Biodiversity loss drivers

Excessive exploitation of natural resources

The main drivers of biodiversity loss

How unsustainable human practices can lead to the severe loss of biodiversity.

Invasive species

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Habitat loss or degradation

Climate change

Pollution

Alien species are often inserted in new habitats as a result of human activities. For example, thorough the transport of goods and travel, insects and plants can be taken to new habitats considerably far from their initial environment. Invasive alien species can jeopardize the sensitive balance of ecosystems, by competing or even killing native species. As a result, they can pose a significant threat to local biodiversity.

"These are animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms that have entered and established themselves in the environment outside their natural habitat" - UNEP, 2024.

Invasive alien species

Direct overexploitation refers to unsustainable hunting and poaching or harvesting, whether for subsistence or for trade. Indirect overexploitation occurs when non-target species are killed unintentionally, for example as bycatch in fisheries These unsustainable practices often disrupt local ecosystems and can even destroy an entire habitat, leading to significant biodiversity loss.

It refers to the unsustainable use of animals and plants leading to their significant reduction or extinction.

Exploitation of natural resources

The irrestricted use of highly toxic and non-selective pesticides, for example, can eliminate a whole group of species in the area where it was applied, resulting in a severe ecosystem imbalance. Another example is plastic pollution, which is especially dangerous to marine species and already affects more than 86% of marine turtles.

Pollution in its many forms (waste, chemicals, air and soil) is a growing threat to biodiversity.

Pollution

Climate change impacts on species occur at a range of scales (from genes and individuals to populations), and at habitat and ecosystem scales, they may occur through changes in interspecies interactions (e.g., competition, predation or disease), community composition, ecosystem function and ecosystem structure.

For example, coral reefs are especially vulnerable to climate change. According to the WMO, coral reefs are projected to lose between 70% and 90% of their former coverage area at 1.5 °C of warming and over 99% at 2 °C.

Climate Change

This refers to the modification of the environment where a species lives, by either complete removal, fragmentation, or reduction in quality of a key habitat. This modification can happen due to unsustainable agriculture, logging, transportation, residential or commercial development, energy production and mining. For example, the intensification and expansion of agriculture can promote deforestation and soil degradation, deplete water sources, and introduce alien species in local habitats, threatening local biodiversity. According to UNEP, agriculture is currently the main driver behind biodiversity loss worldwide.

Habitat loss/degradation