Towards an Irreversible Collapse of Biodiversity ?

The 6th massive extinction is in progress: one million of endangered species, ecosystem in disarray, vital services under threat. The landmark 2019 IPBES report sounded the alarm: 75% of land area has been altered, 85% of wetlands have disappeared, and 30-50% of local species are in decline.

The first culprit: changes in land use. Since 1990, agricultural expansion and artificialisation have nibbled away 420 million hectares of forest, fragmenting habitats and condemning 85% of endangered species. And climate change is accelerating the bleeding: at +1.5°C, coral reefs - home to 25% of marine life - could disappear before 2050.

In the face of such urgency, political responses are struggling to keep pace. The goal of protecting 30% of the world's land by 2030 was set in 2022, but with multilateralism and UN mechanisms being unravelled, COP 16 in 2025 will not have resulted in any decisive advances (no real surprise there...) in terms of financing. And yet, according to the World Bank, 50% of the world's GDP depends on the quality of its ecosystems.