Facts and figures on biodiversity

…unhealthy environments, including air, water and soil pollution are the cause of nearly 1/4 of total deaths;

…or that the global population of wild species has fallen by 60 % over the last 40 years?

Changes in land and sea use

• Deforestation, land and forest degradation and land-use change are the second leading contributor to emissions of greenhouse gases worldwide: nearly a quarter of global emissions. They also directly contribute to the emergence of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19.
• Approximately 80 % of global deforestation is caused by the expansion of land used for agriculture.

Direct exploitation of organisms

• 85 % of the world’s fisheries are fully exploited or overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion.

Climate change

• Biodiversity loss and the climate crisis are interconnected and are exacerbating each other.
• The distribution of 47 % of terrestrial flightless mammals and 23 % of threatened birds have already been negatively impacted by climate change.

Pollution

• Globally, 5 to 13 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans every year, representing over 80 % of marine litter.
• The EU accounts for 10 % of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
  • We therefore need to work together with the rest of the world, in particular since 90 % of global biodiversity is outside the EU.

Invasive species

• The number of alien invasive species has increased by 70 % since 1970.[1]