WHAT IS THE LIVING PLANET REPORT?

The Living Planet Report, WWF’s flagship publication released every two years, is a comprehensive study of trends in global biodiversity and the health of the planet. The Living Planet Report 2018 is the twelfth edition of the report and provides the scientific evidence to what nature has been telling us repeatedly: unsustainable human activity is pushing the planet’s natural systems that support life on Earth to the edge.

Through multiple indicators including the Living Planet Index (LPI), provided by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the report shows us the urgent need for a new global deal for nature and people with clear, ambitious goals, targets and metrics, to reverse the devastating trend of biodiversity loss currently impacting the one planet we all call home.

We are living through the Great Acceleration – a unique event in the 4.5 billion-year history of our planet – with exploding human population and economic growth driving unprecedented planetary change through the increased demand for energy, land and water.

DID YOU KNOW?

♦ Globally, nature provides services worth around US$125 trillion a year. 

♦ In the 20th century, freshwater fish have had the highest extinction rate worldwide among vertebrates.

♦ Nearly 200 million people depend on coral reefs for protection against storm surge and waves.

♦ Rainforests are shrinking: almost 20% of the Amazon has disappeared in just 50 years.

♦ In the last 50 years, global average temperature has risen at 170 times the background rate.

♦ At least 70% of new small molecule drugs introduced over the past 25 years have come from a natural source.

♦ Almost 6 billion tonnes of fish and other seafood have been taken from the world’s oceans since 1950.

♦ Today, 90% of the world’s seabirds are estimated to have fragments of plastic in their stomach.

TAKE ACTION FOR THE PLANET

♦ GIVE UP single-use plastic, food waste and opt for eco-friendly and sustainably-sourced products. Every choice to GIVEUP counts.

♦ Speak up as a consumer and as a citizen - use your voice to encourage businesses and governments to shift to more sustainable policies and practices.

♦ Start the GIVE UP movement around you - encourage your family and friends to join you as you show how much you care for our planet.

Together, we can be the generation that changes our relationship with the planet, for the better.

OUR WORK

Our mission is to stop the degradation of our planet's natural environment, and build a future in which people live in harmony with nature. We want to ensure that the world’s most important fisheries and ocean ecosystems are productive and resilient and improve livelihoods and biodiversity; the most iconic and endangered species are secured and recovering in the wild; the integrity of our most important forests, including their benefits to human well-being, is enhanced and maintained; freshwater ecosystems and flow regimes provide water for people and nature; a global shift toward a low carbon and climate resilient future is achieved; and that sustainable food systems conserve nature and maintain food security.