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Environment

Destruction of nature is as big a threat to humanity as climate change.

By Michael Le Page

Farming and housing occupies large amounts of land globally

Steve Proehl/Getty

We are destroying nature at an unprecedented rate, threatening the survival of a million species – and our own future, too. But it’s not too late to save them and us, says a major new report.

“The evidence is incontestable. Our destruction of biodiversity and ecosystem services has reached levels that threaten our well-being at least as much as human-induced climate change.”

With these words chair Robert Watson launched a meeting in Paris to agree the final text of a major UN report on the state of nature around the world – the biggest and most thorough assessment to date, put together by 150 scientists from 50 countries.

The report, released today, is mostly grim reading. We humans have already significantly altered three-quarters of all land and two-thirds of the oceans. More than a third of land and three-quarters of freshwater resources are devoted to crops or livestock.

Around 700 vertebrates have gone extinct in the past few centuries. Forty per cent of amphibians and a third of coral species, sharks and marine mammals look set to follow.

Less room for wildlife

Preventing this is vital to save ourselves, the report says. “Ecosystems, species, wild populations, local varieties and breeds of domesticated plants and animals are shrinking, deteriorating or vanishing,” says one of the the report’s authors, Josef Settele. “This loss is a direct result of human activity and constitutes a direct threat to human well-being in all regions of the world.”

The main reason is simple. Our expanding farms and cities are leaving less room for wildlife. The other major causes are the direct exploitation of wildlife such as hunting, climate change, pollution and the spread of invasive species. Climate change is set to become ever more destructive.

Read more: Is life on Earth really at risk? The truth about the extinction crisis

But we can still turn things around, the report says. “Nature can be conserved, restored and used sustainably while simultaneously meeting other global societal goals through urgent and concerted efforts fostering transformative change,” it states.

It also says that where land is owned or managed by indigenous peoples and local communities, there has been less destruction and sometimes none at all.

The aim of the report, by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), is to provide an authoritative scientific basis for international action . The hope is that it will lead to the same pressure for action as the latest scientific report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), on limiting warming to 1.5°C.

“Good knowledge is absolutely essential for good governance,” says Watson, who chaired the IPCC from 1997 to 2002 . “I’m optimistic that this will make a difference.”

Bioenergy threat

But the challenge is immense. All countries except the US have ratified the 1992 UN Convention of Biodiversity and are supposed to be conserving biodiversity and promoting its sustainable use.

Despite this, more than 80 per cent of the agreed international targets for 2020 will not be met, says the report. In fact, as of 2016, half the signatory countries hadn’t yet drawn up plans on how to meet the targets .

The problem isn’t just our focus on economic growth regardless of the impact on the natural world. Current plans for reducing carbon dioxide emissions to net-zero to limit climate change rely heavily on bioenergy, which requires a lot of land. This will accelerate species loss as well as threatening food and water security, says the report.

Read more: Rewilding: Can we really restore ravaged nature to a pristine state?

In fact, the bioenergy push is already causing harm. For instance, rainforests are being cut down in Indonesia and Malaysia to grow palm oil to make biodiesel for cars in Europe .

Transforming our civilisation to make it more sustainable will require more connected thinking, the report says. “There’s a very fragmented approach,” says Watson. “We’ve got to think about all these things in a much more holistic way.”

For instance, there are ways of tackling climate change that will help biodiversity too, such as persuading people to eat less meat and planting more trees. But the devil is in the detail – artificial plantations would benefit wildlife far less than restoring natural forests.

Some of the solutions set out in the report may not be welcome to all. In particular, it effectively calls for wealthy people to consume less, suggesting that changing the habits of the affluent may be central to sustainable development worldwide.

Read more: Half the planet should be set aside for wildlife – to save ourselves

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• ENVIRONMENT

Why deforestation matters—and what we can do to stop it

Large scale destruction of trees—deforestation—affects ecosystems, climate, and even increases risk for zoonotic diseases spreading to humans.

As the world seeks to slow the pace of climate change , preserve wildlife, and support more than eight billion people , trees inevitably hold a major part of the answer. Yet the mass destruction of trees—deforestation—continues, sacrificing the long-term benefits of standing trees for short-term gain of fuel, and materials for manufacturing and construction.

We need trees for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that they absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale and the heat-trapping greenhouse gases that human activities emit. As those gases enter the atmosphere, global warming increases, a trend scientists now prefer to call climate change.

There is also the imminent danger of disease caused by deforestation. An estimated 60 percent of emerging infectious diseases come from animals, and a major cause of viruses’ jump from wildlife to humans is habitat loss, often through deforestation.

But we can still save our forests. Aggressive efforts to rewild and reforest are already showing success. Tropical tree cover alone can provide 23 percent of the climate mitigation needed to meet goals set in the Paris Agreement in 2015, according to one estimate .

Causes of deforestation

Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Since 1990, the world has lost more than 420 million hectares or about a billion acres of forest, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations —mainly in Africa and South America. About 17 percent of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses recently have been on the rise . The organization Amazon Conservation reports that destruction rose by 21 percent in 2020 , a loss the size of Israel.

Farming, grazing of livestock, mining, and drilling combined account for more than half of all deforestation . Forestry practices, wildfires and, in small part, urbanization account for the rest. In Malaysia and Indonesia, forests are cut down to make way for producing palm oil , which can be found in everything from shampoo to saltine crackers. In the Amazon, cattle ranching and farms—particularly soy plantations—are key culprits .

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Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also fell countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally , also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl as land is developed for homes.

Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees.

Why it matters

There are some 250 million people who live in forest and savannah areas and depend on them for subsistence and income—many of them among the world’s rural poor.

Eighty percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests , and deforestation threatens species including the orangutan , Sumatran tiger , and many species of birds. Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s rays during the day and retains heat at night. That disruption leads to more extreme temperature swings that can be harmful to plants and animals.

With wild habitats destroyed and human life ever expanding, the line between animal and human areas blurs, opening the door to zoonotic diseases . In 2014, for example, the Ebola virus killed over 11,000 people in West Africa after fruit bats transmitted the disease to a toddler who was playing near trees where bats were roosting.

( How deforestation is leading to more infectious diseases in humans .)

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Some scientists believe there could be as many as 1.7 million currently “undiscovered” viruses in mammals and birds, of which up to 827,000 could have the ability to infect people, according to a 2018 study .

Deforestation’s effects reach far beyond the people and animals where trees are cut. The South American rainforest, for example, influences regional and perhaps even global water cycles, and it's key to the water supply in Brazilian cities and neighboring countries. The Amazon actually helps furnish water to some of the soy farmers and beef ranchers who are clearing the forest. The loss of clean water and biodiversity from all forests could have many other effects we can’t foresee, touching even your morning cup of coffee .

In terms of climate change, cutting trees both adds carbon dioxide to the air and removes the ability to absorb existing carbon dioxide. If tropical deforestation were a country, according to the World Resources Institute , it would rank third in carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, behind China and the U.S.

What can be done

The numbers are grim, but many conservationists see reasons for hope . A movement is under way to preserve existing forest ecosystems and restore lost tree cover by first reforesting (replanting trees) and ultimately rewilding (a more comprehensive mission to restore entire ecosystems).

( Which nation could be the first to be rewilded ?)

Organizations and activists are working to fight illegal mining and logging—National Geographic Explorer Topher White, for example, has come up with a way to use recycled cell phones to monitor for chainsaws . In Tanzania, the residents of Kokota have planted more than 2 million trees on their small island over a decade, aiming to repair previous damage. And in Brazil, conservationists are rallying in the face of ominous signals that the government may roll back forest protections.

( Which tree planting projects should you support ?)

Stopping deforestation before it reaches a critical point will play a key role in avoiding the next zoonotic pandemic. A November 2022 study showed that when bats struggle to find suitable habitat, they travel closer to human communities where diseases are more likely to spillover. Inversely, when bats’ native habitats were left intact, they stayed away from humans. This research is the first to show how we can predict and avoid spillovers through monitoring and maintaining wildlife habitats.

For consumers, it makes sense to examine the products and meats you buy, looking for sustainably produced sources when you can. Nonprofit groups such as the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance certify products they consider sustainable, while the World Wildlife Fund has a palm oil scorecard for consumer brands.

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Human Impacts on the Environment

Humans impact the physical environment in many ways: overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, and undrinkable water. These negative impacts can affect human behavior and can prompt mass migrations or battles over clean water.

Help your students understand the impact humans have on the physical environment with these classroom resources.

Earth Science, Geology, Geography, Physical Geography

The Global Impacts of Habitat Destruction

Habitat destruction is one of the biggest threats facing plants and animal species throughout the world. The loss of habitat has far-reaching impacts on the planet’s ability to sustain life, but even with the challenges, there is hope for the future.

Habitat destruction, defined as the elimination or alteration of the conditions necessary for animals and plants to survive, not only impacts individual species but the health of the global ecosystem.

Habitat loss is primarily, though not always, human-caused. The clearing of land for farming, grazing, mining, drilling, and urbanization impact the 80 percent of global species who call the forest home. Approximately 15 billion trees are cut down each year. According to a study about tree density published in Nature , the number of trees worldwide has decreased by 46 percent since the start of civilization. In addition to the loss of habitat, deforestation reduces the ability of forests to provide the critical benefit of absorbing carbon, which helps to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The situation is even worse in waterways, coastal areas, and the ocean. Coastal estuaries and marshes provide breeding grounds for the majority of marine species. As they, along with inland wetlands, are dredged and filled, species are less able to birth and support their young. Pollution and effluents from the land travel easily through streams and rivers to the ocean, where they impact the health of fish, birds, and marine plants. Deforestation far from shore can cause erosion that enters the water and deposits silt into the shallow marine waters, blocking the sunlight that coral reefs need to survive.

Despite the habitat loss that has occurred globally to date, there is still hope. Studies reveal that by protecting 50 percent of the land and ocean around the world, plant and animal species could thrive. Today, only 15 percent of the land and 7 percent of the ocean is protected, leaving us with a challenging yet attainable goal.

The Campaign for Nature calls upon world leaders to take action in helping to protect 30 percent of the Earth’s land and ocean by 2030, on the way to 50 percent of the planet in a natural state by 2050. This commitment represents our best opportunity to preserve the ecosystems necessary for our survival.

The National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organization that uses the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. Since 1888, National Geographic has pushed the boundaries of exploration, investing in bold people and transformative ideas, providing more than 15,000 grants for work across all seven continents, reaching 3 million students each year through education offerings, and engaging audiences around the globe through signature experiences, stories and content. To learn more, visit www.nationalgeographic.org or follow us on Instagram , LinkedIn, and Facebook .

Rate of Environmental Damage Increasing Across Planet but Still Time to Reverse Worst Impacts

Rate of Environmental Damage Increasing Across the Planet but There Is Still Time to Reverse Worst Impacts if Governments Act Now, UNEP Assessment Says 

Landmark UNEP Assessment Puts State of the World’s Environment Under the Microscope

The environmental change sweeping the world is occurring at a faster pace than previously thought, making it imperative that governments act now to reverse the damage being done to the planet, says the most authoritative study that UNEP has ever published on the state of the global environment.

Under the title Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-6): Regional Assessments, six separate reports provide highly detailed examinations of the environmental issues affecting each of the world’s six regions: the Pan-European region, North America, Asia and the Pacific, West Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa.

Released ahead of the United Nations Environment Assembly, the regional assessments find that the world shares a host of common environmental threats that are rapidly intensifying in many parts of the world. In almost every region, population growth, rapid urbanization, rising levels of consumption, desertification, land degradation and climate change have combined to leave countries suffering from severe water scarcity. These worrying trends are also making it increasingly hard for the world to feed itself, warn the reports, which involved 1,203 scientists, hundreds of scientific institutions and more than 160 governments.

The Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner, said: “Today, thanks to this report, we now know more about the state of the world’s environment than ever before. With these assessments, UNEP has presented the world with the very latest evidence on the state of the world’s environment, providing them with the tools they need anticipate and avoid the damage that is being done to our planet.

“If current trends continue and the world fails to enact solutions that improve current patterns of production and consumption, if we fail to use natural resources sustainably, then the state of the world’s environment will continue to decline. It is essential that we understand the pace of environmental change that is upon us and that we start to work with nature instead of against it to tackle the array of environmental threats that face us.”

The assessments, which are based on scientific data and peer reviewed literature, find that there is still time to tackle many of the worst impacts of environmental change, such as the damage to marine ecosystems and the rising level of air pollution, which has become one of the world’s most widespread environmental health risks.

Across the world, climate change, the loss of biodiversity, land degradation and water scarcity are growing problems that need to be urgently addressed if the world is to achieve the goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the reports state.

Regional priorities and key findings:

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

The future of the region’s economies, as well as the ability of countries to fight poverty and reverse inequality, depends heavily on harnessing the region’s natural capital sustainably while mitigating and adapting to climate change, and decoupling economic growth from resource consumption.

Greenhouse gas emissions

The GEO-6 report on LAC states that greenhouse gas emissions are growing in the region as a result of urbanization, economic growth, energy consumption, land use changes and other factors. Agriculture has had a strong impact on the emission of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide emissions – from soils, leaching and runoff, direct emissions, and animal manure – increased by about 29 per cent between 2000 and 2010. The abundance of beef and dairy cattle in the region has also increased methane emissions, which grew by 19 per cent between 2000 and 2010.

Air pollution

Most of the cities in the region for which data are available have concentrations of particulate matter (PM) above World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines. Monterrey in Mexico, for example, has measured concentrations of PM2.5 of 85.9, well above the WHO recommended limit of 20.

The region’s urban population increased by more than 35 million people between 2010 and 2015, and is expected to climb to a total of 567 million persons by 2025. More than 100 million people already live in areas where they are at risk from air pollution.

Climate Change

Andean glaciers, which provide vital water resources for millions of people, are shrinking and an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are affecting economies, the report notes. The LAC region has, however, made progress on the reduction of ozone-depleting substances and the elimination of lead in gasoline, reducing significantly the impacts on the ozone layer and lead concentrations in air.

Asia and the Pacific

Unprecedented economic growth, which has lifted millions out of poverty in Asia and the Pacific, is putting heavy pressure on ecosystems. Increasing unsustainable consumption patterns have led to worsening air pollution, water scarcity and waste generation, threatening human and environmental health. Increased demand for fossil fuels and natural resources – extensive agriculture, palm oil and rubber plantations, aquaculture and the illegal trade in wildlife – are causing environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.

Natural disasters

Last year, the Asia Pacific region continued to be the world’s most disaster prone region. About 41 per cent of all natural disasters reported over the last two decades occurred in the Asia-Pacific region, which also accounted for 91 per cent of the world’s deaths attributable to natural disasters in the last century.

The number of record-breaking rainfall events increased by 56 per cent over the 1981 – 2010 period. By the 2070s the top Asian cities in terms of population exposure to coastal flooding will be Bangkok, Dhaka, Guangzhou, Kolkata, Mumbai and Shanghai, threatening hundreds of millions of people with displacement.

Deforestation

In Southeast Asia, the average area deforested annually is more than 1 million hectares, resulting in the release of hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year between 2005 and 2015.

The contamination of water sources by human and industrial waste, including pharmaceutical and personal care products, is a major problem in the region, the GEO-6 reports state. It is estimated that about 30 per cent of the population uses drinking water contaminated by human feces. Water-related diseases and unsafe water contribute to 1.8 million deaths annually and 24.8 million disability-adjusted life years in the region. Unsafe sanitation, disposal of untreated wastewater and runoff of agrochemicals are responsible for a rise in water-borne diseases, especially in Asia’s population-dense urban areas.

Uncontrolled dumping, which is still the main waste disposal method in the region, is also a major source of disease. In Mumbai, for example, about 12 per cent of total municipal solid waste is burned either openly on the streets or in landfills, a practice that releases black carbon, dioxins and carcinogenic furans. Population growth, a growing middle class and urbanization have led to higher emissions and growing amounts of ill-managed waste, the report states. Rapid economic growth and intensified industrialization has also led to increasingly unhealthy, polluting and carbon-intensive lifestyles.

Growing consumption

The main driver for accelerating domestic material consumption is the expanding middle class (from 21 per cent in 1990 to 56 per cent in 2008). The size of the global middle class is projected to increase from 1.8 billion (2009) to 4.9 billion in 2030 with most of this growth coming from Asia. The OECD predicts that the middle class’s global spending will grow to $56 trillion by 2030 from $21 trillion today and that more than 80 per cent of this increase is expected to come from Asia and the Pacific.

A rise in the amount of degraded land and the spread of desertification – the “most critical challenges” in West Asia – are having profound economic and environmental impacts on the region, the UNEP report on the region states. West Asia is suffering from an increase in water demand, overexploitation of groundwater resources and deteriorating water quality, as well as unsustainable patterns of consumption that threaten the region’s ability to secure its sources of food, water and energy.

The scarcity of the region’s renewable water resources also poses a major challenge in the region, denting West Asia’s ability to produce enough food to meet the growing population’s needs. High population growth and rolling conflicts mean that the carrying capacity of the land has become too low to support people with freshwater and food, the report says. Water demand in the region is increasing while water quality is deteriorating. Ground water resources are being overexploited. As a result, only four out of 12 countries in West Asia are above the water scarcity limit of 1000 cubic metres per person per year.

Conflict and displacement

Continuous conflict and the mass displacement of people throughout the region are also triggering severe environmental impacts that are endangering the health of people. Heavy metals from explosive munitions and radiation from missiles have leached into the environment as a result of the region’s conflicts. The 2.97 million refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen and Iraq are placing an immense environmental burden on the region, producing about 1,440 tonnes of waste per day in 2015, overwhelming governments and increasing the risk of disease outbreaks.

The top environmental risk factors for human health in the region are air pollution; lack of access to safe water and adequate sanitation; climate change; exposure to hazardous chemicals and wastes; emergencies and disasters; and exposure to radiation.

In the West Asia region, more than 229,500 people die prematurely each year because of specific environmental risks and 8.24 million healthy life years are being lost because of these risks. This means every individual in the West Asia region is losing 17 days of life annually because of modifiable environmental risk factors.

Almost 90 per cent of municipal solid waste in West Asia is disposed of in unlined landfill sites and leachate from these is contaminating scarce groundwater resources.

Rising populations, urbanization, economic growth, burning of fossil fuels and conflict all place enormous stress on the environment and harm human health. It is estimated that air pollution alone, which has increased steadily over the past two decades, was responsible for more than 70,000 premature deaths in West Asia in 2010.

Other top issues in the region are climate change, which will exacerbate water stress in the region, and biodiversity, which is under threat from urban expansion, pollution, the overconsumption of biological resources and changes in habitat.

Land degradation, air pollution, and the provision of sanitation and safe drinking water are among the main problems on the continent. Many of the region’s fisheries, both inland and marine, face overexploitation from illegal, under-reported and unregulated fishing. The continent has an opportunity to use it large young population to drive its growth. Low-carbon, climate-resilient choices can develop the continent’s infrastructure, accelerate industrialization, increase energy and food production, and promote sustainable natural resource governance.

Indoor Air pollution

Indoor air pollution is responsible for 600,000 premature deaths every year in Africa. The continent’s reliance on the use of biomass for cooking, lighting and heating means that 90 per cent of the region’s population is exposed to this health threat.

Water and sanitation

The proportion of the population served with clean water is increasing and grew from 64 per cent in 2005 to 68 per cent in 2012, although absolute numbers of people without safe drinking water remain high.

More than half of the population in sub-Saharan Africa still does not have any access to improved sanitation, compared to 90 per cent coverage in North Africa, with a vast difference between urban and rural areas.

African megacities such as Cairo, Kinshasa and Lagos, and emerging megacities such as Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg and Luanda, face challenges from poor management of sanitation services due to inadequate and deteriorating infrastructure resulting from underinvestment.

Land-based activities causing pollution of freshwater bodies ultimately impact coastal and marine resources.

Land, forests and food

In Africa, which is the second largest continent in the world, land is the most prized asset for food production, nutritional health and economic development. Worryingly, about 500 000 square meters of land in Africa is being degraded due to soil erosion, salinization, pollution and deforestation.  This land degradation can damage agricultural productivity, nutrition and human health.

A growing population and a rise in the demand for firewood will mean that forest cover in Africa is likely to continue shrinking, declining to less than 600 million hectares by 2050. Over cultivation, inefficient irrigation practices, overgrazing, the overexploitation of resources, uncontrolled mining activities and climate change will further degrade land in Africa, the UNEP report states.

This will lead to reduced agricultural productivity, reduced food security, which can increase migration and spread disease, the destruction of infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, and high rates of poverty.

North America

Environmental conditions in the region have improved due to policies, institutions, data collection and assessment, and regulatory frameworks. Air quality, in particular, continues to improve in response to concerted policy action and favorable trends in technology and energy markets. Drinking water quality is extremely good, although water scarcity is of increasing concern in the region. Meanwhile, a rich network of well-managed protected areas is in place and is helping to conserve biological diversity.

However, environmental challenges have emerged in recent years. Climate change is generating impacts across the region, and aggressive hydrocarbon extraction methods bring the possibility of increased emissions, water use and induced seismicity. The coastal and marine environment is under increasing threat from nutrient loads, ocean acidification, ocean warming, sea level rise, and new forms of marine debris.

Air and Water Quality

The estimated public health benefits of the region’s improvement in air quality stands at about $2 trillion. However, these improvements are not evenly distributed, with approximately 140 million people exposed to pollution above regulatory thresholds.

Drinking water quality is generally extremely good in the region, but shows signs of backsliding in some areas. Negative trends are chiefly the result of degraded infrastructure and weak governance. These isolated water quality incidents threaten human health, in some cases acutely.

New chemical contaminants and new sources of traditional pollutants are emerging as air and water quality problems that are of concern to public health and the environment.

Climate change

Climate change is damaging the environment, human health and well-being and, in some cases, human security in the region.

A prominent five-year drought around the state of Texas ended in the spring of 2015 with devastating floods. The persistent drought conditions migrated north and westwards to California, the source of a significant proportion of US food production. Findings suggest that global warming exacerbated the drought by approximately 15-20 per cent.

Hurricane Sandy was directly responsible for approximately 150 deaths and $70 billion in losses. The 30 centimetres of sea level rise off New York City since 1900 likely expanded Hurricane Sandy’s flood area by approximately 65 square kilometres, flooding the homes of more than 80 000 additional people in New York and New Jersey alone.

The prospect for impacts such as these to worsen in both the near and long term constitutes a priority issue for North America. Efforts to mitigate climate change through reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and enhanced carbon sequestration are beginning to show tangible results and to create a foundation for potentially major advances.

Solar deployment, for example, has increased dramatically, capturing 40 per cent of the market for new electric generating capacity in the US in the first half of 2015. Solar capacity now has reached 22.7 gigawatts nationwide. Solar now powers 4.6 million homes and individual homeowner and utility-scale installations are becoming more common.

The Arctic is experiencing a profound transformation that is having important impacts on North America and the world as a whole. These rapid changes in the Arctic are driven largely by interacting forces of climate change and increased human activities. As one of the first areas of the world to experience the impacts of climate change, the Arctic region serves as a barometer for change in the rest of the world.

Warming in the Arctic has increased at twice the global average since 1980. There are other worrying trends. Over the past twenty years, for example, there has been a progressive and dramatic decrease in summer sea ice extent, which has led to an increased surface area of blue water during the summer months.

The largest contributions to global glacier ice loss during the early 21st century were from glaciers in Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, and the periphery of the Greenland ice sheet, as well as in the Southern Andes and Asian mountains. Together these areas account for more than 80 per cent of the total ice loss.

The melting of sea ice has also created new expanses of open ocean, allowing large populations of phytoplankton to bloom and alter the marine food chain.

Overall Recommendations

• Strengthen intergovernmental coordination at the regional and sub-regional level will improve governance issues that are of regional priority.
• Improve gathering, processing and sharing of data and information to inform decision-making.
• Enhance sustainable consumption and production to reduce environmental pressures by addressing drivers associated with manufacturing processes and consumer demand
• Harness natural capital in a way that does not damage ecosystems.
• Implement measures to reduce pollution and other environmental pressures.
• Invest in urban planning, such as through the better use of environmentally sound. infrastructure and clean transport, which can turn the urban challenge into opportunities for sustainable development.
• Governments will likely need to find innovative solutions to allow for the decoupling of economic growth and resource consumption.
• Reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and diversify energy sources.
• Greater investments are needed in environmental accounting systems to ensure external costs are addressed, and in foresight processes to identify possible future risks, opportunities and conflicts.
• Enhance international cooperation on climate, air quality and other environmental issues.
• Respond to environmental health risks.
• Build resilience to natural hazards and extreme climate events.
• Low-carbon, climate-resilient choices in infrastructure, energy and food production coupled with effective and sustainable natural resource governance are key to protecting the ecological assets that underpin a healthy society.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Factsheets with most important facts and figures from each of the Regional Assessments can be found here: http://apps.unep.org/publications/index.php?option=com_pub&mid=15&ftype=Factsheets

Full Versions of Regional Assessments will be made available at http://uneplive.unep.org/ Pan-European Region:

The GEO-6 Assessment for the pan-European region has been prepared by UNEP and UNECE with support from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The assessment is backed by a large body of recent, credible scientific evidence and has been developed through a robust intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder process including regional-wide consultations to set the priorities for the assessment. Hundreds of experts from the region including from governments, academia and key stakeholders in the region have participated in its development.

At the Seventh Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference held in Astana (Kazakhstan) in 2011, ministers committed to establish a regular assessment process for the pan-European region based on a Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS). As a result, the GEO-6 Assessment for the pan-European region will be launched on 08 June 2016 at the eighth Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference in Batumi, Georgia. At the conference the assessment will serve to inform the discussion on keeping the environment under review for the pan-European region.

For more information please contact: Isabelle Valentiny: [email protected]

About GEO-6

The regional assessments will inform the Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6), which will be released before 2018 and will provide the most authoritative assessment of the state, trends and outlook of the global environment. About UNEA

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) is the world’s most powerful decision-making body on the environment, responsible for tackling some of the most critical issues of our time. The assembly holds the power to dramatically change the fate of the planet and improve the lives of everyone, impacting everything from health to national security, from the plastic in our oceans to the trafficking of wildlife. Thanks to UNEA, the environment is now considered one of the world’s most pressing concerns alongside other major global issues such as peace, security, finance and health.

This year, hundreds of key decision makers, businesses and representatives of intergovernmental organizations and civil society will in May gather at UNEA-2, taking place at the United Nations Environment Programme headquarters in Nairobi, for one of the first major meetings since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Agreement. The resolutions passed at UNEA-2 will set the stage for early action on implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and drive the world towards a better future, more-just future. UNEA-2 is also inclusive, with myunea.org allowing citizens to feed their concerns into the meeting and take personal ownership of the collective challenges we face.

http://web.unep.org/unea

For media enquiries please contact:

Shereen Zorba, Head of News and Media, UNEP, [email protected] , +254 20 762 5022

Michal Szymanski, Information Officer, UNEP, [email protected] , +254 715 876 185

Human progress is no excuse to destroy nature. A push to make ‘ecocide’ a global crime must recognise this fundamental truth

Professor of Environmental Politics & International Relations, UNSW Sydney

Professor of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney

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Scientists recently confirmed the Amazon rainforest is now emitting more carbon dioxide than it absorbs, due to uncontrolled burning and deforestation. It brings the crucial ecosystem closer to a tipping point that would see it replaced by savanna and trigger accelerated global heating.

This is not an isolated example of nature being damaged at a mass scale. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change this month confirmed global heating is now affecting every continent, region and ocean on Earth. That includes Australia, which is a global deforestation hotspot and where the Great Barrier Reef is headed for virtual extinction .

In the face of such horrors, a new international campaign is calling for “ecocide” – the killing of ecology – to be deemed an international “ super crime ” in the order of genocide. The campaign has attracted high-profile supporters including French President Emmanuel Macron, Pope Francis and Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

Making ecocide an international crime is an appropriate response to the gravity of this harm and could help prevent mass environmental destruction. But whether it does so will depend on how the crime is defined.

Defining ecocide

The global campaign is being led by the Stop Ecocide Foundation . Last month an independent legal panel advising the campaign released a proposed amendment to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It would make ecocide a crime, defining it as:

unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.

Defining a new international crime is a tricky balance. It must:

• capture the gravity, nature and extent of the harm
• set appropriate, but not impossible, standards of proof
• set moral standards that other international laws should follow.

The draft definition marks an important step in getting ecocide on the international agenda. And it does a good job of defining and balancing the core elements of ecocide – “severe” and either “widespread” or “long-term” damage to “any element of the environment”.

Laudably, these core elements show a concern for ecosystem integrity, human rights to a healthy environment, and the way grave damage to ecosystems can have devastating local and planetary consequences well into the future. This is a significant achievement.

Despite these strengths, lawyers and scholars , including ourselves, have identified problems with the definition.

Read more: Repeating mistakes: why the plan to protect the world’s wildlife falls short

Towards an ecological approach

A key concern is that the proposed definition considers only “unlawful” or “wanton” acts to be ecocide.

Most environmental destruction is not illegal. We need look no further than Australia’s land clearing laws or, indeed, federal environment law which has comprehensively failed to protect nature.

Under the proposed definition, lawful acts are only ecocidal if they are “wanton” – defined as “reckless disregard for damage which would be clearly excessive in relation to the social and economic and benefits anticipated”.

This condition assumes some ecocidal damage is acceptable in the name of human progress. According to the panel, such “socially beneficial acts” might include building housing developments and transport links.

This assumption furthers the human-centred privilege and “ get-out-of-jail ” clauses that have so weakened international environmental law to date.

We are not saying that housing, transport links or farms should not be built. But, in a period some scientists are calling the sixth mass extinction , they cannot come at the expense of crucial species and ecosystems. Sustainable development must respect this boundary.

The assumption also fails to recognise the gravity of ecocide. Such trade-offs – formally known as “derogations” – are rejected by international conventions governing slavery, torture, sexual violence, and fundamental human rights.

For example, the Convention Against Torture states:

no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.

An international crime of ecocide must meet a similar standard. It should recognise that all forms of life, and the ecological systems that support them, have value for their own sake.

This perspective is known as multispecies justice . It holds that human well-being is bound to flourishing ecosystems, which have an intrinsic value outside the human use for them.

Genocide – the annihilation of human groups – is recognised as a crime against humanity. As political philosopher Hannah Arendt argued, genocide is an attack on human diversity that erodes the “very nature of mankind” and poses a grave threat to global order.

In the same way, the definition of ecocide should recognise that acts which destroy biological diversity, and lead to species extinction, threaten the very nature and survival of Earth’s multi-species community.

In Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, the Balkans and more recently Myanmar , millions were killed and dispersed under a crime against humanity known as “ethnic cleansing”. Yet this killing and dispersal is happening to non-human communities as we write. The vast habitat destroyed by deforestation is as important to displaced animals as our homes are to us.

And this is a shared calamity. Mass environmental destruction is an attack on the foundations of all life that makes up the biosphere, of which humanity is only a part.

Read more: There's no end to the damage humans can wreak on the climate. This is how bad it's likely to get

What should be done?

The Stop Ecocide Foundation says the proposed definition will now be “made available for states to consider”.

As they do so, we ought to work towards a definition of ecocide that puts non-human lives at its centre. The crime of ecocide must be defined in a way that honours its victims – the myriad beings of the Earth.

In the meantime, political efforts to rein in biodiversity destruction must become an urgent global priority. And citizens can press their governments to criminalise the ecocidal acts that have become business as usual.

The Stop Ecocide Foundation chair Jojo Mehta provided the following response to this article:

The “unlawful or wanton” threshold is important, for the following reasons.

The other international crimes are based on acts which are already criminal under national laws. Not only would it be a stretch to expect states to accept a completely new across-the-board offence at international level, but it would crudely cut across both national legislation and the work of all those improving regulation and best practice.

With the word “unlawful”, existing laws in their specificity are given much needed reinforcement, and the evolution of new ones is supported. Thus the crime will dynamically grow more powerful, while respecting differences between national bodies of law.

“Wanton” addresses cases where the activity is legal but the likely destruction is disproportionately severe. It shouldn’t be assumed that the social and economic benefits mentioned are those of investors or wealthy consumers, nor that these will outweigh damage.

Effects, including cultural effects, on local and indigenous communities, and the wider implications of ecological harm, must be considered too.

This definition doesn’t aim to prevent each and every form of environmental harm – that is the job of national laws and regulations - but to make it clear that provoking the worst harms is a deeply serious crime worthy of sitting alongside genocide and war crimes. This is an incredibly powerful and – we believe – a profoundly transformative message.

Read more: Ordinary people, extraordinary change: addressing the climate emergency through 'quiet activism'

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Gorillas are some of the most endangered animals on the planet. They aren't the only species struggling with the effects of humans on their habitat. Image:  Eric Kilby /Shutterstock.com

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Humans are causing life on Earth to vanish

Ecosystems, the fabric of life on which we all depend, are declining rapidly because of human actions. But there is still time to save them.

Human pressure on nature has soared since the 1970s. We have been using more and more natural resources, and this has come at a cost.

If we lose large portions of the natural world, human quality of life will be severely reduced and the lives of future generations will be threatened unless effective action is taken.

Over the last 50 years, nature's capacity to support us has plummeted. Air and water quality are reducing, soils are depleting, crops are short of pollinators, and coasts are less protected from storms.

Prof Andy Purvis, a Museum research leader,  has spent three years studying human interactions with nature. Alongside experts from more than 50 different countries, he has produced the most comprehensive review ever of the worldwide state of nature, with a summary published in the journal Science .

It was coordinated by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), an independent body that provides policymakers with objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity.

The latest report paints a shocking picture. We are changing nature on a global scale and the impacts of our actions are being distributed unequally.

'It was terrifying to see how close we are to playing Russian roulette with the only world we have,' says Andy. 'But it's also been inspiring, because there is a way out of this.

'What has given hope to the many scientists who worked on this report has been the way the public are fully aware of the dangers and want action. We just need to make sure the politicians remember that too.'

A diagram from the report showing the risk of extinction in different groups of species, assuming that species with limited or no data are equally threatened as other species in their taxonomic group.

Nature feeling the squeeze

Since the 1970s, Earth's population has doubled, and consumption has increased by 45% per capita.

The world is increasingly managed in a way that maximises the flow of material from nature, to meet rising human demands for resources like food, energy and timber.

As a result, humans have directly altered at least 70% of Earth's land, mainly for growing plants and keeping animals. These activities necessitate deforestation, the degradation of land, loss of biodiversity and pollution, and they have the biggest impacts on land and freshwater ecosystems.

About 77% of rivers longer than 1,000 kilometres no longer flow freely from source to sea, despite supporting millions of people.

The main cause of ocean change is overfishing, but 66% of the ocean's surface has also been affected by other processes like runoff from agriculture and plastic pollution.

Live coral cover on reefs has nearly halved in the past 150 years and is predicted to disappear completely within the next 80 years. Coral reefs are home to some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet.  

The number of alien species - species found outside their natural range - has risen, as humans move organisms around the world, which disrupts and often diminishes the richness of local biodiversity. This, combined with human-driven changes in habitat, also threatens many endemic species.

In addition, fewer varieties of plants and animals are being preserved due to standardisations in farming practices, market preferences, large-scale trade and loss of local and indigenous knowledge.

Nature also benefits humans in non-material ways. We learn from it and are inspired by it. It gives us physical and psychological experiences and supports our identity and sense of place. But its capacity to provide these services has also diminished.

What's causing it?

The loss of ecosystems is caused mainly by changes in land and sea use, exploitation, climate change, pollution and the introduction of invasive species.

Some things have a direct impact on nature, like the dumping of waste into the ocean.

Other causes are indirect. Those include demographic, economic, political and institutional arrangements underpinned by social values, and they interact with one another.

For example, vast areas of land managed by Indigenous Peoples are experiencing a decline in ecosystems at a slower rate than everywhere else. But the rights of Indigenous Peoples are being threatened, which could result in faster deterioration of these areas. This would have a detrimental impact on wider ecosystems and societies.

Coral reefs are bleaching at an unprecedented rate

Trading overseas has increased by 900% since the start of the post-industrial era and the extraction of living materials from nature has risen by 200%.

The growing physical distance between supply and demand means people don't see the destruction caused by their consumption.

'Before the Industrial Revolution, people had to look after the environment around them because that's where they got their products from,' says Andy. 'If they didn't look after it, they would face the consequences.

'Now with globalisation, we have massive environmental impacts a long way from where we live. But we are insulated from these impacts, so they are abstract to us.'

Overseas trading also creates and increases inequality. The pressure for material goods comes mostly from middle and high-income countries and is often met by low to middle-income countries.

For example, Japan, US and Europe alone consumed 64% of the world's imports of fish products. High income countries have their own fisheries but most of these have collapsed. Fishing now takes place in previously unexploited or underexploited fisheries, most of which belong to low-income countries.

'With the massive increase in trade, there is no longer that imperative to make sustainable choices,' says Andy. 'We can overexploit natural resources somewhere else in the world and the magnitudes of our choices are invisible to us.'

What does the future hold?

The report analysed in detail how the world will look under three very different scenarios.

• Global sustainability: the whole world shifts towards sustainability by respecting environmental boundaries and making sure economic development includes everyone. Wealth is distributed evenly, resources and energy are used less, and emphasis is on economic growth and human wellbeing.
• Regional competition: there is a rise in nationalism with the focus mostly on domestic issues. There is less investment in education, particularly in the developing world. High-income countries will continue exporting the damage, resulting in some strong and lasting environmental destruction for future generations to deal with.
• Economic optimism: the world puts faith in new and innovative technologies that are still to be invented, which help us cope with environmental problems. Emissions will continue, but with the idea that technology will mitigate them. There will be stronger investment in health and education, and global markets are reasonably integrated with shared goals.

Combating the loss of ecosystems is going to be complex and will require a nexus approach. This means thinking about how different components of the problem such as nature, politics and socioeconomics all interact with one another.

An example of a nexus approach would be to reduce biodiversity loss by changing how we farm, while at the same time making sure people have enough food, their livelihoods are not undermined, and social conflicts are not aggravated.

The way to avoid some of these issues may be to focus on regenerating and restoring high-carbon ecosystems such as forests and wetlands. Similarly the need for food could be met by changing dietary choices and reducing waste.

Switching to clean energy is an important step which would allow other changes to happen more easily. Obtaining coal and gas involves destroying vast amounts of land and seascapes as well as polluting the environment beyond extraction.

But in order to achieve this fully, the world needs to revaluate current political structures and societal norms, which tend not to value nature. One way of doing that is by improving existing environmental policies and regulations, as well as removing and reforming harmful policies.

'I hope people can see that this is not a drill,' says Andy. 'This really is an emergency and I hope they act on it.'

The Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have decided that the IPBES Global Assessment Report will form the scientific and technical evidence base for the intergovernmental negotiations in 2020, to agree on a global biodiversity framework for the next decade and to replace the Aichi Biodiversity Targets that expire next year.

IPBES Chair Anna Maria Hernandez concludes, 'This new article makes it even more clear that we need profound, system-wide change and that this requires urgent action from policymakers, business, communities and every individual.

'Working in tandem with other knowledge systems, such as Indigenous and local knowledge, science has spoken, and nobody can say that they did not know. There is literally no time to waste.'

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How are climate change and biodiversity loss linked?

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The world is in trouble: one million animals and plants face extinction

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Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an ‘Unprecedented’ Pace

By Brad Plumer

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WASHINGTON — Humans are transforming Earth’s natural landscapes so dramatically that as many as one million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, posing a dire threat to ecosystems that people all over the world depend on for their survival, a sweeping new United Nations assessment has concluded.

The 1,500-page report, compiled by hundreds of international experts and based on thousands of scientific studies, is the most exhaustive look yet at the decline in biodiversity across the globe and the dangers that creates for human civilization. A summary of its findings , which was approved by representatives from the United States and 131 other countries, was released Monday in Paris. The full report is set to be published this year.

Its conclusions are stark. In most major land habitats, from the savannas of Africa to the rain forests of South America, the average abundance of native plant and animal life has fallen by 20 percent or more, mainly over the past century. With the human population passing 7 billion, activities like farming, logging, poaching, fishing and mining are altering the natural world at a rate “unprecedented in human history.”

At the same time, a new threat has emerged: Global warming has become a major driver of wildlife decline , the assessment found, by shifting or shrinking the local climates that many mammals, birds , insects, fish and plants evolved to survive in. When combined with the other ways humans are damaging the environment, climate change is now pushing a growing number of species, such as the Bengal tiger , closer to extinction.

As a result, biodiversity loss is projected to accelerate through 2050, particularly in the tropics, unless countries drastically step up their conservation efforts.

The report is not the first to paint a grim portrait of Earth’s ecosystems. But it goes further by detailing how closely human well-being is intertwined with the fate of other species.

“For a long time, people just thought of biodiversity as saving nature for its own sake,” said Robert Watson, chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, which conducted the assessment at the request of national governments. “But this report makes clear the links between biodiversity and nature and things like food security and clean water in both rich and poor countries.”

A previous report by the group had estimated that, in the Americas, nature provides some $24 trillion of non-monetized benefits to humans each year. The Amazon rain forest absorbs immense quantities of carbon dioxide and helps slow the pace of global warming. Wetlands purify drinking water. Coral reefs sustain tourism and fisheries in the Caribbean. Exotic tropical plants form the basis of a variety of medicines.

But as these natural landscapes wither and become less biologically rich, the services they can provide to humans have been dwindling.

Humans are producing more food than ever, but land degradation is already harming agricultural productivity on 23 percent of the planet’s land area, the new report said. The decline of wild bees and other insects that help pollinate fruits and vegetables is putting up to $577 billion in annual crop production at risk. The loss of mangrove forests and coral reefs along coasts could expose up to 300 million people to increased risk of flooding.

The authors note that the devastation of nature has become so severe that piecemeal efforts to protect individual species or to set up wildlife refuges will no longer be sufficient. Instead, they call for “transformative changes” that include curbing wasteful consumption, slimming down agriculture’s environmental footprint and cracking down on illegal logging and fishing.

“It’s no longer enough to focus just on environmental policy,” said Sandra M. Díaz, a lead author of the study and an ecologist at the National University of Córdoba in Argentina. “We need to build biodiversity considerations into trade and infrastructure decisions, the way that health or human rights are built into every aspect of social and economic decision-making.”

Scientists have cataloged only a fraction of living creatures, some 1.3 million; the report estimates there may be as many as 8 million plant and animal species on the planet, most of them insects. Since 1500, at least 680 species have blinked out of existence, including the Pinta giant tortoise of the Galápagos Islands and the Guam flying fox.

Though outside experts cautioned it could be difficult to make precise forecasts, the report warns of a looming extinction crisis, with extinction rates currently tens to hundreds of times higher than they have been in the past 10 million years.

“Human actions threaten more species with global extinction now than ever before,” the report concludes, estimating that “around 1 million species already face extinction, many within decades, unless action is taken.”

Unless nations step up their efforts to protect what natural habitats are left, they could witness the disappearance of 40 percent of amphibian species, one-third of marine mammals and one-third of reef-forming corals. More than 500,000 land species, the report said, do not have enough natural habitat left to ensure their long-term survival.

Over the past 50 years, global biodiversity loss has primarily been driven by activities like the clearing of forests for farmland, the expansion of roads and cities, logging, hunting, overfishing, water pollution and the transport of invasive species around the globe.

In Indonesia, the replacement of rain forest with palm oil plantations has ravaged the habitat of critically endangered orangutans and Sumatran tigers. In Mozambique, ivory poachers helped kill off nearly 7,000 elephants between 2009 and 2011 alone. In Argentina and Chile, the introduction of the North American beaver in the 1940s has devastated native trees (though it has also helped other species thrive, including the Magellanic woodpecker).

All told, three-quarters of the world’s land area has been significantly altered by people, the report found, and 85 percent of the world’s wetlands have vanished since the 18th century.

And with humans continuing to burn fossil fuels for energy, global warming is expected to compound the damage . Roughly 5 percent of species worldwide are threatened with climate-related extinction if global average temperatures rise 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the report concluded. (The world has already warmed 1 degree.)

“If climate change were the only problem we were facing, a lot of species could probably move and adapt,” Richard Pearson, an ecologist at the University College of London, said. “But when populations are already small and losing genetic diversity, when natural landscapes are already fragmented, when plants and animals can’t move to find newly suitable habitats, then we have a real threat on our hands.”

The dwindling number of species will not just make the world a less colorful or wondrous place, the report noted. It also poses risks to people.

Today, humans are relying on significantly fewer varieties of plants and animals to produce food. Of the 6,190 domesticated mammal breeds used in agriculture, more than 559 have gone extinct and 1,000 more are threatened. That means the food system is becoming less resilient against pests and diseases. And it could become harder in the future to breed new, hardier crops and livestock to cope with the extreme heat and drought that climate change will bring.

“Most of nature’s contributions are not fully replaceable,” the report said. Biodiversity loss “can permanently reduce future options, such as wild species that might be domesticated as new crops and be used for genetic improvement.”

The report does contain glimmers of hope. When governments have acted forcefully to protect threatened species, such as the Arabian oryx or the Seychelles magpie robin, they have managed to fend off extinction in many cases. And nations have protected more than 15 percent of the world’s land and 7 percent of its oceans by setting up nature reserves and wilderness areas.

Still, only a fraction of the most important areas for biodiversity have been protected, and many nature reserves poorly enforce prohibitions against poaching, logging or illegal fishing. Climate change could also undermine existing wildlife refuges by shifting the geographic ranges of species that currently live within them.

So, in addition to advocating the expansion of protected areas, the authors outline a vast array of changes aimed at limiting the drivers of biodiversity loss.

Farmers and ranchers would have to adopt new techniques to grow more food on less land . Consumers in wealthy countries would have to waste less food and become more efficient in their use of natural resources. Governments around the world would have to strengthen and enforce environmental laws, cracking down on illegal logging and fishing and reducing the flow of heavy metals and untreated wastewater into the environment.

The authors also note that efforts to limit global warming will be critical, although they caution that the development of biofuels to reduce emissions could end up harming biodiversity by further destroying forests.

None of this will be easy, especially since many developing countries face pressure to exploit their natural resources as they try to lift themselves out of poverty.

But, by detailing the benefits that nature can provide to people, and by trying to quantify what is lost when biodiversity plummets, the scientists behind the assessment are hoping to help governments strike a more careful balance between economic development and conservation.

“You can’t just tell leaders in Africa that there can’t be any development and that we should turn the whole continent into a national park,” said Emma Archer, who led the group’s earlier assessment of biodiversity in Africa . “But we can show that there are trade-offs, that if you don’t take into account the value that nature provides, then ultimately human well-being will be compromised.”

In the next two years, diplomats from around the world will gather for several meetings under the Convention on Biological Diversity, a global treaty, to discuss how they can step up their efforts at conservation . Yet even in the new report’s most optimistic scenario, through 2050 the world’s nations would only slow the decline of biodiversity — not stop it.

“At this point,” said Jake Rice, a fisheries scientist who led an earlier report on biodiversity in the Americas, “our options are all about damage control.”

For more news on climate and the environment, follow @NYTClimate on Twitter .

Brad Plumer is a climate reporter specializing in policy and technology efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions. At The Times, he has also covered international climate talks and the changing energy landscape in the United States. More about Brad Plumer

Learn More About Climate Change

Have questions about climate change? Our F.A.Q. will tackle your climate questions, big and small .

“Buying Time,” a new series from The New York Times, looks at the risky ways  humans are starting to manipulate nature  to fight climate change.

Big brands like Procter & Gamble and Nestlé say a new generation of recycling plants will help them meet environmental goals, but the technology is struggling to deliver .

The Italian energy giant Eni sees future profits from collecting carbon dioxide and pumping it  into natural gas fields that have been exhausted.

New satellite-based research reveals how land along the East Coast is slumping into the ocean, compounding the danger from global sea level rise . A major culprit: the overpumping of groundwater.

Did you know the ♻ symbol doesn’t mean something is actually recyclable ? Read on about how we got here, and what can be done.

Environmental Issues Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on environmental issues.

The environment plays a significant role to support life on earth. But there are some issues that are causing damages to life and the ecosystem of the earth. It is related to the not only environment but with everyone that lives on the planet. Besides, its main source is pollution , global warming, greenhouse gas , and many others. The everyday activities of human are constantly degrading the quality of the environment which ultimately results in the loss of survival condition from the earth.

Source of Environment Issue

There are hundreds of issue that causing damage to the environment. But in this, we are going to discuss the main causes of environmental issues because they are very dangerous to life and the ecosystem.

Pollution – It is one of the main causes of an environmental issue because it poisons the air , water , soil , and noise. As we know that in the past few decades the numbers of industries have rapidly increased. Moreover, these industries discharge their untreated waste into the water bodies, on soil, and in air. Most of these wastes contain harmful and poisonous materials that spread very easily because of the movement of water bodies and wind.

Greenhouse Gases – These are the gases which are responsible for the increase in the temperature of the earth surface. This gases directly relates to air pollution because of the pollution produced by the vehicle and factories which contains a toxic chemical that harms the life and environment of earth.

Climate Changes – Due to environmental issue the climate is changing rapidly and things like smog, acid rains are getting common. Also, the number of natural calamities is also increasing and almost every year there is flood, famine, drought , landslides, earthquakes, and many more calamities are increasing.

Above all, human being and their greed for more is the ultimate cause of all the environmental issue.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

How to Minimize Environment Issue?

Now we know the major issues which are causing damage to the environment. So, now we can discuss the ways by which we can save our environment. For doing so we have to take some measures that will help us in fighting environmental issues .

Moreover, these issues will not only save the environment but also save the life and ecosystem of the planet. Some of the ways of minimizing environmental threat are discussed below:

Reforestation – It will not only help in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem but also help in restoring the natural cycles that work with it. Also, it will help in recharge of groundwater, maintaining the monsoon cycle , decreasing the number of carbons from the air, and many more.

The 3 R’s principle – For contributing to the environment one should have to use the 3 R’s principle that is Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Moreover, it helps the environment in a lot of ways.

To conclude, we can say that humans are a major source of environmental issues. Likewise, our activities are the major reason that the level of harmful gases and pollutants have increased in the environment. But now the humans have taken this problem seriously and now working to eradicate it. Above all, if all humans contribute equally to the environment then this issue can be fight backed. The natural balance can once again be restored.

FAQs about Environmental Issue

Q.1 Name the major environmental issues. A.1 The major environmental issues are pollution, environmental degradation, resource depletion, and climate change. Besides, there are several other environmental issues that also need attention.

Q.2 What is the cause of environmental change? A.2 Human activities are the main cause of environmental change. Moreover, due to our activities, the amount of greenhouse gases has rapidly increased over the past few decades.

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Plan, Prepare & Make the Best Career Choices

Conservation of Environment Essay

Air, water, land, sunlight, minerals, plants, and animals are just a few of the many blessings that nature has given us. Our Earth is a place worth living because of all these elements of nature that act as a blessing. Without any of these, life on Earth would not be conceivable. Here are a few essays on the topic ‘Conservation Of Environment’.

100 Words Essay On Conservation Of Environment

200 words essay on conservation of environment, 500 words essay on conservation of environment.

It is important to conserve the environment because if we don’t, the earth will be ruined. The main factor that leads to environmental destruction is the way people use and abuse natural resources. For example, people cut down trees without planting new ones to replace them. They also pollute air and water with harmful chemicals and waste. As a result, animals and plants die, and eventually humans will too. So it’s important for everyone to do their part in conserving the environment. By taking action to conserve our environment, we can protect it for future generations. A healthy environment is essential for humans and other species to thrive.

As the human population continues to grow and expand, it is important to take steps to conserve our environment. There are many factors that lead to environmental destruction. Rapidly increasing population and rapid consumption of resources are two major drivers of environmental degradation. As the world’s population increases, we need more food, water, and energy, which puts a strain on the planet’s resources. In addition, industrialization and economic development often come at the expense of the environment. Pollution from factories and automobiles harms air quality and contributes to climate change.

What Can We Do | The first step in conserving the environment is to reduce our reliance on natural resources. We can do this by using less water, energy and paper. We can also recycle more and waste less. Another important step is to promote sustainable development. This means meeting the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We can do this by using renewable resources, such as solar and wind power, rather than fossil fuels; by using environmentally friendly technologies; and by protecting ecosystems so that they can continue to provide vital services, such as clean air and water, food, and habitat for wildlife.

It is important to conserve the environment because if we don't, the natural resources that we depend on will eventually be depleted. Additionally, pollution and other environmental problems will continue to worsen if we don't take steps to reduce our impact on the planet. Conserving the environment can help to preserve delicate ecosystems, prevent species extinction, and improve air and water quality. It's important to remember that we all have a role to play in protecting our planet.

Fortunately, there are things we can do to help conserve our environment. One way is to reduce our consumption of natural resources. We can do this by using less water, recycling materials instead of throwing them away, and using energy-efficient appliances. Another way to help is to support businesses that are environmentally friendly.

Why We Should We Conserve The Environment

One of the most important reasons to conserve the environment is that it leads to environmental destruction. When we don't conserve the environment, we are putting strain on the very things that we depend on for our survival. This includes air, water, and soil.

We need to be good caretakers of our environment so that it can continue to provide for us. Additionally, conserving the environment helps ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy the same benefits that we do. It's not just about us, it's about preserving our planet for future generations.

Steps To Conserve The Environment

As the world’s population continues to grow, so does the demand on our natural resources. This increased demand often leads to environmental destruction, as we see with deforestation, water pollution and climate change. However, it is possible to conserve our environment, and in doing so we can help protect the planet for future generations. Here are some tips on how you can conserve environment—

Use Less Water | Water is an essential resource, but unfortunately it is often taken for granted. One way to help conserve water is to use less of it when you can. For example, water your plants during the cooler hours of the day to minimise evaporation, and fix any leaks in your home as soon as possible.

Recycle And Reuse | Another way to reduce your impact on the environment is to recycle and reuse materials whenever possible. Instead of throwing away paper, cans or plastic bottles, recycle them. And instead of buying new products made from fresh materials, opt for products that are made from recycled materials.

Drive Less | Transportation emits large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. To help reduce these emissions, try driving less whenever possible. If you live close enough to work or school, walk or ride a bike instead of driving. And when you do drive, carpool or take mass transit when possible.

Save Energy | Home energy use accounts for a large portion of total energy consumption in most countries. So save energy when TVs, lights, fans, electronics, gadgets and even fixtures like water heaters are not in use. Unplug electrical equipment when not in use and only leave the lights on when absolutely necessary.

We should conserve the environment because it is essential for our survival. The factors which lead to environmental destruction are many and varied, but the most important are population growth, poverty, unsustainable resource use, and environmental degradation.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

• Construction
• Entertainment
• Manufacturing
• Information Technology

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

GIS officer work on various GIS software to conduct a study and gather spatial and non-spatial information. GIS experts update the GIS data and maintain it. The databases include aerial or satellite imagery, latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates, and manually digitized images of maps. In a career as GIS expert, one is responsible for creating online and mobile maps.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Database Architect

If you are intrigued by the programming world and are interested in developing communications networks then a career as database architect may be a good option for you. Data architect roles and responsibilities include building design models for data communication networks. Wide Area Networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and intranets are included in the database networks. It is expected that database architects will have in-depth knowledge of a company's business to develop a network to fulfil the requirements of the organisation. Stay tuned as we look at the larger picture and give you more information on what is db architecture, why you should pursue database architecture, what to expect from such a degree and what your job opportunities will be after graduation. Here, we will be discussing how to become a data architect. Students can visit NIT Trichy , IIT Kharagpur , JMI New Delhi . 

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Product manager.

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Operations Manager

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Stock Analyst

Individuals who opt for a career as a stock analyst examine the company's investments makes decisions and keep track of financial securities. The nature of such investments will differ from one business to the next. Individuals in the stock analyst career use data mining to forecast a company's profits and revenues, advise clients on whether to buy or sell, participate in seminars, and discussing financial matters with executives and evaluate annual reports.

A Researcher is a professional who is responsible for collecting data and information by reviewing the literature and conducting experiments and surveys. He or she uses various methodological processes to provide accurate data and information that is utilised by academicians and other industry professionals. Here, we will discuss what is a researcher, the researcher's salary, types of researchers.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software. 

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Field Surveyor

Are you searching for a Field Surveyor Job Description? A Field Surveyor is a professional responsible for conducting field surveys for various places or geographical conditions. He or she collects the required data and information as per the instructions given by senior officials. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Veterinary Doctor

Speech therapist, gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Are you searching for an ‘Anatomist job description’? An Anatomist is a research professional who applies the laws of biological science to determine the ability of bodies of various living organisms including animals and humans to regenerate the damaged or destroyed organs. If you want to know what does an anatomist do, then read the entire article, where we will answer all your questions.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Photographer

Photography is considered both a science and an art, an artistic means of expression in which the camera replaces the pen. In a career as a photographer, an individual is hired to capture the moments of public and private events, such as press conferences or weddings, or may also work inside a studio, where people go to get their picture clicked. Photography is divided into many streams each generating numerous career opportunities in photography. With the boom in advertising, media, and the fashion industry, photography has emerged as a lucrative and thrilling career option for many Indian youths.

An individual who is pursuing a career as a producer is responsible for managing the business aspects of production. They are involved in each aspect of production from its inception to deception. Famous movie producers review the script, recommend changes and visualise the story. 

They are responsible for overseeing the finance involved in the project and distributing the film for broadcasting on various platforms. A career as a producer is quite fulfilling as well as exhaustive in terms of playing different roles in order for a production to be successful. Famous movie producers are responsible for hiring creative and technical personnel on contract basis.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

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• Published: 04 April 2024

Climate chronicles

Global carbon emissions in 2023

• Zhu Liu   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8968-7050 1 , 2 , 3 ,
• Zhu Deng   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6409-9578 1 , 2 , 4 ,
• Steven J. Davis   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9338-0844 5 &
• Philippe Ciais   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8560-4943 6  

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume  5 ,  pages 253–254 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Climate change
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Global CO 2 emissions for 2023 increased by only 0.1% relative to 2022 (following increases of 5.4% and 1.9% in 2021 and 2022, respectively), reaching 35.8 Gt CO 2 . These 2023 emissions consumed 10–66.7% of the remaining carbon budget to limit warming to 1.5°C, suggesting permissible emissions could be depleted within 0.5–6 years (67% likelihood).

Data from the Carbon Monitor indicate 35.8 Gt CO 2 were emitted globally in 2023.

Although the trend is upwards, the pace of growth has been slowing, suggesting global emissions might have plateaued.

India overtook the EU as the third highest emitter globally.

You have full access to this article via your institution.

Annual global CO 2 emissions dropped markedly in 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, decreasing by 5.8% relative to 2019 (ref. 1 ). There were hopes that green economic stimulus packages during the COVD crisis might mark the beginning of a longer-term decrease in global emissions toward net-zero emissions, but instead emissions rebounded and quickly exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 2021. However, year-on-year growth has slowed, with 5.4% increases in 2021 (ref. 2 ) (reaching 35.1 Gt CO 2 ) and 1.9% increases in 2022 (ref. 3 ) (reaching 35.7 Gt CO 2 ), rapidly using up the remaining carbon budget. Here, we outline global CO 2 emissions (encompassing fossil fuel combustion and cement production) from the Carbon Monitor project ( https://carbonmonitor.org ) for the year 2023.

Global CO 2 emissions in 2023

Overall, global CO 2 emissions in 2023 reached 35.8 ± 0.3 Gt CO 2 , an all-time high (Fig.  1 ). Total emissions were 35.3, 33.3, 35.1 and 35.7 in 2019–2022, meaning year-on-year changes of –5.8% from 2019 to 2020, 5.4% from 2020 to 2021, 1.9% from 2021 to 2022 and 0.1% from 2022 to 2023. This slight increase of 0.1% (–0.6 to + 1.1%) from 2022 to 2023 is less than the 1.1 ± 1.0% increase forecast by the Global Carbon Project (GCP) 4 . Although difficult to predict, the continued deceleration in growth rates might signal a plateauing or peaking of global CO 2 emissions in 2023, as has been suggested by the International Energy Agency (IEA) 5 . The trajectory of emissions in 2024 will offer further evidence.

Historical CO 2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and the process of cement production (‘Fossil CO 2 ’) 8 coloured by industry sector, and those with land-use change (LUC) emissions 4 (‘Fossil + LUC’). International bunkers describe emissions from international aviation and international shipping. The inset displays daily near-real-time CO 2 emissions since 2019 from the Carbon Monitor 1 initiative and year-on-year percent changes. Note that total emissions and percent changes have been revised slightly from earlier estimates 2 , 3 owing to revised data and updated methodologies 9 , 10 . Global CO 2 emissions continued to grow after a brief decline in 2020, but the rate of that growth slowed in 2023; if these progressions continue, the remaining 1.5 °C carbon budget could be used within 0.5–6 years.

The sectoral contributions to these emissions are broadly similar to previous years. The power sector accounted for 38.4% of global CO 2 emissions, industry for 29.0%, ground transportation for 18.6%, residential for 9.4%, international bunkers (international aviation and shipping) for 3.5%, and domestic aviation for 1.0%. Moreover, the pattern of decelerating growth of 2023 global emissions is also evident at the sectoral level. For instance, year-on-year changes in power sector emissions went from + 0.9% in 2022 to –0.2% in 2023, industry emissions from + 1.6% to –0.8%, residential emissions from + 0.9% to –5.5%, and international bunkers from + 18.1% to + 8.9%. However, there were exceptions: ground transportation growth increased from + 2.5% in 2022 to + 3.1% in 2023, while domestic aviation rebounded from –1.0% in 2022 to + 14.0% in 2023. Nevertheless, both domestic and international aviation remain below pre-pandemic levels (2023 emissions were –1.9% and –9.6% less than 2019, respectively).

At the country level, combined emissions from the top five emitters remain similar to previous years. In descending order, China, the United States, India, the European Union (excluding the UK), and Russia collectively accounted for 64% of global emissions, or 23.0 Gt CO 2 . However, interannual fluctuations are apparent when comparing 2022 and 2023, making it difficult to predict long time trends toward zero emissions. For instance, emissions from China (the largest emitter) decreased by 1.9% to 11.0 Gt CO 2 in 2022 but rebounded + 2.9% to 11.3 Gt CO 2 in 2023. By contrast, other regions have maintained earlier increases. Emissions from India, for example, surged by 6.9% to 2.6 Gt CO 2 in 2022 and by another 4.4% to 2.8 Gt CO 2 in 2023; in doing so, India surpassed the EU to become the third highest emitter. Russia exhibited a similar increase, whereby emissions increased by 1.0% to 1.5 Gt CO 2 in 2022 and grew by 2.4% to 1.6 Gt CO 2 in 2023. Meanwhile, emissions began to decrease in other regions. In the United States, emissions increased by 3.0% to 5.0 Gt CO 2 in 2022 but decreased by 2.4% to 4.9 Gt CO 2 in 2023. Similarly, the European Union’s emissions increased by 0.3% to 2.8 Gt CO 2 in 2022 but decreased by 6.2% to 2.6 Gt CO 2 in 2023.

Carbon budget countdown

Global CO 2 emissions are rapidly depleting reported carbon budgets — that is, the amount of carbon that can be released while limiting anthropogenic warming to 1.5 °C and 2 °C above pre-industrial temperatures, as outlined by the Paris Agreement. At 67% likelihood, the IPCC set this budget (starting from 2020 and assuming no overshoot) at 400 Gt CO 2 for 1.5 °C warming 6 . The years 2020, 2021 and 2022 depleted the budget by 9.4% (38 Gt CO 2 ), 9.9% (39 Gt CO 2 ) and 10.0% (40 Gt CO 2 ), respectively, with 2023 emissions using a further 10% (40 Gt CO 2 ). A total of 243 Gt CO 2 remain, which could be exhausted within 6.1 years unless emissions fall sharply. At 83% likelihood, the post-2020 budget to avoid 1.5 °C is only 300 Gt CO 2 . In this case, 2023 emissions depleted 13.3% of the budget, with the remaining 143 Gt CO 2 potentially exhausted within 3.6 years. The carbon budgets for 2 °C warming are larger. At 67% likelihood, the 2°C budget is 1,150 Gt CO 2 , 3.5% of which was used in 2023; the remaining 993 Gt CO 2 could be exhausted within 24.8 years unless growth rates fall. At 83% likelihood, the 2 °C budget is 900 Gt CO 2 , 4.4% of which was used in 2023; 743 Gt CO 2 remains that could be used within 18.6 years.

Other estimates of the remaining carbon budget imply much lower permissible emissions 7 . Under those tighter constraints, only 250 Gt CO 2 or 60 Gt CO 2 remain from January 2023 to achieve the 1.5 °C target at 50% and 66% likelihood, respectively. Accordingly, they convey a more dire timeline. Focusing on the 66% scenario to facilitate comparison with the IPCC likelihoods above, 2023 emissions used 66.7% of the budget, leaving only 20 GtCO 2 ; at the current pace, the entire 1.5 °C target could be depleted halfway through 2024. By comparison, 1,200 Gt CO 2 or 940 Gt CO 2 remains to constrain warming to 2 °C at 50% and 66% likelihood, respectively. For the 66% scenario, 2023 emissions used 4.2% of the budget, leaving 900 Gt CO 2 , which could be diminished within 22.6 years.

Detailed and near-real-time monitoring of CO 2 emissions since 2019 has enabled timely insights into changes in CO 2 emissions worldwide. In 2023, global annual emissions reached an all-time high of 35.8 Gt CO 2 , which reflects a very slight increase of 0.1% year-on-year. While these estimates indicate that post-pandemic emissions growth is slowing, there is not yet convincing evidence of a peak in global emissions — CO 2 emissions continue to rise, particularly in China, India and Russia. Given dwindling carbon budgets to constrain warming to 1.5 °C — the threshold above which climate impacts will become even more disastrous — the absence of a clear downward trend in emissions is troubling. The window of opportunity to meet the most ambitious international climate goals is rapidly closing. Meeting such goals would entail nations accelerating their decarbonization efforts and embracing the consensus from COP28 to “transition away from all fossil fuels in energy systems” as quickly as possible. This call to action is particularly pressing for countries with energy systems heavily reliant on coal, like China, India and Russia, where power generation accounts for approximately half of national carbon emissions. Transitioning these countries’ power sectors away from coal is critical for international climate mitigation efforts. Continued monitoring of global and national carbon emissions could be instrumental in evaluating the efficacy of these efforts.

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Institute for Climate and Carbon Neutrality, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

Zhu Liu & Zhu Deng

Department of Geography, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Alibaba Cloud, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

Steven J. Davis

Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement LSCE, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Philippe Ciais

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Liu, Z., Deng, Z., Davis, S.J. et al. Global carbon emissions in 2023. Nat Rev Earth Environ 5 , 253–254 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-024-00532-2

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Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life

Scientists reveal 1 million species at risk of extinction in damning UN report

• Editor’s pick: best of 2019. We’re bringing back some of our favorite stories of the past year. Support the Guardian’s journalism in 2020

Human society is in jeopardy from the accelerating decline of the Earth’s natural life-support systems, the world’s leading scientists have warned, as they announced the results of the most thorough planetary health check ever undertaken.

From coral reefs flickering out beneath the oceans to rainforests desiccating into savannahs, nature is being destroyed at a rate tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the past 10m years, according to the UN global assessment report .

The biomass of wild mammals has fallen by 82%, natural ecosystems have lost about half their area and a million species are at risk of extinction – all largely as a result of human actions, said the study, compiled over three years by more than 450 scientists and diplomats.

Two in five amphibian species are at risk of extinction, as are one-third of reef-forming corals, and close to one-third of other marine species. The picture for insects – which are crucial to plant pollination – is less clear, but conservative estimates suggest at least one in 10 are threatened with extinction and, in some regions, populations have crashed . In economic terms, the losses are jaw-dropping. Pollinator loss has put up to $577bn (£440bn) of crop output at risk, while land degradation has reduced the productivity of 23% of global land.

The knock-on impacts on humankind, including freshwater shortages and climate instability, are already “ominous” and will worsen without drastic remedial action, the authors said.

“The health of the ecosystems on which we and other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide,” said Robert Watson, the chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Ibpes). “We have lost time. We must act now.”

The warning was unusually stark for a UN report that has to be agreed by consensus across all nations. Hundreds of scientists have compiled 15,000 academic studies and reports from indigenous communities living on the frontline of change. They build on the millennium ecosystem assessment of 2005, but go much further by looking not just at an inventory of species, but the web of interactions between biodiversity, climate and human wellbeing.

Over the past week, representatives from the world’s governments have fine-tuned the summary for policymakers, which includes remedial scenarios, such as “transformative change” across all areas of government, revised trade rules, massive investments in forests and other green infrastructure, and changes in individual behaviour such as lower consumption of meat and material goods.

Following school strikes , Extinction Rebellion protests , the UK parliament’s declaration of a climate emergency and Green New Deal debates in the US and Spain, the authors hope the 1,800-page assessment of biodiversity will push the nature crisis into the global spotlight in the same way climate breakdown has surged up the political agenda since the 1.5C report last year by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

David Obura, one of the main authors on the report and a global authority on corals, said: “We tried to document how far in trouble we are to focus people’s minds, but also to say it is not too late if we put a huge amount into transformational behavioural change. This is fundamental to humanity. We are not just talking about nice species out there; this is our life-support system.”

The report shows a planet in which the human footprint is so large it leaves little space for anything else. Three-quarters of all land has been turned into farm fields, covered by concrete, swallowed up by dam reservoirs or otherwise significantly altered. Two-thirds of the marine environment has also been changed by fish farms, shipping routes, subsea mines and other projects. Three-quarters of rivers and lakes are used for crop or livestock cultivation. As a result, more than 500,000 species have insufficient habitats for long-term survival. Many are on course to disappear within decades.

What are the five biggest threats to biodiversity?

According to the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity there are  five main threats  to biodiversity. In descending order these are: changes in land and sea use; direct exploitation of natural resources; climate change; pollution and invasive species. 

1. For terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, land-use change has had the largest relative negative impact on nature since 1970.  More than a third of the world’s land surface and nearly 75% of freshwater resources are now devoted to crop or livestock production. Alongside a doubling of urban area since 1992, things such as wetlands, scrubland and woodlands – which wildlife relies on – are ironed out from the landscape. 

2. The direct exploitation of organisms and non-living materials, including logging, hunting and fishing and the extraction of soils and water are all  negatively affecting ecosystems .   In marine environments, overfishing is considered to be the most serious driver of biodiversity loss. One quarter of the world’s commercial fisheries are overexploited, according to a 2005  Millennium Ecosystem Assessment . 

3. The climate crisis is dismantling ecosystems at every level. Extreme weather events such as tropical storms and flooding are destroying habitats. Warmer temperatures are also changing the timing of natural events – such as the availability of insects and when birds hatch their eggs in spring. The distribution of species and their range is also changing. 

4. Many types of pollution are increasing. In marine environments, pollution from agricultural runoff (mainly nitrogen and phosphorus) do huge damage to ecosystems. Agricultural runoff causes toxic algal blooms and even  "dead zones"  in the worst affected areas. Marine plastic pollution has increased tenfold since 1980, affecting at least 267 species.

5. Since the 17th century, invasive species have  contributed to 40%  of all known animal extinctions. Nearly one fifth of the Earth’s surface is at risk of plant and animal invasions. Invasive species change the composition of ecosystems by outcompeting native species. 

Eduardo Brondizio, an Ibpes co-chair from Indiana University Bloomington, said: “We have been displacing our impact around the planet from frontier to frontier. But we are running out of frontiers … If we see business as usual going forward then we’ll see a very fast decline in the ability of nature to provide what we need and to buffer climate change.”

Agriculture and fishing are the primary causes of the deterioration. Food production has increased dramatically since the 1970s, which has helped feed a growing global population and generated jobs and economic growth. But this has come at a high cost. The meat industry has a particularly heavy impact. Grazing areas for cattle account for about 25% of the world’s ice-free land and more than 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Crop production uses 12% of land and creates less than 7% of emissions.

The study paints a picture of a suffocating human-caused sameness spreading across the planet, as a small range of cash crops and high-value livestock are replacing forests and other nature-rich ecosystems. As well as eroding the soil, which causes a loss of fertility, these monocultures are more vulnerable to disease, drought and other impacts of climate breakdown.

In terms of habitats, the deepest loss is of wetlands, which have drained by 83% since 1700, with a knock-on impact on water quality and birdlife. Forests are diminishing, particularly in the tropics. In the first 13 years of this century, the area of intact forest fell by 7%, bigger than France and the UK combined. Although the overall rate of deforestation has slowed, this is partly an accounting trick, as monoculture plantations replace biodiverse jungle and woodland.

Oceans are no longer a sanctuary. Only 3% of marine areas are free from human pressure. Industrial fishing takes place in more than half the world’s oceans, leaving one-third of fish populations overexploited.

Climate change, pollution and invasive species have had a relatively low impact, but these factors are accelerating. Emissions continue to rise. Last week, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passed the 415 parts per million mark for the first time. Even if global heating can be kept within the Paris agreement target of 1.5C to 2C, the ranges of most species will shrink profoundly, the paper warns.

Population growth is noted as a factor, along with inequality. Individuals in the developed world have four times as much of an economic footprint as those in the poorest countries, and the gap is growing.

Our species now extracts 60bn tons of resources each year, almost double the amount in 1980, though the world population has grown by only 66% in that time. The report notes how the discharges are overwhelming the Earth’s capacity to absorb them. More than 80% of wastewater is pumped into streams, lakes and oceans without treatment, along with 300m-400m tons of heavy metals, toxic slurry and other industrial discharges. Plastic waste has risen tenfold since 1980, affecting 86% of marine turtles, 44% of seabirds and 43% of marine mammals. Fertiliser run-off has created 400 “dead zones”, affecting an area the size of the UK.

Andy Purvis, a professor at the Natural History Museum in London and one of the main authors of the report, said he was encouraged nations had agreed on the need for bitter medicine.

“This is the most thorough, most detailed and most extensive planetary health check. The take-home message is that we should have gone to the doctor sooner. We are in a bad way. The society we would like our children and grandchildren to live in is in real jeopardy. I cannot overstate it,” he said. “If we leave it to later generations to clear up the mess, I don’t think they will forgive us.”

The next 18 months will be crucial. For the first time, the issue of biodiversity loss is on the G8 agenda. The UK has commissioned Partha Dasgupta, a professor at Cambridge University, to write a study on the economic case for nature, which is expected to serve a similar function as the Stern review on the economics of climate change. Next year, China will host a landmark UN conference to draw up new global goals for biodiversity.

Cristiana Pașca Palmer, the head of the UN’s chief biodiversity organisation, said she was both concerned and hopeful. “The report today paints quite a worrying picture. The danger is that we put the planet in a position where it is hard to recover,” she said. “But there are a lot of positive things happening. Until now, we haven’t had the political will to act. But public pressure is high. People are worried and want action.”

The report acknowledges current conservation strategies, such as the creation of protected areas, are well-intended but inadequate. Future forecasts indicate negative trends will continue in all scenarios except those that embrace radical change across society, politics, economics and technology.

It says values and goals need to change across governments so local, national and international policymakers are aligned to tackle the underlying causes of planetary deterioration. This includes a shift in incentives, investments in green infrastructure, accounting for nature deterioration in international trade, addressing population growth and unequal levels of consumption, greater cooperation across sectors, new environmental laws and stronger enforcement.

Greater support for indigenous communities and other forest dwellers and smallholders is also essential. Many of the last holdouts for nature are in areas managed by such groups, but even here, the pressures are beginning to take a toll, as wildlife declines along with knowledge of how to manage it.

Josef Settele, an Ipbes co-chair and entomologist at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany, said: “The situation is tricky and difficult but I would never give up. The report shows there is a way out. I believe we can still bend the curve.

“People shouldn’t panic, but they should begin drastic change. Business as usual with small adjustments won’t be enough.”

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Most viewed.

Property Laws Facilitate Environmental Destruction Essay

Summary of carr and milstein’s article, summary of graham’s book, comparative analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to write a reflection essay based on Carr and Milstein’s article “Keep Burning Coal or the Manatee Gets It” and Graham’s book Lawscape: property, environment, and law . This write-up provides a summary of the two articles and compares the main themes between the works of both authors. I also share my thoughts on what I have read and discovered.

Survival threats faced by Florida manatees arise from the unchallenged human activities in their natural habitat. The rampant growth of the built environments, human harassment, and toxic algae blooms – due to climate change – have forced over 60% of manatees to depend on man-made habitats for survival. Carr and Milstein (2017) argue that the destructive personal acts against nature are facilitated by the very laws that supposedly protect animals from human destruction. Environmental legislations take a minimalistic approach to protecting endangered animals by prohibiting specific acts while ignoring the systematic, political, and sociocultural issues that promote ecological exploitation. The UN recently reported that environmental laws have failed to adequately protect the environment from human activities due to ineffective implementation and enforcement practices (Shirreffs, 2019). Property logic provides the best theoretical lens of how environmental destruction has become culturally naturalized. It is a dephysicalizing mindset that enables humans to separate themselves from nature and treat animals like properties, rather than existential beings. Because the law is obligated to protect human rights, individuals can enjoy the protection of ecocultural invisibility.

Human interactions with the environment are always characterized by exploitation and degradation unless land laws and management practices sustain activities in that area. Compensation has been long used as a solution to the conflict between land ownership and environmental protection initiatives. However, Graham (2010) argues in her book that the notion that land can be compensated as a material commodity is illogical since there is no distinction between nature and culture. The current framework governing property law treats land as a commodity that dephysicalizes people from nature and property. The dephysicalization of property from people is the reason why the law cannot adequately respond to the needs of dispossessed people (Graham, 2010). The book argues that when monetary value is placed on the property, people seek to acquire it for its value as a commodity, rather than its intrinsic value.

The key theme in both articles is that property laws facilitate environmental destruction by dephysicalizing humans from all other natural elements. It is clear from the two writings that people are causing undisputable harm to the environment through destructive behaviors. Carr and Milstein (2017) attributed these ones to the human tendency to separate themselves from nature, a mindset that is reinforced by the logic of property rights. On the other hand, Graham (2010) attributes property ownership and environment conflicts to the paradigm framework that guides law development. She argues that contemporary property regulations place material value on land and other environmental features, which facilitates ecological exploitation practices.

I support the viewpoints presented by both researchers. Humans can only act and behave to the extent which legal laws permit or accommodate. Legislations typically influence and shape attitudes, behaviors, and cultural norms (Varner & Varner, 2014). Therefore, if ecologically destructive behaviors continue to be problematic, it is because of the enacted environmental regulations’ gaps. Environmental legislation should have higher jurisdiction over property law, and in cases where property laws conflict with environmental laws, the latter should be given pre-emptive rights. As Graham (2010) puts it, there is no distinction between humans and the environment, and what benefits the environment will also benefit humans.

In summary, the environment drives the human economy and cannot be devoid of human interaction. Environmental regulations that control people’s activities have proven inefficient due to the conflicting judicial and executive power surrounding property laws. At the core of property laws is the dephysicalization mindset that empowers humans to be destructive against the environment. I concur with Graham’s (2010) view that the environment and humans are one; there is, therefore, an increasing need to treat them as a single entity rather than discrete components.

Carr, J., & Milstein, T. (2017) . Keep burning coal or the manatee gets it: Rendering the carbon economy invisible through endangered species protection. Antipode , 50 (1), 82-100. Web.

Graham, N. (2010). Lawscape: Property, environment, law . Routledge-Cavendish.

Shirreffs, L. (2019). The role of legislation in environmental protection and the Jersey legal framework . International Law Office. Web.

Varner, I., & Varner, K. (2014). The relationship between culture and legal systems and the impact on intercultural business communication. Global Advances in Business and Communication , 3 (1), 3.

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IvyPanda. (2022, September 25). Property Laws Facilitate Environmental Destruction. https://ivypanda.com/essays/property-laws-facilitate-environmental-destruction/

"Property Laws Facilitate Environmental Destruction." IvyPanda , 25 Sept. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/property-laws-facilitate-environmental-destruction/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Property Laws Facilitate Environmental Destruction'. 25 September.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Property Laws Facilitate Environmental Destruction." September 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/property-laws-facilitate-environmental-destruction/.

1. IvyPanda . "Property Laws Facilitate Environmental Destruction." September 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/property-laws-facilitate-environmental-destruction/.

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IvyPanda . "Property Laws Facilitate Environmental Destruction." September 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/property-laws-facilitate-environmental-destruction/.

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Long Island landscaping firm Affa Organics to pay $100G in settlement over pine barrens destruction

State Attorney General Letitia James Friday announced the settlement over pine barrens destruction with Affa Organics. Credit: Howard Simmons

A Medford-based landscaping company will pay a $100,000 penalty after the company chopped down trees, bulldozed land and excavated soil in the protected Long Island Central Pine Barrens 12 years ago without a permit, State Attorney General Letitia James announced Friday.

The settlement between the attorney general, the Pine Barrens Commission, Affa Organics and its then-owner,  Stephen Affatato, resolves litigation regarding restoration of the site, which is located on top of Long Island’s largest source of drinking water. 

“Long Island's Pine Barrens are among New York's most precious natural resources, and their protection is paramount to the health of Long Island's drinking water and our shared environment,” James said in a statement. “Stephen Affatato ignored the law and destroyed protected land for his own benefit, and now he must repair the damage and restore the area.”

Shaina Affatato, the daughter of Stephen Affatato, now owns the company. She said her father intended to transition the site from a tree nursery to a working farm where he could teach students about recycling and composting. 

“It was just a big misunderstanding between [her father] and the owner of the property,” she said. “She told us we could go on the property and clean up the garbage. But it turned out we were not allowed to do that. We don't own the property yet. We will be owning it soon. But it's been in the process for 12 years.”

In October 2012, Stephen Affatato and his landscaping company failed to seek a waiver from the commission before removing trees, vegetation and natural ground cover while  creating huge piles of soil in the pine barrens, prosecutors said.

These violations were observed by Pine Barrens Commission staff on a visit to the property.

Affatato argued unsuccessfully that continuing with preexisting agricultural use was outside the enforcement scope of the 1993 Long Island Pine Barrens Protection Act, court records show.

“One of the most important aspects of our work at the Central Pine Barrens Commission is protecting lands preserved by municipalities with taxpayer dollars so all Suffolk residents as well as visitors can fully appreciate all the region has to offer,” Pine Barrens Commission Executive Director Judith Jakobsen said in a statement.

As part of the agreement, Affatato implemented a complete site restoration plan, including soil excavation, installation of deer fencing, site grading, replanting of native plant species, sediment and erosion control. Shaina Affatato said the work had already been completed at a cost of about $500,000. 

“Suffolk County residents paid a significant amount of money to protect the pine barrens to safeguard our drinking water, preserve open space and enhance wildlife habitat,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the Farmingdale-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “… Destroying these public lands is a repulsive act that demands strong consequences.”

In recent years, illegal dumping in the pine barrens, which spans 105,000 acres in Brookhaven, Riverhead and Southampton towns, has become a chronic problem.

The commission, which coordinates patrols of the mostly wooded area, recorded 127 illegal dumping reports last year, up from 63 in 2022 and 71 in 2021.

In February, a Shirley man was charged with illegally discarding  a 24-foot boat in a secluded area of the pine barrens in Manorville.

With John Valenti

Correction: An earlier version of this story showed a picture of an incorrect location.

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Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.

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