- Global Biodiversity 2026
- Executive summary
Executive summary
The edition on a few pages: the abstract, the key messages, the headline finding and what each steward reads in it.
Contents
- ·Edition home
- ·Executive summary
- 1Nature is the layer under every other system
- 2Key findings
- 3Systems and sectors at baseline
- 4Risks and capability
- 5Hot, fire-prone season with land conversion and mining expansion
- 6Readings from the other desks
- 7The 2027 agenda
- 8Systems in depth
- AMethodology
- BData appendix
- CReferences and record
- ·Complete edition, for print
S.1Abstract
The world enters 2027 with a biodiversity framework in force and a first review that shows implementation behind its 2030 targets. The IUCN Red List now covers 175,909 species, of which 49,505 are threatened with extinction12. The IPBES Global Assessment estimated that around 1 million of 8 million animal and plant species face extinction, that 75% of the land surface is significantly altered and that over 85% of wetland area has been lost7. Gross deforestation fell to 10.9 million hectares a year in 2015 to 2025, from 17.6 million in 1990 to 200015, and tropical primary forest loss fell 36% in 2025 from the record of 2024, yet stays 46% above its level of a decade ago16. Bleaching-level heat stress reached about 84% of the world’s coral reef area between early 2023 and mid-20251819. Money flows the wrong way: IPBES estimated USD 7.3 trillion of flows with direct negative impacts on nature in 2023 against about USD 220 billion for conservation and sustainable use9. Parties reported USD 32.7 billion of biodiversity finance from all sources in 2023 against a 2030 goal of USD 200 billion a year24. Of 162 Parties with aligned national targets, fewer than half reported any national target on track1. Post-close, context only: a draft COP17 decision of 29 October 2026 notes with deep concern that the 2030 targets will not be achieved unless implementation accelerates3. It supports no baseline claim. This baseline sets out what the evidence supports and where it is thin. It ranks no country and recommends no policy.
S.2Key messages
Six readings that frame the biodiversity baseline, and the eight questions this edition answers, each with its status and source.
The Red List counts 49,505 threatened species of 175,909 assessed; IPBES estimated around 1 million of 8 million.127
How many species are at risk?Reported
About 18.4% of terrestrial and inland waters, 23.2% of marine areas under national jurisdiction and 10% of the global ocean were protected or conserved in 2025.2
How much land and sea is protected?Reported
Gross deforestation is lower than in 1990 to 2000 but still 10.9 million hectares a year.15
Is forest loss falling?Reported
About 84% of reef area was exposed to bleaching-level heat stress in 2023 to 2025.1819
What is happening to reefs?Reported
USD 7.3 trillion in flows with negative impacts against about USD 220 billion for nature.9
Where does the money go?Reported
No. Fewer than half of reporting Parties report national targets on track for any global target.1
Is the Framework on track?Reported
Most mining areas target materials needed for renewable energy, and some overlap protected sites.28
Do minerals add pressure?Reported
Heat, fire and land conversion at the same time. SCN-GS11-HEAT-01
What will 2027 test first?Expert input
S.3Headline finding
ReportedEQL 4NRF-SECTOR-BIODIVERSITY-GLOBAL-2026-BASELINE-FIN-006
In 2023, global public and private flows with direct negative impacts on nature were estimated at USD 7.3 trillion, against about USD 220 billion directed to conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
| Item | Bar, scaled to the largest value | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Private flows with direct negative impacts | 4,900 | |
| Environmentally harmful public subsidies | 2,400 | |
| Directed to conservation and sustainable use | 220 |
Source: IPBES Business and Biodiversity assessment, summary for policymakers9. The Nexus assessment gave USD 7 trillion, USD 5.3 trillion private, USD 1.7 trillion in public subsidies and USD 200 billion for nature8.
The two IPBES assessments agree on the order of magnitude and differ in the split and the year. Harmful flows are about 33 times the flows directed to nature, so closing the Framework finance gap of USD 700 billion a year depends on redirecting existing flows as much as on new money29. Fewer than 1% of publicly reporting companies mention their impacts on biodiversity in their reports9.
S.4At a glance
S.5What each steward reads in it
GCRI · KEY T
Technical Truth
The evidence supports reading biodiversity as the foundation layer of the WEFH+B system.
GRF · KEY M
Public Meaning
For most people nature loss shows up as higher food prices, poorer harvests, smoke and lost places.
GRA · KEY F
Capital Meaning
Readiness implications only. Flows with negative impacts are far larger than flows for nature, disclosure is thin and finance reported against the Framework is below its goal.
NEXUS
Synthesis
Biodiversity is well measured at the level of species counts, forest area and finance flows, and thinly measured at the level of ecosystem condition and indicator coverage.
S.6What this edition is, and is not
What this edition is
A baseline: the 2026 state of the world’s biodiversity and ecosystems and the couplings through which it carries risk into other systems. It synthesises published evidence and ranks no country, company or asset.
What it is not
Not a conservation-performance ranking, a species forecast, a land-use recommendation or an assessment of any government, company, protected area or programme. Conservation law, land-use planning and nature finance rest with national authorities, communities, companies and the parties to the relevant conventions.
What comes next
National, regional and sector evidence feeds the 2027 biodiversity edition through the federation. Each edition reports what changed against this baseline: observations, source revisions, method changes, scenario updates and corrections.
Notes
Numbers are the edition’s reference numbers, so a note reads the same in every chapter. The full list, with every source and its licence, is in Annex C. Annex C, references
- 12IUCN, From desert frog to deep-sea molluscs, remarkable species at risk: IUCN Red List (press release on the 2026-1 update), Gland, 9 July 2026. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland. Observation year 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 7IPBES, Summary for Policymakers of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Bonn, 2019. Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Bonn. Observation year 2019 (evidence mostly to 2016). Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 15FAO, Global deforestation slows, but forests remain under pressure (Global Forest Resources Assessment 2025 key findings), Rome, 21 October 2025. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. Observation year 2025 (assessment period 1990 to 2025). Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 16World Resources Institute, Tropical Rainforest Loss Drops 36% in 2025, but Fires Threaten Global Progress (release with University of Maryland GLAD Lab data), Washington, 29 April 2026. World Resources Institute, Washington. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 18NOAA Coral Reef Watch, Current Global Bleaching: Status Update and Data Submission (status page). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, College Park. Observation year 2025 (event from 1 January 2023). Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 19NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, World’s Fourth Mass Coral Bleaching Event Likely Ended in 2025 (news release), 2 June 2026. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Silver Spring. Observation year 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 9IPBES, Summary for Policymakers of the Thematic Assessment Report on Business and Biodiversity, considered at the twelfth session of the Plenary, Manchester, 2026 (layout edition of 16 June 2026). Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Bonn. Observation year 2023 (financial flows). Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 2Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Global Report on Collective Progress in the Implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (document CBD/COP/17/INF/7), full report, Montreal, 2026. Observation year 2023 (finance 2020 to 2023; protected area coverage 2025). Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 4Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, decision 15/4, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Montreal, December 2022. Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal. Observation year 2022. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 1Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, State of Biodiversity Action: Summary and Key Messages of the Global Report on Collective Progress in the Implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Montreal, 2026. Observation year 2026 (national reports of 2026; indicator data to 2025). Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 3POST-CLOSE, context only: Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, draft decision CBD/COP/17/L.15, Global review of collective progress in the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, submitted by the Chair of Working Group I, Yerevan, 29 October 2026 (draft text, not the adopted decision). Observation year 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 28Sonter, L.J., Dade, M.C., Watson, J.E.M. and Valenta, R.K., Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity, Nature Communications 11, 4174, 2020 (open-access abstract read). Springer Nature. Observation year 2020. Accessed 2026-11-03.back
- 8IPBES, Summary for Policymakers of the Thematic Assessment Report on the Interlinkages among Biodiversity, Water, Food and Health (Nexus assessment), accepted at the eleventh session of the Plenary, Windhoek. Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Bonn. Observation year 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.back