People can do amazing things.
We can use sunbeams to help us travel.
We can catch the wind and have it cook our food.
Humans could be the smartest creatures that have ever lived on the planet.
But because we're human,
we can also do stupid things sometimes.
When it comes to our relationship with nature,
which provides us with our food, air and water,
we have to admit humans on the whole, haven't done a great job.
To be blunt, we're destroying the natural world that supports us.
We know this because we've collected evidence all over the world for years,
working with scientists and researchers, using all kinds of monitoring methods.
And we've written it all down in here,
our Living Planet Report.
You could think of it as a health check for the planet
and a prescription for how to help it recover.
We write these reports every couple of years
and the results get more terrifying every time.
Our 2022 report makes it clear:
the catastrophic loss of nature is not being halted, let alone reversed.
Since 1970, our planet's wildlife population sizes have plummeted by 69%.
which means there are far fewer amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds and mammals.
And 69% is just an average.
If you look at freshwater creatures, their population sizes have dropped by 83%.
Precious species and habitats in the UK and around the world are being lost
at a staggering rate.
And when we say lost, what we really mean,
more often than not, is destroyed.
And if we're honest, people have been central
to that destruction. Not intentionally in most cases,
but just by us not thinking about the consequences of our everyday actions:
the food we eat, the things we buy, the choices we make.
And by big companies who put profit before our planet,
exploiting the natural world to get rich quick.
And by governments who don't pass strong enough laws to stop it happening.
Too many people have been carrying on like nothing is wrong.
Ignoring the alarm signals nature has been sending us for decades:
ice sheets melting, forests burning,
seas rising, extreme weather.
Our world is on the brink of disaster, but it's not too late to turn things around.
The good news is
we can all play a part in helping to fix it.
But we need to shout louder about how serious things are.
The first thing we need to think about is food and the way it's produced,
as this is one of the biggest drivers of nature loss and climate change.
We can make a lot more space for nature just by changing
how land is used and what we choose to eat.
By transforming the way we produce our food
with a focus on nature-friendly farming.
We can support farmers both locally and abroad,
all while reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
So we get delicious food
and free up space for nature.
The climate crisis is already affecting people and nature.
We can help cut emissions by making sure our energy is powered
by 100% renewable energy, such as wind and solar.
This will also lead to greener jobs,
cheaper energy bills, and cleaner air for us all.
And we need to focus on what are called nature-based solutions,
where we work with nature rather than against it.
A great example of this is planting trees in urban environments to help improve
air quality, capture carbon and support our personal wellbeing.
You can also help us to put pressure on politicians
to deliver on their promises and pass better, stronger nature laws,
to make sure essential changes happen fast enough. In order to move forward,
we need to invest in nature.
Economic growth without protecting the planet isn't growth at all.
As our Living Planet report makes clear:
the world needs to change direction fast.
We've got to bend the curve on nature loss.
The solutions exist and we should be using
every opportunity to address the crisis together.
We're now in a race
to bring our world back to life, and we know it's a race we can win.
It's going to take all our ingenuity and energy.
But if we pull it off, it will be the greatest human achievement ever.