Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Living Beyond Our Means

A statement from the Board of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment outlining ten key messages regarding the impact of human activity on global ecosystems and the resulting threats to human well-being.

• Human activities have caused unprecedented changes to ecosystems to meet demands for energy, fiber, fresh water, and food. While these changes improved lives for billions, they simultaneously degraded nature's capacity to provide essential services, including the provision of medicines, protection from disasters, and the purification of water and air.
• The assessment identifies several critical environmental problems: the dire condition of many global fish stocks, the vulnerability of 2 billion people in dry regions to the loss of ecosystem services (such as water supply), and the increasing threats posed by nutrient pollution and climate change.
• Human activity has pushed the planet toward a massive wave of species extinctions, which threatens human well-being. Furthermore, the loss of ecosystem services acts as a significant obstacle to achieving the Millennium Development Goals related to hunger, disease, and poverty.
• Global pressures on ecosystems will continue to rise unless human actions and attitudes change. Mitigation is more likely to succeed if local communities are involved in decision-making, share benefits, and are granted ownership of natural resources.
• Existing technology and knowledge could significantly reduce human impact on ecosystems, but full deployment is unlikely until the full value of ecosystem services is recognized and they are no longer viewed as limitless and free. Effective protection requires coordinated efforts across international institutions, businesses, and governments, as ecosystem productivity is influenced by regulation, taxation, subsidy, trade, and investment policy choices.
• Between 1950 and 1980, more land consisting of natural grassland, savanna, and forest was converted for crop growth than during the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century combined.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Living Beyond Our Means. https://www.wri.org/research/millennium-ecosystem-assessment-living-beyond-our-means

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Living Beyond Our Means. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/millennium-ecosystem-assessment-living-beyond-our-means.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=World Resources Institute |title=Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Living Beyond Our Means |url=https://www.wri.org/research/millennium-ecosystem-assessment-living-beyond-our-means |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{worldresourcesinstitutendmillennium, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Living Beyond Our Means}}, publisher = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/millennium-ecosystem-assessment-living-beyond-our-means}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }