Climate Change having ‘increasingly severe’ impact on ecosystems- WWF

The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) published their 2024 Living Planet Report earlier this week, reporting a staggering 73% decline in the average size of global wildlife populations between 1970 and 2020. The group gives many examples in the study of how climate change is exacerbating biodiversity loss.

The report also warns of a number of ‘highly likely’ tipping points caused by global warming that could result in ‘substantial, often abrupt and potential irreversible change’ to global biodiversity. These include the mass die-off of coral reefs, the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, and the large-scale thawing of permafrost. There is also a high risk of the ‘collapse of the subpolar gyre,’ a circular current south of Greenland, whcih has the potential to ‘dramatically change weather patterns around the globe.’

The report gives examples of tipping points which are already being reached at local and regional levels, reporting 7 mass coral bleaching events since 1998 in The Great Barrier Reef due to a combination of ‘rising sea temperatures’ and ‘ecosystem degredation.’ WWF warns readers that ‘we will likely lose 70-90% of all coral reefs globally’ even if the 1.5*C warming target set in the 2015 Paris Agreement is met. Current climate commitments by national governments would currently lead to a 3*C increase by 2100, which WWF claims would ‘inevitably [trigger] multiple catastrophic tipping points.’

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In order to reduce global warming and conserve remaining biodiversity, the Living Planet Report 2024 calls for a transformation of the global energy system. It calls for a ‘fast, green and fair’ energy transition, to ‘cut greenhouse emissions in half y 2030 and keep 1.5*C within reach.’ The report achnowledges that energy trends are ‘going in the right direction,’ but insists the transformation is not nearly fast enough. Current calculations require that we ‘triple renewable energy, double energy efficiency, electrify 20’40% of light-duty vehicles and modernize energy grids,’ aided by a ‘tripling of investment’ in renewable energy.

The report also highlights the often complex balancing act between renewable energy generation and conservation of biodiversity. It warns that ‘without careful planning and environmental safeguards,’ hydropower development in particular would ‘increase river fragmentation,’ whilst ‘transition lines and mining for critical materials could impact sensitive land, freshwater and ocean ecosystems.’ The concern comes after greater global focus on the environmental impacts of ‘environmentally friendly’ alternatives to fossil fuels, notably the damaging effects of increased lithium mining for EV batteries.

The report comes just weeks before the start of the 16th Biodiversity COP in Cali, Colombia, the first since the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This event will be closely followed by the COP29 Climate Summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Summarising the findings, its authors claim “it is no exaggeration to say that what happens in the next five years will determine the future of life on Earth.” They insist that unless we ‘place the earth on a sustainable trajectory’ in the next half a decade, the ‘negative feedbacks of combined nature degradation and climate change’ would lead to ‘runaway tipping points.’

‘The risk of failure is real,’ we’re told, ‘and the consequences almost unthinkable.’

New Climate Journal