Signal 42,100 species at risk of extinction; monitored wildlife down 69%

Summary

The report states that around 42,100 species worldwide were at risk of extinction in 2023. Tracked populations of birds, fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles shrank by more than 69% between 1970 and 2018. In Great Britain, nearly one in six of the 10,008 species covered by the State of Nature assessment of 2023 face extinction there. The report points to climate change, habitat loss, pollution, invasive species and overexploitation as the forces behind these declines. Falling biodiversity raises disease risk and may narrow medical discovery, since about 70% of cancer drugs are found in or inspired by nature. The report expects that worsening climate change could push further extinctions and ecosystem degradation.