Living Planet Report

For other uses, see Living Planet (disambiguation).

The Living Planet Report is published every two years by the World Wide Fund for Nature since 1998. It is based on the Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculations.

The Living Planet Report is the world's leading, science-based analysis, on the health of our planet and the impact of human activity. Humanity's demands exceed the Earth's capacity to sustain us.[1]

The 2018 report found a "decline of 60% in population sizes" of vertebrate species overall from 1970 to 2014. The tropics of South and Central America had an 89% loss compared to 1970.[2] These claims have been criticized by some studies such as the research group led by Brian Leung and including Maria Dornelas.[3]

The 2018 report calls for new goals post-2020 alongside those of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.[2] The 2020 report says systemic changes are necessary to stop the destruction of global wildlife populations, including a complete overhaul of food production and consumption industries, along with making global trade more sustainable and removing deforestation completely from global supply chains.[4]

"Living Planet Index by region" with data from the report

The 2022 report found that vertebrate wildlife populations have declined by an average of almost 70% since 1970, and attributes the loss primarily to agriculture and fishing. The estimate was based on an analysis of 32,000 populations of 5,230 animal species.[5][6]

  1. ^ Living Planet Report 2016: Risk and resilience in a new era (PDF) (Report). World Wildlife Fund. pp. 1–74. ISBN 978-2-940529-40-7. Retrieved 29 October 2016. (Summary Archived 13 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine).
  2. ^ a b Living Planet Report 2018: Aiming higher (PDF) (Report). World Wildlife Fund. pp. 1–75. ISBN 978-2-940529-90-2. Retrieved 31 October 2018. (Summary).
  3. ^ Leung, Brian; Hargreaves, Anna L.; Greenberg, Dan A.; McGill, Brian; Dornelas, Maria; Freeman, Robin (December 2020). "Clustered versus catastrophic global vertebrate declines". Nature. 588 (7837): 267–271. Bibcode:2020Natur.588..267L. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2920-6. hdl:10023/23213. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 33208939. S2CID 227065128.
  4. ^ Lewis, Sophie (9 September 2020). "Animal populations worldwide have declined by almost 70% in just 50 years, new report says". CBS News. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  5. ^ Greenfield, Patrick (12 October 2022). "Animal populations experience average decline of almost 70% since 1970, report reveals". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  6. ^ Einhorn, Catrin (12 October 2022). "Researchers Report a Staggering Decline in Wildlife. Here's How to Understand It". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2022.