Posted on 12 February 2020

A landmark study into the global economic impacts of nature loss.

Global Futures is a landmark study using cutting-edge modelling to explore the global economic impacts of natural capital depletion.It warns of potential risks to the world’s economic prosperity if we don’t act urgently to halt nature loss.The study uses new economic and environmental modelling to calculate the costs of nature’s decline across 140 countries and all key industry sectors.Taking six crucial ecosystem services that nature provides (including the supply of water for agriculture; supply of timber; marine fisheries; pollination of crops; protection from flooding, storm surges and erosion; and carbon storage to help protect us from climate change), the report analyses the future costs to world economies of failing to act on the destruction of our environment and biodiversity loss.This innovative method of analysis was created through a partnership between WWF, the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) and the Natural Capital Project.Global Futures adds significant new weight to warnings that the continued loss of nature under ‘business as usual’ will have severe economic consequences, and that investing in nature is essential for future global economic prosperity.The work comes at a critical time, marking the start of a landmark year in which a series of global policy decisions will be made that will shape humanity’s development and our relationship with nature for decades to come. We hope that this report, alongside other evidence, will encourage and enable world leaders to take decisive action to restore nature for our future prosperity before it is too late.