Manya Rathore
Research expert covering India
Biodiversity loss - statistics & facts
Decades of intense human development and environmental degradation have put the Earth’s biodiversity under threat. The number of endangered species on the planet skyrocketed in the past decade, with over 46,000 species at risk in 2024. The main threats to biodiversity are the over exploitation of species and habitat degradation through land use changes. However, the impact of climate change is becoming more evident and is expected to increase in importance in the coming decades.
This is part of a series on the effects of climate change.
Moreover, climate change has driven an increase in the average ocean surface temperature, thereby increasing the water’s acidity through the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Marine ecosystems are extremely sensitive, and even seemingly small variations in water conditions can have drastic outcomes. As of October 2024, the worst coral reef global bleaching event since records started has affected around 77 percent of the reefs, bringing catastrophic consequences for marine biodiversity.
Biodiversity is suffering great losses caused by human activities. Additionally, climate change is boosting nature’s depletion and pushing biological diversity into unknown territory. Although progress has been made towards a full protection of Earth’s diverse biome, much more investment is needed. To reach global targets in environmental protection, sustainable management, and restoration, annual cash flows of more than 700 billion U.S. dollars are needed by 2050, a reality that dwarves the current pledges.
This is part of a series on the effects of climate change.
How is climate change driving biodiversity loss?
Warmer temperatures are forcing certain species to move to different latitudes, while extreme weather events (such as floods, storms, hurricanes, and wildfires) and sea level rise are already perturbing the habitats of others, with a bleak scenario on the horizon. Around 12.4 percent of natural world heritage sites would be at risk from heat, drought, or extreme rainfall by 2100 in a low emissions scenario that limits warming to 1.8 degrees Celsius by mid-century. This figure rises to some 70.4 percent in a pathway where emissions remain close to current levels and warming rises to 2.7 degrees Celsius.Moreover, climate change has driven an increase in the average ocean surface temperature, thereby increasing the water’s acidity through the absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Marine ecosystems are extremely sensitive, and even seemingly small variations in water conditions can have drastic outcomes. As of October 2024, the worst coral reef global bleaching event since records started has affected around 77 percent of the reefs, bringing catastrophic consequences for marine biodiversity.
An insufficient agreement
After a failed attempt to agree on the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework in November 2024 at the end of the United Nations’ Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) in Cali, Colombia, countries have found a final consensus. The parties gathered again in February 2025 in Rome, Italy, to finalize discussions about the pending items, like the strategies to allocate funds for biodiversity conservation. The new negotiations finished with all nations agreeing to mobilize at least 200 billion U.S. dollars per year by 2030 to help developing countries conserve biodiversity. Such a sum is the current annual biodiversity conservation funding for the entire world. Nonetheless, countries only agreed on the new finance roadmap to deliver a final fund by the end of the decade, pushing back the main issue of the source of the funding.Biodiversity is suffering great losses caused by human activities. Additionally, climate change is boosting nature’s depletion and pushing biological diversity into unknown territory. Although progress has been made towards a full protection of Earth’s diverse biome, much more investment is needed. To reach global targets in environmental protection, sustainable management, and restoration, annual cash flows of more than 700 billion U.S. dollars are needed by 2050, a reality that dwarves the current pledges.
