Edmund Rice International- Care of Earth

Source: Living Planet Report 2020 | Official Site | WWF

LIVING PLANET INDEX

The LPI tracks almost 21,000 populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians around the world.

The thousands of individual population trends are brought together to calculate the average percentage change in population sizes using an index (below). The percentage doesn’t represent the number of individual animals lost; instead, it reflects the average change in animal population sizes.

The 2020 global Living Planet Index shows an average 68% fall in monitored vertebrate species populations between 1970 and 2016.

The data is gathered from almost 4,000 sources, using increasingly sophisticated technology such as audio devices to monitor insect sounds; drones and satellite tagging to track populations on the move; and even blockchain technology to track the impact of harvesting on wild populations. (Cook, B. 2018).

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The world has lost 68% of all wildlife populations since 1970.

We need action at all levels to redefine our relationship with nature towards constructing a nature-based planetary safety net.

This article provides updates on progress in five areas: Committing to Financing Nature; Reversing Biodiversity Loss by 2030 Through Global Commitment; Creating a Nature-Based Planetary Safety Net; Greening Covid-19 Recovery Efforts and Creating Green New Deals; and Mapping Nature for People and Planet,

By Jamison Ervin and Midori Paxton

We are facing a planetary emergency – a nature crisis, a climate crisis, and an inequality crisis all at once. Yet the world’s level of ambition to tackle our nature crisis to date has been lackluster, with a recent report highlighting that the world has failed to achieve most of the global biodiversity ambitions that the world agreed to in 2010, as part of a decade-long strategic plan for nature.

The result of low levels of leadership and political will in implementing the global plan, along with ever increasing threats to ecosystem and biodiversity coming from economic sectors, has been predictable – a recent report on the state of biodiversity found that the world has lost 68% of all wildlife populations since 1970. 

Source: Understanding Pope Francis on the Environment: Loss of Biodiversity

Source: The climate leadership of land and environmental defenders is more vital than ever | Global Witness

Source: With the right action, reversing biodiversity loss still remains possible – Stockholm Resilience Centre

Source: Supreme Court Could Give Trump Second Chance at Environmental Rollbacks – The New York Times

Source: Emails Show How Pesticide Industry Influenced U.S. Position in Health Talks – The New York Times

Source: House Approves Sweeping Clean Energy Bill – EcoWatch

Source: Dreaming of a visible Internet footprint – Other News

Source: Climate Disruption Is Now Locked In. The Next Moves Will Be Crucial. – The New York Times