Page 55 - WEF Reoprt 2020

Nature-related risks are undervalued in

business decision-making REUTERS/ANDY CLARK

Coral reef collapse Coral reefs are threatened partly by
Coral reefs are home to some of the planet’s overfishing, industrial activity and pollution,
most biodiverse ecosystems. They are but even more by the planet’s rapid warming.
critical to ocean health: although they make When the water surrounding them becomes
up less than 1% of the ocean floor, 25% of too warm, corals expel the algae living within
fish species rely on reefs for at least part the tissue of the reef, turning the corals
of their life cycle. Ocean reefs contribute white—also known as “coral bleaching”.
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to the livelihoods of at least 500 million If corals are bleached for prolonged periods,
people worldwide, mostly in less-developed they will die. A recent study found that
economies. Coral reefs generate US$36 severe marine heatwaves can lead not just
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billion per year for the global tourism industry, to bleaching, but also to the immediate
with the Great Barrier Reef in Australia death of reefs. If global temperatures
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accounting for more than 15% of that total stabilize at an increased 1.5°C, coral reefs
(US$5.7 billion). They provide vital protection could decline by 70% to 90%; with higher
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from coastal flooding and storm surges: one rises, they would disappear.
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recent study found that losing just the top
layer of coral could result in US$4 billion more The disappearance of coral reefs could
in flood damages per year. 48 have dire consequences for life on land

50 Save the Axolotl