Coral reefs

Coral reefs are the Earth’s oldest and largest living structures.  They are also one of its most rapidly disappearing features.  Reefs are threatened by a combination of destructive fishing practices, marine pollution, and climate change.  Close to one-third of corals are already destroyed or damaged.  Corals provide a habitat for more than a quarter of all marine life. They sustain many commercial fisheries and reduce the impact of large storms on coastal populations.

Fish

Marine and freshwater fisheries are a vital component of global human food security.   Nearly three billion people worldwide rely on fish as a primary protein source.  Global fish consumption has been rising rapidly since the 1960s.  Eighty percent of the world’s scientifically assessed fish stocks are overfished or are already being fished at maximum capacity. Scientists predict that unless overfishing and marine degradation is curtailed, the world’s major commercially harvested wild seafood stocks will be exhausted by 2048.

Forests

Less than one-fifth of the world’s original forest cover remains in unfragmented tracts capable of sustaining a healthy ecosystem.  Remaining forests are being lost at an accelerating rate.  Fifty-four nations are already more than 90 percent deforested.  One-and-a-half billion people rely directly on forests for their livelihoods. As much as 40 percent of the world’s population–2.6 billion people—still relies on wood products as their primary source of energy for cooking and heating.

Freshwater

While water is abundant on the planet, less than 1 percent of the world’s freshwater is readily accessible in lakes, rivers, and underground sources shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost.  One-fifth of the world’s population—1.1 billion people—lack access to safe drinking water. Three billion people are affected by severe water stress. Under the strain of growing populations and a changing climate, almost half of the world’s population is expected to experience high water stress by 2030.

Soils

Land degradation has underpinned conflicts throughout the world.  Nearly one-third of the world’s cropland has been abandoned in the past 40 years after erosion made it unproductive.  One-fifth of the world’s cropland is characterized by some degree of desertification.