Posted on December, 18 2024

The Nexus Assessment, comprising three years of work from 165 leading international experts across 57 countries, found that existing actions to address these challenges fail to tackle the complexity of interlinked problems, with real consequences. The report estimates that the unaccounted-for costs of current approaches to economic activity impacting the five nexus areas – are at least $10-25 trillion USD per year. It will also only get more expensive the longer that the world waits to act, doubling the costs for biodiversity goals and adding at least $500 billion USD per year to meet global climate targets.

“These IPBES reports come at a pivotal time as we enter 2025 after a disappointing season of international conventions on nature, climate and plastic pollution,” says Wendy Elliott, Interim Biodiversity Practice Leader at WWF. “With just five years left until 2030 when critical global commitments should be met, the reports should serve as a welcoming guide for decisionmakers, giving them a clear science-backed roadmap to address the multiple crises the planet is facing.”

The reports will be key in helping to meet global international commitments, like those of the Paris Agreement, the Global Biodiversity Framework and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, all coalescing around the 2030 period.

“The Nexus Assessment reveals the deep interconnections between biodiversity, water, food, health and climate – demonstrating that tackling these challenges together is our only path to sustainability,” says Dr Becky Chaplin-Kramer, WWF’s Global Biodiversity Lead Scientist and lead author on the IPBES Nexus Assessment. “The report highlights the disproportionate impacts faced by low–and middle–income countries, socioeconomically disadvantaged people in higher-income countries and Indigenous Peoples. By synthesizing future scenarios and offering actionable, science-based solutions, the report sets a new benchmark for confronting intertwined global crises.

“Our goal is to empower governments, communities and businesses to take coordinated and integrated approaches to address these growing risks, delivering just and sustainable outcomes for both people and the planet,” adds Chaplin-Kramer.

A number of statistics are included in the report, such as an estimate of 2-6% of biodiversity decline per decade across all assessed indicators for the last 30-50 years, while more than 50% of global populations are said to be living in areas experiencing the highest impacts from declines in biodiversity, water availability and quality, food security, increases in health risks and negative effects of climate change.  

The research aims to direct policymakers to a series of scenarios and response options – assessing 186 different scenarios from 52 different studies, projecting interactions between three or more of the nexus elements between the periods up to 2050 and 2100. It also stresses the importance of holistically addressing problems, for example a ‘food first’ approach might reap benefits for nutritional health, but could have negative impacts on biodiversity, water and climate change. Likewise, exclusively focusing on climate, commonly dubbed “carbon tunnel syndrome”, can result in negative outcomes for food or biodiversity.

The authors suggest there are future scenarios with gains for all, which include scenarios that focus on sustainable production and consumption, in combination with conserving and restoring ecosystems, addressing pollution and adapting to climate change. More than 70 response options are presented to help manage the nexus elements, including restoring carbon rich-ecosystems, such as forests, soils, mangroves; managing biodiversity to reduce risk of diseases spreading from animals to humans; improving integrated landscape and seascape management; urban nature-based solutions, sustainable healthy diets, and supporting Indigenous food systems.

The Transformative Change report, prepared over three years by more than 100 leading experts from 42 countries, considers what transformative change is, how it occurs, and how to accelerate it for a just and sustainable world. The report argues that transformative change addresses the underlying causes of biodiversity loss, and should be underpinned by values of equity and justice to minimize tradeoffs and unintended consequences. The report emphasizes that fundamental shifts in the way we see, act within, and organize society, are key to enabling the transition, with dominant economic and financial paradigms prioritizing nature and social equity over private interests, being critical. 

Dr Rachel Golden Kroner, Director of Nature Positive Oceans at WWF and Fellow on the Transformative Change Assessment explained: “The science is crystal clear: we need transformative changes to reach a nature-positive, net-zero and equitable future. Existing policy frameworks provide us with a clear end-of-decade deadline of 2030 – and we are halfway there – so there is no time to waste. Government, NGO, community, and private sector actions toward these goals must be taken holistically, inclusively, and equitably to ensure effective outcomes and lasting impact. This groundbreaking report shows us how to get there – based on science and Indigenous and local knowledge – which should involve coordinated actions across all sectors of society.”

The report describes transformative change, as rarely being the outcome of a single event, but rather changes each of us can create, and multiple cascading shifts that trigger and reinforce one another. The report offers five strategies with complementary and synergistic effects, from conserving, restoring, and regenerating places that have cultural, sustainable production and biodiversity value, to transforming harmful subsidies to nature, estimated to range from $1.4 trillion to $3.3 trillion USD per year in 2022, among others such as shifting views and values to recognise the inherent interconnectedness between humanity and the rest of nature.

Identified as a key barrier to change is that government actions are often undermined by a mismatch between the scale of biodiversity challenges and the jurisdiction of separate, siloed institutions or the length of time for policy implementation compared to the length of time between elections that can bring new political powers opposing such policies. 

Underlying causes of biodiversity loss are reported to include the disconnection from and domination over nature and people; the concentration of power and wealth; and prioritization of short-term, individual, and material gains. Notably, the report finds that stewardship of nature by Indigenous Peoples and local communities contributes to transformative change when it is well-supported, focused on important places for biodiversity, and when people’s rights are recognized. 

“The report stresses that amplifying civil society initiatives, while protecting environmental defenders from violence and violations of their rights is key to achieving a just and sustainable world,” adds Elliott. “Central to this is ensuring that the resumed session of the UN biodiversity conference (COP16) in Rome this February concludes with a financial package that accurately addresses the needs of the world’s most biodiverse regions. It’s crucial that this funding can also flow directly to Indigenous communities, many of whom are safeguarding these spaces for the benefit of the entire planet."
Notes to Editors

• Summaries for policymakers have only been published so far, with the full reports available in 2025.
• Contact: news@wwfint.org