London, UK – October 14, 2025
Biodiversity is Disappearing: The accelerating decline of species and natural ecosystems worldwide is a catastrophic threat to human well-being and the global economy, according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The platform’s comprehensive scientific assessments—often dubbed the “IPCC for biodiversity”—underscore that the current rate of loss is unprecedented in human history, putting fundamental elements of life on Earth at risk and severely undermining progress on global sustainability goals.
The IPBES’s landmark reports, including the 2019 Global Assessment and subsequent targeted assessments (such as the Nexus and Transformative Change Reports), paint a dire picture: an estimated one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades. This rapid deterioration of nature’s contributions to people—such as clean air, fresh water, food security, and medicinal resources—will have grave impacts on societies across the globe.
A Planet Under Duress: The Scale of Loss
The reports, compiled by hundreds of the world’s leading experts, found that human actions have already significantly altered the majority of the planet’s surface.
The data reveals the immense scale of environmental transformation:
* 75% of the land-based environment and 66% of the marine environment have been significantly altered by human activity.
* The average abundance of native species in most major land-based habitats has fallen by at least 20%.
* More than 40% of amphibian species, nearly 33% of reef-forming corals, and over one-third of all marine mammals are currently threatened.
* The negative trends in biodiversity and ecosystems are projected to continue to 2050 and beyond unless “transformative changes” are urgently implemented across all sectors of society.
This collapse of natural systems places over half of the world’s GDP—estimated at around $58 trillion—at moderate to high risk due to the reliance of these economic sectors on nature’s services.
The Five Direct Drivers of Extinction
The IPBES identifies five principal direct drivers of biodiversity loss, all rooted in human activity:
* Changes in Land and Sea Use: The conversion of natural habitats, primarily for agricultural expansion and urban development, is the single biggest driver of loss in terrestrial systems.
* Direct Exploitation of Organisms: Unsustainable fishing, logging, and hunting are depleting wild species populations, particularly in marine environments, where overexploitation is the leading driver.
* Climate Change: A rapidly increasing threat, climate change is already shifting species ranges and disrupting ecosystems globally and is projected to become the main driver of biodiversity loss as it intensifies.
* Pollution: The contamination of land, water, and air from sources like pesticides, fertilisers, plastics, and chemicals is causing devastating direct effects on fresh water and marine habitats.
* Invasive Alien Species: The global movement of people and goods has accelerated the introduction of alien species, over 3,500 of which pose major global threats to nature, food security, and the economy, often playing a key role in local extinctions.
These direct pressures are intensified by underlying causes, which IPBES reports trace to the dominant economic systems that prioritize unsustainable growth, structural inequalities in wealth and power, and governance issues that fail to fully integrate the value of nature into policy and business decisions.
Call for Transformative Change
The scientific consensus from the IPBES is clear: global sustainability goals, including the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), cannot be met under current “business as usual” trajectories. The continued loss of biodiversity is set to undermine progress toward 80% of the assessed targets related to poverty, hunger, health, water, cities, and climate.
The platform strongly advocates for “transformative change”—fundamental, system-wide reorganisation across technological, economic, and social factors. This includes:
* Valuing Nature: Reforming global economic and financial systems to base economies on the understanding that nature is the foundation for development, not just a resource to be extracted.
* Policy Reform: Eliminating or reforming public subsidies that damage biodiversity and moving business models toward sustainable practices.
* Conservation: Urgent and significant action to protect and restore habitats, including a greater recognition of the crucial role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in stewarding nature.
The warning from the world’s leading biodiversity experts is unequivocal: the window for effective action is rapidly closing, and without immediate, decisive action, humanity risks not only the future it desires but also the stability of the natural systems that support all life.
