Living Planet Report 2024

The Living Planet Report 2024 documents a 73% average decline in monitored wildlife populations from 1970 to 2020, with freshwater species suffering the most (85%). The report warns that cumulative pressures from habitat loss, overexploitation, and climate change are pushing ecosystems toward irreversible tipping points, such as the potential collapse of the Amazon rainforest and coral reefs. It argues that current national commitments for biodiversity and climate are insufficient, and calls for a systemic transformation of the global food system (the leading cause of habitat loss), the energy system (the primary driver of climate change), and the financial system (which currently provides almost US$7 trillion annually in nature-negative flows).

• The Living Planet Index (LPI) shows a 73% average decline in monitored wildlife populations globally between 1970 and 2020, based on nearly 35,000 population trends and 5,495 species.
• Biodiversity loss varies by ecosystem and region, with freshwater populations experiencing the steepest global decline at 85%, followed by terrestrial (69%) and marine (56%) populations. Regionally, Latin America and the Caribbean saw the fastest decline at 95%.
• The report identifies several imminent global tipping points that could destabilize Earth's life-support systems, including the mass die-off of coral reefs, the collapse of the Amazon rainforest, the failure of the subpolar gyre in ocean circulation, and the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets.
• The global food system is identified as the primary driver of nature loss, acting as the leading cause of habitat destruction and accounting for 70% of water use and over 25% of greenhouse gas emissions.
• To limit global warming to 1.5°C, the energy system must undergo a rapid transition that includes tripling renewable energy, doubling energy efficiency, and electrifying 20–40% of light-duty vehicles by 2030.
• There is a massive disparity between nature-negative and nature-positive finance; while positive flows for nature-based solutions are US$200 billion, negative flows (subsidies and incentives exacerbating crises) are estimated at almost US$7 trillion per year.
• Current global goals, including the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, are not on track to be met by 2030; over half of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets are expected to be missed.

APA

WWF International (2024). Living Planet Report 2024. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/614/5gc2qerb1v_2024_living_planet_report_a_system_in_peril.pdf

Chicago

WWF International. Living Planet Report 2024. 2024. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/614/5gc2qerb1v_2024_living_planet_report_a_system_in_peril.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=Living Planet Report 2024 |date=2024 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/614/5gc2qerb1v_2024_living_planet_report_a_system_in_peril.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternational2024living, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{Living Planet Report 2024}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2024}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/614/5gc2qerb1v_2024_living_planet_report_a_system_in_peril.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }