Report shows continued decline of biodiversity

Citation

(2009), "Report shows continued decline of biodiversity", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 20 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2009.08320baf.001

Report shows continued decline of biodiversity

Article Type: Feature From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 20, Issue 2

The Zoological Society of London, the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Global Footprint Network, have produced the Living Planet Report, which indicates a continued decline in species and wildlife, with around 50 countries slipping into a state of permanent or seasonal water stress.

The report shows that, whilst American and United Arab Emirates citizens possess the largest ecological footprints, citizens in Malawi and Afghanistan have the smallest. The UK comes in 15th, having the same ecological footprint as 33 African countries put together. The report, which is published every two years, shows that carbon emissions from fossil fuel use and land disturbance constitute the greatest component of humanity’s footprint, underlining the key threat of climate change.

The report suggests some key “sustainability wedges” which, if combined, could stabilise and reverse the worsening slide into ecological debt and enduring damage to global support systems. For the single most important challenge – climate change – the report shows that a range of efficiency, renewable and low emissions “wedges” could meet projected energy demands to 2050 with reductions in carbon emissions of 60 per cent to 80 per cent.