewed workshop report was generated by 50 of the world's leading biodiversity and climate experts as a result of the first-ever collaboration of the IPBES and IPCC intergovernmental bodies. It argues that unprecedented changes in climate and biodiversity, driven by human activities, have combined and increasingly threaten nature, human lives, livelihoods and well-being around the world. Furthermore, biodiversity loss and climate change are both driven by human economic activities and mutually reinforce each other. Therefore, neither will be successfully resolved unless both are tackled together.
IPCC CLIMATE CHANGE 2021: THE PHYSICAL SCIENCE BASIS
This report, which is the contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, addresses the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change. It brings together the latest advances in climate science and combines multiple lines of evidence from paleoclimate, observations, process understanding, and global and regional climate simulations.
“Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, and some of the changes already set in motion—such as continued sea level rise—are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years,” states the report’s press release. “However, strong and sustained reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases would limit climate change.”
Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (IPCC)
An IPCC special report on the state of our ocean and the cryosphere (the frozen parts of the planet). It reveals the benefits of limiting global warming to the lowest possible level – and, conversely, the escalating costs and risks of delayed action.
Ocean Deoxygenation: Everyone’s Problem (IUCN Report)
Working with 67 scientific experts from 51 institutes in 17 countries, what is presented here is the largest peer-reviewed study conducted so far on ocean deoxygenation. Expressed in the words of the world’s leading scientists on this topic it shows the inescapable fact human activities are now driving life sustaining oxygen from our ocean-dominated planet.
Emissions Gap Report 2019 (UN)
The report presents the latest data on the expected gap in 2030 for the 1.5°C and 2°C temperature targets of the Paris Agreement. It considers different scenarios, from no new climate policies since 2005 to full implementation of all national commitments under the Paris Agreement. For the first time, it looks at how large annual cuts would need to be from 2020 to 2030 to stay on track to meeting the Paris goals.
Global Biodiversity Outlook 5
The global summary of progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets is based on a range of indicators, research studies and assessments (in particular the IPBES Global Assessment on 10 Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), as well as the national reports provided by countries on their implementation of the CBD. The national reports provide rich information about the steps taken in countries worldwide in support of biodiversity conservation, sustainable use, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits. This body of information provides a wealth of information on the successes and challenges in implementing the Strategic Pan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and in reaching the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
Browse Scientific Papers by Topic
BIODIVERSITY
Effective Coverage Targets for Ocean Protection, Conservation Letters
This paper assesses whether the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity’s accepted target to set aside 10% of the ocean as marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2020, is adequate to achieve its goals of protecting biodiversity, preserving ecosystem services, and achieving its socioeconomic priorities. The researchers concluded that the 10% target is too low, while a goal of 30% or more better estimates what is needed to achieve the aforementioned goals.
HOW MANY SPECIES ARE THERE ON EARTH AND IN THE OCEAN?, PLOS BIOLOGY
This paper seeks to provide a model by which the total number of species can be estimated. Their findings suggest the existence of 8.7 million eukaryotic species globally, of which roughly 2.2 million are marine — a figure critical to providing a reference point for current and future losses of biodiversity.
Scaling laws predict global microbial diversity, PNAS
This paper seeks to present a unified scaling law capable of predicting an estimate of all microorganisms on Earth. Their results predict that the Earth is home to as many as 1 trillion microbial species.
Space for Nature, Science
This article examines the question of how much space is needed, i.e. how much should be conserved, to safeguard biodiversity and preserve ecosystem benefits. Their findings suggest governments to set minimum targets of protecting 30% of the oceans and land by 2030, with a focus on areas of high biodiversity and/or productivity, and to aim to secure 50% by 2050.
The Diversity of Life, E.O. Wilson
One of the world’s preeminent naturalists presents an accounting of the diversity of life on the planet and how humanity is destroying that diversity. His book provides an illustrative roadmap of life on the planet over millennia and looks at our hand in eroding the systems that support the intricate and complicated webs of life. Wilson sees a path forward where the preservation of the natural world can and must work in concert with forces for economic development.
Half Earth, E.O. Wilson
World-renowned biologist and Pulitzer Prize winning author E.O. Wilson lays out his daring plan to dedicate half of the surface of the Earth to nature to stave off the worst effects of climate change and safeguard life for the future. He outlines a blueprint for achieving rapid, transformative change that includes identifying regions of the planet that can still be reclaimed like the Amazon River basin, the California redwood forest, the grasslands of the Serengeti, and others.
Integrating climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation in the global oceaN, Science Advances
This article looks at the integration of climate change considerations into the global protected seascape. It reviews evidence for integration in current MPA design and operation; examines the global distribution of past and future climate trajectories for MPAs; and discusses embedding climate adaptation objectives into MPA networks. It also assess how a protected seascape that integrates dynamic management tools may look in practice, and recommends policy options to achieve this goal.
Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change
This paper provides a review the findings of the largest assessment of the state of nature conducted as of yet, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Global Assessment (IPBES). It reports that the state of nature, and the state of the equitable distribution of nature's support, is in serious decline and only immediate transformation of global economies and operations will sustain nature as we know it, and humanity into the future.
The biomass distribution on Earth, PNAS
This study puts forth an overall biomass composition of the biosphere.
The census of the distribution of biomass on Earth provides an integrated global picture of the relative and absolute abundances of all kingdoms of life. It finds that the biomass of plants dominates the biomass of the biosphere and is mostly located on land. The marine environment is primarily occupied by microbes, mainly bacteria and protists, which account for about 70% of the total marine biomass.
Climatic and local stressor interactions threaten tropical forests and coral reefs, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
This study provides an overview of how and where climate extremes are affecting the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth. The researchers summarize how interactions between global, regional and local stressors are affecting tropical forest and coral reef systems through impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. They also discuss some key challenges and opportunities to promote mitigation and adaptation to a changing climate at local and global scales.
Global conservation of species’ niches, Nature
Ensuring that protected areas cover populations across a broad range of environmental conditions could safeguard the processes that lead to such adaptations. However, international conservation policies have largely neglected these considerations when setting targets for the expansion of protected areas. This study shows that—of 19,937 vertebrate species globally—the representation of environmental conditions across their habitats in protected areas (hereafter, niche representation) is inadequate for 4,836 (93.1%) amphibian, 8,653 (89.5%) bird and 4,608 (90.9%) terrestrial mammal species. Expanding existing protected areas to cover these gaps would encompass 33.8% of the total land surface—exceeding the current target of 17% that has been adopted by governments.
A “Global Safety Net” to reverse biodiversity loss and stabilize Earth’s climate, Science
This research proposes “Global Safety Net” maps for how expanded nature conservation can address both overarching threats of climate change and biodiversity loss. Researchers identify 50% of the terrestrial realm that, if conserved, would reverse further biodiversity loss, prevent CO2 emissions from land conversion, and enhance natural carbon removal. This framework shows that, beyond the 15.1% land area currently protected, 35.3% of land area is needed to conserve additional sites of particular importance for biodiversity and stabilize the climate. Conserving the Global Safety Net could also support public health by reducing the potential for zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 from emerging in the future.
Include biodiversity representation indicators in area-based conservation targets, Nature
Advances in spatial biodiversity science and nationally available data have enabled the development of indicators that report on biodiversity outcomes, account for uneven global biodiversity between countries, and provide direct planning support. This paper urges their inclusion in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
HABITAT DESTRUCTION
The World’s Forgotten Fishes, WWF
This report examines the biodiversity of the world’s freshwater ecosystems and how the great diversity of fishes which they sustain are often undervalued and overlooked when it comes to their contributions to the health of humans and nature. It also highlights the urgent need to address the unprecedented losses to freshwater fish populations in recent decades.
THE BIOMASS DISTRIBUTION ON EARTH, PNAS
This paper assembles a census of the biomass of all kingdoms of life to provide a global, holistic view of the composition of the biosphere and allow for the observation of broad patterns over taxonomic categories, geographic locations, and trophic modes.
TROPHIC DOWNGRADING OF PLANET EARTH, SCIENCE
This paper looks at how the loss of large apex consumers could affect trophic cascades and the potential consequences it could have on the dynamics of disease, wildfire, carbon sequestration, invasive species, and biogeochemical cycles.
Global areas of low human impact (‘Low Impact Areas’) and fragmentation of the natural world, Nature
This paper examines habitat loss and fragmentation due to human activities and the resulting loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Researchers found that 56 percent of the terrestrial surface, minus permanent ice and snow, currently has low human impact. This suggests that increased protected area targets could be met in areas minimally impacted by people.
CLASSIFYING DRIVERS OF GLOBAL FOREST LOSS, SCIENCE
This study used high-resolution Google Earth imagery to map and classify global forest loss between 2001 and 2015. The study’s results indicate that policies designed to achieve zero-deforestation commitments are not being adopted or implemented at the pace needed to meet 2020 goals.
TRACKING THE GLOBAL FOOTPRINT OF FISHERIES, SCIENCE
This paper puts together a global dynamic footprint of fishing efforts based on data sets from 2012 to 2016. The researchers’ analysis of these data sets show that industrial fishing occurs in more than 55% of the world’s oceans spanning an area four times that of terrestrial agriculture.
FISHING DOWN THE MARINE FOOD WEBS, SCIENCE
This paper analyzes the amount and kind of fish global fisheries were “landing” (fish catches that don’t include any fish that were discarded) between 1950 and 1994. Their results show a shift in global fisheries from larger fishes to smaller fishes and invertebrates which suggests their operations are moving down the food web. The implications are larger short-term catches, long-term declines, future instability, and major implications for the marine food web.
UNEXPECTEDLY LARGE IMPACT OF FOREST MANAGEMENT AND GRAZING ON GLOBAL VEGETATION BIOMASS, NATURE
This paper analyzes seven global maps of actual biomass stocks. The researchers’ analysis suggests that the amount of carbon stored by vegetation versus the potential it could store in the absence of land use (estimated to be more than twice as much), provides evidence for the massive effect of land use on biomass stocks.
CATCH RECONSTRUCTIONS REVEAL THAT GLOBAL MARINE FISHERIES CATCHES ARE HIGHER THAN REPORTED AND DECLINING, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
This paper’s authors suggest that the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) global marine fisheries catch trajectories substantially underestimated peak catches and show a need for improved monitoring of all fisheries.
ANTHROPOGENIC TRANSFORMATION OF THE BIOMES, 1700 TO 2000, GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
This paper maps anthropogenic biomes for 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2000, using a model applied to global human population density and land use (for ice-free land). Their findings show land use expansion and intensification has led to the sharp decline in wild and seminatural lands and that most of the Earth’s land, not currently in use for agriculture or urban settlements, is embedded within anthropogenic biomes. Therefore, they suggest that the conservation, restoration and enhancement of these embedded areas is paramount to the preservation of species and ecosystems we value.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
IMPACTS OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS ON OCEAN ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, SCIENCE
This paper provides an analysis of how biodiversity loss affects marine ecosystem services across time and space. The researchers’ findings show that marine biodiversity loss is increasingly impairing the ocean’s capacity to provide food, maintain water quality, and recover from disturbances.
TROPICAL FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE: THE LATEST SCIENCE, WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE
This report synthesizes the latest findings relative to tropical rainforest loss and its potential impacts on climate. It proposes that tropical forest losses are having a larger impact on climate than has been commonly understood.
NATURAL CLIMATE SOLUTIONS, PNAS
This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of “natural climate solutions” (NCS) to examine how much nature can contribute to the goal of holding the average global temperature rise to below 2º C. The researchers’ findings suggest that NCS, in combination with aggressive fossil fuel emissions reductions, can provide over one-third of the cost-effective climate mitigation needed between now and 2030 to keep the average global temperature below the 2º C mark.
AVOIDING THE CLIMATE FAILSAFE POINT, SCIENCE ADVANCES
This article highlights how new research is helping scientists to better understand the inner workings of climate-sensitive relationships among species, including how even very subtle changes in temperature can have devastating effects on ecosystems.
PREDATORS HELP PROTECT CARBON STOCKS IN BLUE CARBON ECOSYSTEMS, NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
This paper examines the role predators play in altering the ability of vegetated coastal ecosystems to accumulate and store carbon. The researchers’ findings show that predators play important and potentially irreplaceable roles in carbon cycling and are critical to maintaining or growing reserves of 'blue carbon' (carbon stored in coastal or marine ecosystems).
Global modeling of nature’s contributions to people
Researchers developed a globalscale modeling of ecosystem services, focusing on water quality regulation, coastal protection, and crop pollination. Their findings suggest that by 2050, up to 5 billion people face higher water pollution and insufficient pollination for nutrition under future scenarios of land use and climate change, particularly in Africa and South Asia.
Investing in Nature: Private Finance for Nature-based Resilience, The Nature Conservancy and Environmental Finance
The Nature Conservancy and Environmental Finance conducted a global survey of asset owners, asset managers and financial intermediaries (including banks, investment advisors, consultancies and NGOs). They found that many private investors choose to invest in natural capital to reduce risk, boost the resilience of their portfolios and/or enhance their reputation.
The Global Flood Protection Benefits of Mangroves, SCientific Reports
Researchers in this study developed a process-based valuation of the effects of mangroves on averting damages to people and property. Their results demonstrate the value of mangroves as natural coastal defenses at global, national and local scales, which can inform incentives for mangrove conservation and restoration in development, climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and insurance.
BENEFITS OF PROTECTED AREAS
A bold successor to Aichi Target 11, Science Advances
In their Policy Forum “Protected area targets post-2020,” P. Visconti et al. argue that focusing on areas of biodiversity importance and emphasizing monitoring outcomes would strengthen a successor to Aichi Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity. This letter agrees in part, but disputes what it believes is a misrepresentation of Aichi Target 11 and its potential.
A GENERAL BUSINESS MODEL FOR MARINE RESERVES, PLOS ONE
In this paper researchers use bio-economic modeling to demonstrate how marine reserves can be created and maintained in a financially self-sustaining manner. Their model provides evidence that fishing revenue increases after the creation of a reserve and tourism revenue surpasses the revenues from fishing.
NO TAKE MARINE RESERVES ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE PROTECTED AREAS IN THE OCEAN, ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
This paper presents a meta-analysis of previous studies to examine what types of marine protected areas (MPAs) are more effective and under which conditions. The analysis shows that no-take “marine reserves” – MPAs with the strongest protections – are by far the most effective type and are successful at restoring and preserving biodiversity, and enhancing ecosystem resilience.
PROTECTING THE WILD, GEORGE WUERTHNER, EILEEN CRIST AND TOM BUTLER
This book brings together experts from five continents that reaffirm the importance of parks, wilderness areas, and other reserves in sustaining species, providing key habitat, preserving ecological processes and safeguarding evolutionary potential. They utilize the latest research to highlight how preserving our lands and waters is critical to safeguarding biodiversity, mitigating the effects of climate change and countering extinctions.
WELL-BEING OUTCOMES OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS, NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
Researchers in this study assessed 118 peer-reviewed articles that looked at the effects of marine protected areas on the people in the nearby vicinity. They found that no-take, well-enforced and old marine protected areas had positive human well-being outcomes relative to economic and governance aspects of well-being.
Wilderness areas halve the extinction risk of terrestrial biodiversity, Nature
Researchers found that wilderness areas, areas with minimal or no human impact, act as a buffer against species loss halving the global risk of species extinction.
Terrestrial land-cover type richness is positively linked to landscape-level functioning, Nature Communications
This study provides evidence that biodiverse ecosystems function better than monocultures on a large scale. Researchers found that having a mix of different land-covers including grassland, forest, urban areas and water bodies improves the functioning and stability of a landscape—irrespective of the plant species diversity, region and climate.
30% land conservation and climate action reduces tropical extinction risk by more than 50%, Ecography
This study created conservation spatial plans for 289,219 tropical plant and vertebrate species that minimized both present and modeled future extinction risk under two greenhouse gas concentration pathways – RCP2.6 and 8.5 – across varying area of terrestrial conservation, from current levels up to 50% conserved, including 30% conserved as suggested in the Convention on Biological Diversity’s draft post‐2020 framework. The researchers’ analysis suggests that 30% land conservation combined with climate change action could reduce extinction risk by half or more across multiple conservation/climate combinations in all the three tropical regions assessed (Neotropics, Afrotropics and SE Asian tropics).
CONSERVING AT LEAST 30% OF THE PLANET BY 2030 - WHAT SHOULD COUNT? IUCN
This report asserts that well-managed protected and conserved areas are an essential part of solving the global biodiversity crisis while protecting carbon stocks in nature helps to address the climate crisis. This brief brings clarity to the question of what should count toward the 30% global minimum target within the context of recognized area-based conservation measures and their ability to deliver positive long-term conservation outcomes.
INDIGENOUS AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES
A SPATIAL OVERVIEW OF THE GLOBAL IMPORTANCE OF INDIGENOUS LANDS FOR CONSERVATION, NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
This paper provides a first estimation of the overlap between Indigenous Peoples’ lands and protected areas, human anthropogenic biomes, and the degree that humans influence these.
The researchers’ findings show that in total, Indigenous Peoples influence land management across at least 28.1% of land area. They suggest collaboration between conservation practitioners, Indigenous Peoples, and governments would yield significant benefits.
OTHER EFFECTIVE AREA‐ BASED CONSERVATION MEASURES: FROM AICHI TARGET 11 TO THE POST‐2020 BIODIVERSITY FRAMEWORK, PARKS: THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PROTECTED AREAS AND CONSERVATION
This essay reviewed the draft guidelines for defining Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) as they existed prior to the 14th Conference of the Parties in November 2018.
The Role of Indigenous Peoples in Biodiversity Conservation
This report summarizes the World Bank’s efforts to support the participation of Indigenous Peoples in Biodiversity Conservation programs and projects. The principal finding of this report is that creating a sustainable future for biodiversity conservation worldwide will critically depend on the active and effective engagement of Indigenous Peoples.
The Path to Conserving 30 Percent of the Planet by 2030, WYSS Campaign for Nature
The report spotlights the critical leadership indigenous and local communities provide in safeguarding the planet’s vulnerable lands, oceans, and wildlife. It documents the unique perspective of four community leaders who are immersed in successful, indigenous- and community-led conservation projects in four different countries.
Local Biodiversity Outlooks 2, Forest Peoples Programme
This report is a complement to the fifth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook and highlights the contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities to the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 and to renewing nature and cultures.
MAJOR ASSESSMENTS AND REPORTS
LIVING PLANET REPORT, WWF - 2020 Release
This report uses multiple indices, most notably the Living Planet Index (LPI) to provide a comprehensive look at the health of the planet and trends in global biodiversity. It shows an average 68% decrease in population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish between 1970 and 2016. A 94% decline in the LPI for the tropical subregions of the Americas is the largest fall observed in any part of the world.
It concludes that without a drastic change, the current severe declines will continue with grave consequences for nature and people.
2018 PROTECTED PLANET REPORT, UNEP-WCMC, IUCN AND NGS
This report provides an update on the global progress, as of July 2018, toward the Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 set forth in the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.
The report concludes that the Aichi Target 11 is likely to be met by 2020 in terms of area coverage, but will not likely meet its overall goals of preserving biodiversity and ecosystem services if these other considerations are not achieved.
EFFECTIVE COVERAGE TARGETS FOR OCEAN PROTECTION, CONSERVATION LETTERS
This paper assesses whether the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity’s accepted target to set aside 10% of the ocean as marine protected areas (MPAs) by 2020, is adequate to achieve its goals of protecting biodiversity, preserving ecosystem services, and achieving its socioeconomic priorities. The researchers concluded that the 10% target is too low, while a goal of 30% or more better estimates what is needed to achieve the aforementioned goals.
DECLINE OF THE NORTH AMERICAN AVIFAUNA, SCIENCE
This report documents losses of North American avifauna over the 48 years between 1970 and 2018. Based on their use of range-wide population trajectories and size estimates, they found wide-spread population declines of birds indicating a net loss approaching 3 billion birds, or 29 percent of 1970 abundance.
Protecting and Restoring Forests A Story of Large Commitments yet Limited Progress
This report marks a five-year assessment of the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF) that was endorsed at the United Nations Climate Summit in September 2014. This assessment finds little evidence that the goals of the NYDF are on track, and it is unlikely to achieve its 2020 targets.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAND REPORT, IPCC
An IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems.
Biodiversity: Finance and the Economic and Business Case for Action, OECD
This report supports sets an economic and business case for the G7 and other countries to take urgent and ambitious action to halt and reverse global biodiversity loss. It also provides recommendations on priorities for scaling up action on biodiversity.
2019 Europe Sustainable Development Report
The 2019 Europe Sustainable Development Report is the first independent quantitative report on the progress of the European Union and its member states towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report was prepared by teams of independent experts at the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).
A Review of Evidence for Area-based Conservation Targets for the Post2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, IUCN
This paper reviews the scientific literature to determine what scientific evidence exists for large scale percentage (%) area conservation targets. Chief among its findings is that the Aichi Target 11 percentages are not considered adequate to conserve biodiversity by any research findings, either for ocean or for land; percentage area targets cannot be considered in isolation from the quality considerations; and global protection of a minimum of 30% and up to 70%, or even higher, of the land and sea on earth is supported in the literature.
Explaining Extreme Events from a Climate Perspective, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS)
This is the eighth such report conducted by BAMS that presents 21 new peer-reviewed analyses of extreme weather across five continents and one sea during 2018. It features the research of 121 scientists from 13 countries looking at both historical observations and model simulations to determine whether and by how much climate change may have influenced particular extreme events.
World Meteorological Organization Statement on the State of the Global Climate in 2019
The tell-tale physical signs of climate change, such as increasing land and ocean heat, accelerating sea level rise and melting ice, contributed to making 2019 the second warmest year on record according to a new report compiled by a network led by the World Meteorological Organization. The report documents the increasing impacts of weather and climate events on socio-economic development, human health, migration and displacement, food security and land and marine ecosystems.
The human cost of disasters: an overview of the last 20 years (2000-2019), UNDRR
This report focuses primarily on the staggering rise in climate-related disasters over the last twenty years and provides a commentary on the need to strengthen disaster risk governance for the entire range of natural hazards and man-made hazards including related environmental, technological and biological hazards and risks.
Photographs by: Enric Sala, National Geographic (banner); David Littschwager, National Geographic (Biodiversity); George F. Mobley, National Geographic (Habitat Destruction); David Doubilet, National Geographic (Ecosystem Services); Andrew James Bardon, National Geographic (Benfits of Protected Areas); Mauro Sergio, National Geographic (Indigenous and Local Communities); Kostadin Luchansky, National Geographic (Major Assessments and Reports).