A global U.N. report released Dec. 9 warns that the planet is on track for deeper climate shocks, accelerating biodiversity loss, worsening land degradation and deadly pollution — unless countries drastically transform how economies are powered, fed and governed.
The 7th edition of the Global Environment Outlook (GEO-7), produced by 287 scientists from 82 countries, finds that environmental decline is costing trillions of dollars annually and that pollution contributes to about 9 million premature deaths annually. Greenhouse gas emissions have risen 1.5% per year since 1990, 20-40% of global land is degraded and 1 million species face extinction if current trends continue.
The previous report published in 2019 sounded a stark alarm about a deteriorating environment and a rapidly closing window for action. This year’s analysis goes further by mapping concrete transformation pathways across five key systems and estimating that investing in planetary health could generate at least $20 trillion in annual economic gains by 2070.
The report argues that whole-of-society approaches — spanning energy, food, finance, materials and environmental management — could cut pollution, reduce climate risks and lift hundreds of millions out of poverty and hunger.
Robert Watson, former IPCC chair and the report’s co-chair, told Mongabay in an interview that solving the environmental crisis demands profound shifts in how societies produce energy and food: “The way we’re producing and using energy and food today is leading to environmental degradation. If we want to limit climate change and biodiversity loss, we have to deal with the underlying causes.”
He added that while some governments and companies are responding, action remains uneven. “Some are acting quickly. Some are acting slower.”
For the first time, the Global Environment Outlook explicitly centers Indigenous peoples and local communities, urging co-development and co-implementation of solutions with them. It stresses that diverse knowledge systems, especially Indigenous and local knowledge, are essential for just transitions that protect both environmental sustainability and human well-being. It adds that where countries and regions formally integrate local and Indigenous knowledge into policy and practice, they tend to see stronger ecological outcomes and more resilient adaptation strategies.
The report further underscores that important transitions are already underway. It points to the rapid expansion of renewable energy, with the shift to cleaner power accelerating in many regions as costs fall and policy frameworks strengthen.
Circular economy models are also gaining traction, with rapid growth in waste reduction and materials reuse initiatives, particularly across parts of Asia, Europe and Africa, the report finds.
Augustine Njamnshi of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance told Mongabay by phone that the circular economy is a rare area of opportunity for Africa in an otherwise bleak environmental outlook.
“The positive thing is that it is gradually drawing global attention, and the appetite for a circular economy as a solution is growing,” Njamnshi said. “In my opinion, at this rate, plastic waste will not become a runaway crisis like climate change and biodiversity loss, particularly for Africa.”
Banner image: Women sorting plastic bottles. Photo by Joy Saha, Global Landscapes Forum.
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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