These are the species most at risk of going extinct

Sep 10, 2021

With the collaboration of Statista.

A hammerhead shark swims close to Wolf Island at Galapagos Marine Reserve

37% of sharks are at risk of extinction. Image: REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Martin Armstrong

Data Journalist, Statista

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Future of the Environment

A quarter of all species are threatened with extinction, according to a new report by the UN.
The most at-risk species were amphibians, of which 41% are considered at risk, followed by sharks and conifers, at 37% and 34% respectively.
It stated that human activity is having a devastating impact on the environment, but that it is not too late to halt this trend and improve.
The report was conducted by the UN Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

Given that agricultural land is expanding at the expense of forests, marine stocks are being decimated by overfishing and coral reefs are getting clogged by plastic, it comes as no real surprise that plant and animal species are getting decimated. The UN Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) conducted one of the most comprehensive checks on the state of the planet ever recently and it found that human activity is having a devastating impact on the environment. The insatiable human thirst for food and energy is primarily to blame and that has caused nature to decline at a rate never previously seen.

The following infographic provides an overview of the species at risk of extinction as detailed in the latest update of the IUCN Red List of threatened species. With the largest share of assessed species, 41 percent of amphibians are considered at risk, followed by 37 percent of sharks and rays and 34 percent of conifers. The IPBES report did however state that it is not too late to halt this trend and improve the situation but that the picture is ominous. IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson, warned that “the health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.”

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a chart showing which species are most at risk of extinction

Amphibians face the biggest threat. Image: Statista

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What is the World Economic Forum doing about nature?

Biodiversity loss and climate change are occurring at unprecedented rates, threatening humanity’s very survival. Nature is in crisis, but there is hope. Investing in nature can not only increase our resilience to socioeconomic and environmental shocks, but it can help societies thrive.

There is strong recognition within the Forum that the future must be net-zero and nature-positive. The Nature Action Agenda initiative, within the Centre for Nature and Climate, is an inclusive, multistakeholder movement catalysing economic action to halt biodiversity loss by 2030.

The Nature Action Agenda is enabling business and policy action by:

Building a knowledge base to make a compelling economic and business case for safeguarding nature, showcasing solutions and bolstering research through the publication of the New Nature Economy Reports and impactful communications.

Catalysing leadership for nature-positive transitions through multi-stakeholder communities such as Champions for Nature that takes a leading role in shaping the net-zero, nature-positive agenda on the global stage.

Scaling up solutions in priority socio-economic systems through BiodiverCities by 2030, turning cities into engines of nature-positive development; Financing for Nature, unlocking financial resources through innovative mechanisms such as high-integrity Biodiversity Credits Market; and Sector Transitions to Nature Positive, accelerating sector-specific priority actions to reduce impacts and unlock opportunities.

Supporting an enabling environment by ensuring implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and mobilizing business voices calling for ambitious policy actions in collaboration with Business for Nature.

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