FINANCING NATURE: CLOSING THE GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FUNDING GAP
Earth is experiencing dramatic and accelerating biodiversity loss caused by human activities. Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, scientists estimate the world is now losing species at up to 1,000 times the natural rate of one to five species per year. The abundance of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians has declined, on average, by 60 percent over the last four decades—the blink of an eye in evolutionary terms. If human society continues on this trajectory, we face a future where 30 to 50 percent of all species may be lost by the middle of the 21st century.
Biodiversity is essential for the health of our planet, yet it is in a sharp decline, driven mainly by human behavior. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) recently warned that humans are exploiting nature far more rapidly than it can renew itself.