Issue Biodiversity loss and the collapse of ecosystem functions

Summary

Biodiversity loss extends beyond the extinction of individual species to the disappearance of populations, the narrowing of genetic diversity and the breakdown of ecosystem composition, structure and interactions. Biodiversity underpins climate, water, soil, food and health, yet decades of population decline have accumulated an invisible extinction that may bring ecosystems closer to critical thresholds. The losses also weaken local cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, food sovereignty and livelihoods, turning an ecological problem into a social and humanistic crisis. Global assessments consistently warn of nature's deterioration, identifying land and sea-use change, overexploitation, climate change, pollution and invasive species as direct drivers that combine to fragment habitats. New frameworks, nature-restoration laws, supply-chain rules and nature-related financial disclosure are emerging, but finance, governance and equity for indigenous and local communities must be addressed together, and delay will multiply the cost of recovery.