• Currently, 91 per cent of the world’s population lives in areas which are above the safe air quality limits set by WHO guidelines. Outdoor air pollution could cause 6 to 9 million premature deaths a year by 2060 and cost 1 per cent of global GDP – around USD 2.6 trillion annually. Air pollution is expected to reduce the yield of staple crops such as wheat, maize and rice by 26 per cent by 2030.
• Changes in land use and land cover are occurring at an alarming rate. We are losing 12 million hectares of productive land every year due to drought and desertification. Particularly in areas prone to drought, the long-term consequences of changes in land use and land cover include biodiversity loss, food, water and fuel insecurity, unemployment, disrupted education, increased child labour, forced displacement and armed conflict.
• Currently, 50 per cent of habitable land is used for food production. Livestock production uses 77 per cent of agricultural
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land, but it provides only 16 per cent of humans’ energy needs and 32 per cent of their protein needs. Livestock production contributes very significantly to climate change and is a major source of land and water degradation.
• Globally we face a tremendous loss of biodiversity. We are in the midst of a major species extinction. An estimated 1 million out of 8 million plant and animal species on Earth are at risk of extinction, many within decades. Extractive industries, such as mining and agriculture, are responsible for more than 80 per cent of biodiversity loss.
• Human activities have affected 40 per cent of the world’s oceans. The impacts of these activities include exhaustion of fish stocks, loss of habitats, coral reef bleaching, and pollution by plastic debris. On average, 8 million tons of plastic waste finds its way into the oceans annually. Only some 9 per cent of the world’s waste plastic is being recycled, while the rest is dumped in the natural environment. Tiny plastic particles
(microplastics) are found in, for example, seafood, sea salt, and tap and bottled water. Scientists are concerned about the implications for both marine life and human health.
• Only 3 per cent of global water resources is freshwater. Only 0.5 per cent of this freshwater is suitable for drinking. More than 2.1 billion people do not have access to freshwater at home. When children are required to fetch water, they have less time to spend at school.
• One-third of edible food (an estimated 1.3 billion tons annually) is lost or wasted globally. This is enough to feed as many as 2 billion people every year.
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