Page 52 - WEF Reoprt 2020

Biodiversity is declining faster than it has

at any other time in human history

non-indigenous species that edge out Food insecurity
native ones; this has increased by 40% Biodiversity underpins the world’s food
globally over the same period. Fifth, climate system. It creates and maintains healthy
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change exacerbates nature loss, which in soils, pollinates plants, purifies water and
turn reduces nature’s resilience to climate protects against extreme weather events,
change—a vicious circle. 9 among other vital services. The ongoing
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loss of diversity in indigenous domesticated
Less directly, losses of biodiversity are plants and animals is undermining the
driven by population growth, trade, resilience of agricultural systems against
consumption patterns and urbanization. pests, pathogens and climate change.
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By 2030, cities are expected to cover three Declining diversity of fish species is
times as much land as they did in 2000, with correlated with lower catches and
many of the expansions occurring in key higher incidence of stock
biodiversity hotspots. Inadequate export collapse. A new report
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controls have facilitated the spread of invasive from the United Nations’
species, pests and diseases, which aggravate Intergovernmental %
a quarter of plant extinctions and a third of Panel on Climate 83
animal ones. Demand for food will more Change (IPCC) identifies
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than double by 2050; meeting this demand another risk: increased
will require an additional billion hectares carbon-dioxide levels
of land—an area the size of Canada —or are lowering the wild mammal
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increasing yields on existing land through the nutritional value of species loss
use of fertilizers and pesticides, which also food staples such as
contribute to biodiversity loss. rice and wheat. 21 caused by humanity

Health risks
Implications for humanity Well-functioning ecosystems support
human health by providing clean air and
The dramatic loss of biodiversity brings water and a source of medicines. An
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serious risks for societies, economies estimated 50,000–70,000 plant species
and the health of the planet. Sir Robert are harvested for traditional or modern
Watson, chair of the Intergovernmental medicine, and around 50% of modern
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Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and drugs were developed from natural
Ecosystem Services (IPBES), observes: products. Researchers are increasingly
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“Biodiversity and nature’s contributions to “reverting to nature” to look for new
people sound, to many people, academic therapeutic options, efforts that are
and far removed from our daily lives. threatened by biodiversity loss. Species
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. . . Nothing could be further from the currently endangered by biodiversity loss
truth—they are the bedrock of our food, include the South American cinchona tree,
clean water and energy.” Humans rely the source of the malaria drug quinine.
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on biodiversity in fundamental ways, In many cases, natural molecules for
from pollinating crops to curing diseases. medical treatments are so complex that
Biodiversity loss has also come to threaten scientists are not yet able to chemically
the foundations of our economy: one synthesize them, so they must harvest and
attempt to put a monetary value on goods store plants and seeds. Some threatened
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and services provided by ecosystems organisms are critical for medical research:
estimates the worth of biodiversity at US$33 the Mexican axolotl (described above), for
trillion per year—close to the GDP of the example, has unique characteristics that
United States and China combined. Risks enable instructive comparisons with the
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arising from biodiversity loss include: human genome.
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The Global Risks Report 2020 47