1 00:00:07,500 --> 00:00:11,900 Our planet is home to a seemingly infinite variety of species. 2 00:00:14,340 --> 00:00:15,980 From ocean giants... 3 00:00:19,020 --> 00:00:21,900 ..to the tiniest insects. 4 00:00:21,900 --> 00:00:26,220 We call this abundance of life biodiversity. 5 00:00:28,100 --> 00:00:33,860 But today, it's vanishing at rates never seen before in human history. 6 00:00:37,300 --> 00:00:39,740 The UN panel of experts has found 7 00:00:39,740 --> 00:00:43,780 that one million animal and plant species face extinction. 8 00:00:45,020 --> 00:00:47,420 It is worse than expected. 9 00:00:47,420 --> 00:00:51,340 This is happening much faster than we've ever seen before. 10 00:00:51,340 --> 00:00:56,300 Today, we are the asteroid that's causing many, many species 11 00:00:56,300 --> 00:00:59,060 to go extinct simultaneously. 12 00:00:59,060 --> 00:01:03,500 The evidence is that unless immediate action is taken, 13 00:01:03,500 --> 00:01:07,420 this crisis has grave impacts for us all. 14 00:01:07,420 --> 00:01:10,820 We're not just losing nice things to look at. 15 00:01:10,820 --> 00:01:14,940 We're losing critical parts of Earth's system. 16 00:01:14,940 --> 00:01:18,740 And it's threatening our food, our water, our climate. 17 00:01:20,580 --> 00:01:23,340 This year has shown us we've gone one step too far. 18 00:01:25,460 --> 00:01:29,500 Scientists have even linked our destructive relationship 19 00:01:29,500 --> 00:01:32,460 with nature to the emergence of Covid-19. 20 00:01:33,900 --> 00:01:36,620 We are encroaching further and further every day 21 00:01:36,620 --> 00:01:40,140 into wildlife habitat, and that drives emerging diseases. 22 00:01:41,540 --> 00:01:45,500 If we carry on like this, we will see more epidemics 23 00:01:45,500 --> 00:01:49,220 as bad as this, and some of them could even be worse. 24 00:01:50,380 --> 00:01:55,180 The decisions made as we rebuild our economies are critical. 25 00:01:55,180 --> 00:01:59,380 Get it wrong and we will be in deeply dangerous territory. 26 00:01:59,380 --> 00:02:03,740 Get it right and we still have the ability to pull back 27 00:02:03,740 --> 00:02:06,660 and rein in the collapse of biodiversity. 28 00:02:07,860 --> 00:02:11,140 We have a moment when we can change our world 29 00:02:11,140 --> 00:02:14,060 and make it better. 30 00:02:15,500 --> 00:02:17,420 This is that moment. 31 00:02:31,620 --> 00:02:33,580 Over the course of my life, 32 00:02:33,580 --> 00:02:38,580 I've encountered some of the world's most remarkable species of animals. 33 00:02:38,580 --> 00:02:42,420 Only now do I realise just how lucky I've been. 34 00:02:43,780 --> 00:02:47,500 Many of these wonders seem set to disappear forever. 35 00:02:48,820 --> 00:02:54,420 We're facing a crisis, and one that has consequences for us all. 36 00:02:54,420 --> 00:02:59,660 It threatens our ability to feed ourselves, to control our climate. 37 00:02:59,660 --> 00:03:03,540 It even puts us at greater risk of pandemic diseases 38 00:03:03,540 --> 00:03:06,420 such as Covid-19. 39 00:03:06,420 --> 00:03:10,620 It's never been more important for us to understand the effects 40 00:03:10,620 --> 00:03:12,380 of biodiversity loss, 41 00:03:12,380 --> 00:03:17,980 of how it is that we ourselves are responsible for it. 42 00:03:17,980 --> 00:03:20,020 Only if we do that 43 00:03:20,020 --> 00:03:23,060 will we have any hope of averting disaster. 44 00:03:29,780 --> 00:03:34,420 Last year, the United Nations asked over 500 scientists 45 00:03:34,420 --> 00:03:38,700 to investigate the current state of the natural world. 46 00:03:42,580 --> 00:03:45,140 This is the first time there's been a global assessment 47 00:03:45,140 --> 00:03:47,820 where all the evidence has been pulled together, 48 00:03:47,820 --> 00:03:50,020 thousands and thousands of papers. 49 00:03:51,420 --> 00:03:53,940 We're losing biodiversity at a rate 50 00:03:53,940 --> 00:03:57,180 that is truly unprecedented in human history. 51 00:03:59,420 --> 00:04:02,060 All groups in the natural world are in decline, 52 00:04:02,060 --> 00:04:06,020 which means their populations are getting smaller, day by day. 53 00:04:08,380 --> 00:04:13,660 Since 1970, vertebrate animals - things like birds, mammals, 54 00:04:13,660 --> 00:04:18,860 amphibians and reptiles - have declined by 60% in total. 55 00:04:20,780 --> 00:04:24,820 Large mammals have on average disappeared from three quarters 56 00:04:24,820 --> 00:04:28,620 of the range where they were historically found. 57 00:04:28,620 --> 00:04:31,980 What's different is that it's happening simultaneously 58 00:04:31,980 --> 00:04:35,820 in the Amazon, in Africa, in the Arctic. 59 00:04:35,820 --> 00:04:39,860 It's happening not at one place and not with one group of organisms, 60 00:04:39,860 --> 00:04:43,260 but with all biodiversity everywhere on the planet. 61 00:04:45,660 --> 00:04:48,580 It means that one million species 62 00:04:48,580 --> 00:04:51,620 out of eight million species on Earth 63 00:04:51,620 --> 00:04:54,500 are now threatened with extinction. 64 00:04:54,500 --> 00:04:58,500 500,000 plants and animals and 500,000 insects. 65 00:05:03,580 --> 00:05:05,940 Extinction is a natural process. 66 00:05:05,940 --> 00:05:09,780 Things come, they grow, their populations get huge 67 00:05:09,780 --> 00:05:11,500 and then they decline. 68 00:05:11,500 --> 00:05:14,020 But it's the rate of extinction. 69 00:05:14,020 --> 00:05:15,900 That's the problem. 70 00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:19,460 So when you look at previous groups in the fossil records, 71 00:05:19,460 --> 00:05:22,140 then it's over millions of years they go extinct. 72 00:05:22,140 --> 00:05:24,100 Here we're looking at tens of years. 73 00:05:25,660 --> 00:05:29,460 Since 1500, 570 plant species 74 00:05:29,460 --> 00:05:33,300 and 700 animal species have gone extinct. 75 00:05:34,500 --> 00:05:39,540 Studies suggest that extinction is now happening 100 times faster 76 00:05:39,540 --> 00:05:42,980 than the natural evolutionary rate, 77 00:05:42,980 --> 00:05:44,460 and it's accelerating. 78 00:05:46,460 --> 00:05:48,300 Globally, there was a shock. 79 00:05:48,300 --> 00:05:51,340 Because you hadn't pulled all that data together, 80 00:05:51,340 --> 00:05:55,180 people hadn't realised that we have a very serious crisis on our hands. 81 00:06:02,020 --> 00:06:05,500 Many people think of extinction 82 00:06:05,500 --> 00:06:08,260 being this imaginary tale 83 00:06:08,260 --> 00:06:11,020 told by conservationists, 84 00:06:11,020 --> 00:06:13,380 but I have lived it. 85 00:06:13,380 --> 00:06:15,020 I know what it is. 86 00:06:21,340 --> 00:06:24,420 I am caretaker of the northern white rhinos. 87 00:06:27,180 --> 00:06:29,780 We only have two left on the planet. 88 00:06:31,140 --> 00:06:32,900 They are mother and daughter. 89 00:06:37,660 --> 00:06:41,100 This is Najin, the mother, who is 30 years old. 90 00:06:42,380 --> 00:06:44,740 She is very quiet. 91 00:06:46,580 --> 00:06:48,620 And her daughter is Fatu. 92 00:06:48,620 --> 00:06:50,300 This is Fatu. 93 00:06:50,300 --> 00:06:52,740 Hey, come on. Hey, Fatu. Fatu, no, come on. 94 00:06:52,740 --> 00:06:54,700 She's 19 years old. 95 00:06:56,140 --> 00:06:58,820 She's pretty much like a human teenager. 96 00:07:02,020 --> 00:07:04,860 She's a little bit unpredictable 97 00:07:04,860 --> 00:07:07,500 and can be feisty sometimes, 98 00:07:07,500 --> 00:07:09,460 especially when she wants something. 99 00:07:13,100 --> 00:07:16,660 Northern white rhinos were once found in their thousands 100 00:07:16,660 --> 00:07:20,660 in central Africa, but were pushed to the brink of extinction 101 00:07:20,660 --> 00:07:22,740 by habitat loss and hunting. 102 00:07:24,620 --> 00:07:29,300 By 1990, just seven known individuals survived. 103 00:07:30,660 --> 00:07:33,900 I've seen these beautiful rhinos 104 00:07:33,900 --> 00:07:36,940 count from seven down to two. 105 00:07:39,180 --> 00:07:41,700 They're here because we've betrayed them. 106 00:07:43,660 --> 00:07:45,500 And I think they feel it, 107 00:07:45,500 --> 00:07:48,340 this threatening tide of extinction 108 00:07:48,340 --> 00:07:49,940 that is pushing on them. 109 00:07:51,180 --> 00:07:53,620 They feel their world is collapsing. 110 00:07:56,060 --> 00:07:58,700 Unless science saves them, 111 00:07:58,700 --> 00:08:01,660 when Najin passes away, she'll leave 112 00:08:01,660 --> 00:08:06,220 the daughter Fatu alone forever. 113 00:08:08,660 --> 00:08:11,060 The last northern white rhino. 114 00:08:14,580 --> 00:08:18,820 And their plight awaits one million more species. 115 00:08:21,420 --> 00:08:24,500 Once we lose these species, 116 00:08:24,500 --> 00:08:28,980 we do not have hope of accumulating them back 117 00:08:28,980 --> 00:08:32,220 on a timescale that we exist on. 118 00:08:35,900 --> 00:08:39,740 Unique animals with complex and varied lives disappearing 119 00:08:39,740 --> 00:08:42,980 from our planet forever isn't just disturbing. 120 00:08:42,980 --> 00:08:45,780 It's deeply tragic. 121 00:08:45,780 --> 00:08:49,700 But this is about more than losing the wonders of nature. 122 00:08:49,700 --> 00:08:53,500 The consequences of these losses for us as a species 123 00:08:53,500 --> 00:08:56,140 are far-reaching and profound. 124 00:09:01,260 --> 00:09:03,700 What we now know about the natural world is that 125 00:09:03,700 --> 00:09:05,100 everything is joined up. 126 00:09:08,020 --> 00:09:11,140 From a single pond to a whole tropical rainforest. 127 00:09:14,140 --> 00:09:18,140 All of biodiversity is interlocked on a global scale 128 00:09:18,140 --> 00:09:22,820 and all parts of that system are required to make it function. 129 00:09:22,820 --> 00:09:26,860 We tend to think that we're somehow outside of that system, 130 00:09:26,860 --> 00:09:31,580 but we are part of it and we are totally reliant upon it. 131 00:09:33,060 --> 00:09:37,420 The problem is we're now changing those ecological systems 132 00:09:37,420 --> 00:09:40,860 on a massive scale, right across the globe. 133 00:09:43,060 --> 00:09:46,780 And it's threatening food and water security. 134 00:09:46,780 --> 00:09:50,900 We're losing many of the things that nature provides for us. 135 00:09:53,700 --> 00:09:56,860 One of the big threats is the loss of insects. 136 00:09:56,860 --> 00:10:00,260 We've estimated 10% are at risk of extinction. 137 00:10:00,260 --> 00:10:04,860 Other scientists believe the number could be much larger. 138 00:10:04,860 --> 00:10:09,740 Driving around, we don't have moths, butterflies, bees, 139 00:10:09,740 --> 00:10:13,380 all sorts of insects on our windshield any more. 140 00:10:16,140 --> 00:10:18,620 And that is scary. 141 00:10:18,620 --> 00:10:21,740 Because they form the food chain 142 00:10:21,740 --> 00:10:25,540 for hundreds of thousands of other species. 143 00:10:27,060 --> 00:10:30,580 And they are extremely important for pollination. 144 00:10:33,220 --> 00:10:38,140 Three quarters of the world's food crops rely partly on pollination 145 00:10:38,140 --> 00:10:41,380 by insects to produce the food that we need. 146 00:10:44,900 --> 00:10:49,500 Another threat is the loss of diversity below ground. 147 00:10:49,500 --> 00:10:52,900 Soil should be teeming with life. 148 00:10:54,540 --> 00:10:59,620 But reports have suggested that up to 30% of the land's surface 149 00:10:59,620 --> 00:11:01,580 globally has been degraded 150 00:11:01,580 --> 00:11:04,300 and has soils of low biodiversity. 151 00:11:05,620 --> 00:11:08,620 One of the most important things that animals in the soil do 152 00:11:08,620 --> 00:11:10,500 is break down organic matter... 153 00:11:12,700 --> 00:11:15,540 ..which can then be used for plant growth. 154 00:11:17,780 --> 00:11:20,620 So if we lose the diversity of the soil, 155 00:11:20,620 --> 00:11:23,860 the consequences of that can be catastrophic. 156 00:11:28,340 --> 00:11:32,340 We're seeing already that due to soil degradation and changes 157 00:11:32,340 --> 00:11:33,820 in the Earth's climate, 158 00:11:33,820 --> 00:11:37,820 food production in some parts of the world is going down. 159 00:11:39,140 --> 00:11:42,540 Unfortunately, the most affected would be poor people 160 00:11:42,540 --> 00:11:45,420 in developing countries. 161 00:11:45,420 --> 00:11:50,020 But there's no question everybody in the world, one way or another, 162 00:11:50,020 --> 00:11:53,340 is being affected by the loss of biodiversity. 163 00:11:55,460 --> 00:11:58,660 One of the really big problems is what's happening to plants. 164 00:11:58,660 --> 00:12:00,660 The picture is grim. 165 00:12:02,820 --> 00:12:06,700 25% of the plant species that have been assessed 166 00:12:06,700 --> 00:12:09,860 are threatened with extinction. 167 00:12:09,860 --> 00:12:12,780 One in four plants. I find that terrifying. 168 00:12:14,780 --> 00:12:18,740 Plants underpin almost every single thing that we require. 169 00:12:18,740 --> 00:12:24,140 Think about the air we breathe, concentration of CO2 in the air, 170 00:12:24,140 --> 00:12:25,900 clean water. 171 00:12:28,700 --> 00:12:31,900 Trees regulate water flow across landscapes. 172 00:12:32,940 --> 00:12:36,980 Intercept the rainfall and the roots hold the soil in place. 173 00:12:40,020 --> 00:12:42,260 So you chop all those trees down, 174 00:12:42,260 --> 00:12:44,300 there's nothing doing that, 175 00:12:44,300 --> 00:12:46,300 you end up with a landslide. 176 00:12:49,780 --> 00:12:52,060 We've learnt that many, many times, 177 00:12:52,060 --> 00:12:54,420 and yet we carry on making the same mistake. 178 00:12:55,940 --> 00:12:59,660 Even in the UK, we've converted many areas that have been 179 00:12:59,660 --> 00:13:03,260 natural wetlands, which would absorb the water. 180 00:13:03,260 --> 00:13:05,580 What we're now seeing is major floods. 181 00:13:10,820 --> 00:13:13,660 The impacts of biodiversity loss 182 00:13:13,660 --> 00:13:18,140 are no longer a threat for future generations to face. 183 00:13:18,140 --> 00:13:20,260 We ourselves must do so. 184 00:13:20,260 --> 00:13:23,300 It's never been more critical for us to understand 185 00:13:23,300 --> 00:13:25,980 what is driving this crisis. 186 00:13:25,980 --> 00:13:30,220 Scientists have identified the key ways in which we humans 187 00:13:30,220 --> 00:13:33,660 are destroying the ecosystems on which we depend. 188 00:13:43,260 --> 00:13:46,860 There are many ways to remove pieces of the puzzle. 189 00:13:48,300 --> 00:13:51,700 The most obvious way is to kill something, 190 00:13:51,700 --> 00:13:53,180 and we do a lot of that. 191 00:13:56,260 --> 00:13:58,300 GUN FIRES 192 00:14:04,140 --> 00:14:09,020 Over the last 20 years, the illegal wildlife trade has become 193 00:14:09,020 --> 00:14:11,820 a multi-billion dollar global industry. 194 00:14:15,540 --> 00:14:19,060 One of the biggest ever hauls, worth more than £4 million... 195 00:14:19,060 --> 00:14:20,460 326 pieces were seized... 196 00:14:20,460 --> 00:14:23,620 ..was found in a shipping container. 197 00:14:23,620 --> 00:14:26,700 Poaching is still sort of like a war, 198 00:14:26,700 --> 00:14:29,940 a constant battle that we have to fight. 199 00:14:29,940 --> 00:14:34,380 Every day, we lose between two or three rhinos in Africa. 200 00:14:34,380 --> 00:14:36,820 And it is not just rhinos. 201 00:14:38,020 --> 00:14:42,300 We're talking about millions of animals being snatched 202 00:14:42,300 --> 00:14:45,860 from the wild, from thousands of species. 203 00:14:47,420 --> 00:14:52,260 Illegal wildlife trafficking ranks fourth of transnational crimes 204 00:14:52,260 --> 00:14:55,620 after human trafficking, arms and drugs. 205 00:14:56,980 --> 00:15:00,420 One of the drivers for increasing demand 206 00:15:00,420 --> 00:15:05,100 is increased income in China, Vietnam or elsewhere. 207 00:15:05,100 --> 00:15:07,740 If you have money, if you have internet, 208 00:15:07,740 --> 00:15:11,620 you can literally order anything that you want. 209 00:15:11,620 --> 00:15:13,620 It could be a status symbol 210 00:15:13,620 --> 00:15:16,420 or it could be for medicinal purposes. 211 00:15:21,140 --> 00:15:24,380 But it's all made up. 212 00:15:24,380 --> 00:15:30,500 People claim these are cultures and traditions, 213 00:15:30,500 --> 00:15:33,780 but a lot is really just a marketing scheme 214 00:15:33,780 --> 00:15:37,540 by traders looking for the next animal to exploit. 215 00:15:40,500 --> 00:15:44,460 Today, the most trafficked animal in the world 216 00:15:44,460 --> 00:15:47,660 is one few people have ever seen 217 00:15:47,660 --> 00:15:50,420 and many have never even heard of. 218 00:15:52,020 --> 00:15:57,260 Pangolins are nocturnal animals found throughout Asia and Africa. 219 00:15:59,580 --> 00:16:02,660 They are natural pest controllers. 220 00:16:02,660 --> 00:16:06,180 Each one can consume 70 million ants a year. 221 00:16:08,260 --> 00:16:13,500 Pangolins are the only mammal covered in scales, 222 00:16:13,500 --> 00:16:15,460 and this is their downfall. 223 00:16:18,580 --> 00:16:22,180 The massive demand in Asia for pangolin scales 224 00:16:22,180 --> 00:16:25,500 is driving the decimation of pangolins. 225 00:16:28,620 --> 00:16:31,660 Traders claim that they have medicinal purposes, 226 00:16:31,660 --> 00:16:35,060 but, you know, pangolin scales are made of keratin. 227 00:16:35,060 --> 00:16:36,900 It's like our fingernails. 228 00:16:36,900 --> 00:16:39,660 So they have no medicinal properties. 229 00:16:41,620 --> 00:16:43,620 It's all right, sweetheart. 230 00:16:43,620 --> 00:16:46,460 The numbers of African pangolin scales that have been intercepted 231 00:16:46,460 --> 00:16:51,540 going into Asia has dramatically increased over the last few years. 232 00:16:51,540 --> 00:16:56,380 Last year, 2019, it was just over 100 tonnes of scales. 233 00:16:56,380 --> 00:16:59,700 That's 175,000 pangolins 234 00:16:59,700 --> 00:17:01,660 that have been killed 235 00:17:01,660 --> 00:17:03,700 for the scale trade. 236 00:17:05,420 --> 00:17:09,020 We work closely with law enforcement officials. 237 00:17:09,020 --> 00:17:11,900 This little pangolin came in off the trade, 238 00:17:11,900 --> 00:17:15,100 and they're usually dehydrated and emaciated. 239 00:17:16,940 --> 00:17:21,140 This pangolin's still got the little white tips at the end of each scale 240 00:17:21,140 --> 00:17:23,180 which shows his use. 241 00:17:23,180 --> 00:17:25,740 And this is a particularly pretty little pangolin. 242 00:17:27,340 --> 00:17:29,900 Poaching is a brutally cruel business. 243 00:17:31,380 --> 00:17:34,620 I have seen video footage of them being boiled alive. 244 00:17:36,220 --> 00:17:40,460 It's extremely distressing to see how these animals are killed. 245 00:17:45,100 --> 00:17:48,260 Last year, when Covid-19 first emerged, 246 00:17:48,260 --> 00:17:53,300 pangolins were pointed to as a potential source of the virus. 247 00:17:53,300 --> 00:17:56,740 And everybody hoped that this would cut down the trade straight away, 248 00:17:56,740 --> 00:17:59,980 but unfortunately, that's not happened. 249 00:17:59,980 --> 00:18:04,420 The trade is highly profitable and it's unlikely to stop. 250 00:18:08,540 --> 00:18:12,340 There are four Asian pangolin species and four African. 251 00:18:14,860 --> 00:18:19,460 And all eight species are threatened with extinction. 252 00:18:27,220 --> 00:18:31,020 There is another huge trade that is driving 253 00:18:31,020 --> 00:18:33,580 the loss of biodiversity, 254 00:18:33,580 --> 00:18:36,420 and this one happens in plain sight. 255 00:18:44,060 --> 00:18:49,340 We have created a database that has world fisheries statistics, 256 00:18:49,340 --> 00:18:54,100 and we were the first ones to study fisheries on a global basis, 257 00:18:54,100 --> 00:18:58,860 and this global view shows that we have massive 258 00:18:58,860 --> 00:19:00,900 and widespread overfishing. 259 00:19:02,460 --> 00:19:04,380 In the last 40 years, 260 00:19:04,380 --> 00:19:08,820 the scale of global fishing has dramatically increased. 261 00:19:10,460 --> 00:19:15,500 At any one time, there could be as many as 100,000 trawlers 262 00:19:15,500 --> 00:19:17,300 operating in our seas. 263 00:19:19,020 --> 00:19:25,700 Modern fishing is an industrial operation run by huge corporations, 264 00:19:25,700 --> 00:19:28,740 boats, factories, ships. 265 00:19:28,740 --> 00:19:34,660 Some sweep up the ground with a net that might be as big as this house. 266 00:19:34,660 --> 00:19:39,940 And you can put four jumbo jets in the mouth of a big trawl. 267 00:19:39,940 --> 00:19:43,300 And everything that is in the path goes in. 268 00:19:45,420 --> 00:19:48,380 The problem is, as you remove more and more of the adult fish, 269 00:19:48,380 --> 00:19:50,940 particularly the larger sized fish, 270 00:19:50,940 --> 00:19:54,140 you end up with fewer and fewer of the eggs and the fry, 271 00:19:54,140 --> 00:19:58,580 and there's simply not enough for the population to recover. 272 00:19:59,820 --> 00:20:02,860 There are ways of sustainably managing fish stocks. 273 00:20:02,860 --> 00:20:06,700 Reducing fishing in an area can get a population back 274 00:20:06,700 --> 00:20:09,180 to sustainable levels. 275 00:20:09,180 --> 00:20:12,700 But you have to choose whether you want to extract 276 00:20:12,700 --> 00:20:17,700 a sustainable, modest catch or have a big catch for a short term. 277 00:20:17,700 --> 00:20:21,780 And we have always opted for the big catch for a short term. 278 00:20:23,860 --> 00:20:26,420 Even where fish quotas are put in place, 279 00:20:26,420 --> 00:20:28,860 often they're not being implemented. 280 00:20:28,860 --> 00:20:30,660 And in some parts of the world, 281 00:20:30,660 --> 00:20:33,940 there's not even good regulations to limit the catches. 282 00:20:36,460 --> 00:20:39,060 The waters around the edge of fishing countries 283 00:20:39,060 --> 00:20:40,420 are being emptied. 284 00:20:42,660 --> 00:20:44,940 We found that in China, 285 00:20:44,940 --> 00:20:48,860 we have about 16% left of what we had 120 years ago. 286 00:20:50,460 --> 00:20:53,380 And studies suggest that some British waters, 287 00:20:53,380 --> 00:20:56,380 where industrial fishing begun, have been decimated. 288 00:20:58,260 --> 00:21:01,780 There is now about 5% of trawler cod fish left 289 00:21:01,780 --> 00:21:05,140 before the turn of the 20th century. 290 00:21:08,300 --> 00:21:11,500 This is a really big problem for the species of fish that prey 291 00:21:11,500 --> 00:21:14,220 upon the fish that we're harvesting, 292 00:21:14,220 --> 00:21:17,540 and this has huge impact for marine ecosystems. 293 00:21:19,660 --> 00:21:23,660 We have completely destroyed the natural balance of fish 294 00:21:23,660 --> 00:21:25,140 in the world's oceans. 295 00:21:35,300 --> 00:21:38,980 Across the globe, the pressures faced by the natural world 296 00:21:38,980 --> 00:21:41,380 are becoming ever harder to solve 297 00:21:41,380 --> 00:21:45,020 because of our growing demand for nature's resources. 298 00:21:47,100 --> 00:21:49,100 When I was a kid in the 1960s, 299 00:21:49,100 --> 00:21:52,500 there were three billion people in the world. 300 00:21:52,500 --> 00:21:56,300 So I watched it go to six billion around 2000 or so, 301 00:21:56,300 --> 00:21:59,460 and I'm now probably going to see it actually reach, 302 00:21:59,460 --> 00:22:01,460 you know, nine billion in my lifetime, 303 00:22:01,460 --> 00:22:03,100 which is pretty startling. 304 00:22:04,980 --> 00:22:08,580 Population growth is much, much higher in the developing world 305 00:22:08,580 --> 00:22:10,220 than in the developed. 306 00:22:10,220 --> 00:22:13,100 But it's problematic to just talk about population 307 00:22:13,100 --> 00:22:15,540 because there are two things which are going on. 308 00:22:15,540 --> 00:22:19,420 It's population, but it's also consumption. 309 00:22:19,420 --> 00:22:22,500 And in terms of impact on the planet, 310 00:22:22,500 --> 00:22:26,300 what's much more important is the growth in consumption levels, 311 00:22:26,300 --> 00:22:30,500 and these are far higher in the developed economies. 312 00:22:30,500 --> 00:22:34,020 That's why I call it a taboo topic, because who's at fault? 313 00:22:34,020 --> 00:22:36,660 Is it the very large number of people, 314 00:22:36,660 --> 00:22:39,500 or the small number of people with very few children 315 00:22:39,500 --> 00:22:43,060 who are actually driving negative impacts? 316 00:22:43,060 --> 00:22:48,420 The average person in the UK consumes nearly four times 317 00:22:48,420 --> 00:22:52,100 the resources of the average person in India, 318 00:22:52,100 --> 00:22:56,300 and in the United States it's about seven times as much. 319 00:23:00,700 --> 00:23:05,260 One of the problems is that many of the products we use are manufactured 320 00:23:05,260 --> 00:23:09,020 in ways that pollute our air, land and water, 321 00:23:09,020 --> 00:23:13,860 making pollution another of the drivers of biodiversity loss. 322 00:23:15,660 --> 00:23:18,900 While in a country like the United Kingdom, 323 00:23:18,900 --> 00:23:22,780 where some very strong laws on how to reduce pollution, 324 00:23:22,780 --> 00:23:25,380 we do have to realise we're no longer 325 00:23:25,380 --> 00:23:27,540 a major industrial country. 326 00:23:27,540 --> 00:23:32,380 Most of the things that we actually use are produced abroad in countries 327 00:23:32,380 --> 00:23:36,220 where the laws can be non-existent or not implemented. 328 00:23:38,860 --> 00:23:43,260 So we are simply moving our footprint on destroying nature 329 00:23:43,260 --> 00:23:44,660 to another country. 330 00:23:47,500 --> 00:23:51,340 Pollutants can have a lasting impact on species - 331 00:23:51,340 --> 00:23:55,580 an impact that may take time for us to fully understand. 332 00:23:58,900 --> 00:24:02,380 PCB stand for polychlorinated biphenyls. 333 00:24:02,380 --> 00:24:04,340 They're used in the electrical industry. 334 00:24:04,340 --> 00:24:06,220 We invented them in the '20s 335 00:24:06,220 --> 00:24:09,260 and then we began to ban them from the '80s onwards 336 00:24:09,260 --> 00:24:12,660 because we realised they had quite a serious and toxic effect on life. 337 00:24:12,660 --> 00:24:14,980 They affect the immune system 338 00:24:14,980 --> 00:24:17,380 and they also cause reproductive impairment. 339 00:24:19,620 --> 00:24:22,700 If PCBs are not disposed of appropriately, 340 00:24:22,700 --> 00:24:25,260 then you can get leaching out from the landfill site, 341 00:24:25,260 --> 00:24:27,740 into river courses, river beds and back out to sea. 342 00:24:27,740 --> 00:24:29,860 Animals at the base of the food chain 343 00:24:29,860 --> 00:24:31,820 might absorb very small amounts. 344 00:24:31,820 --> 00:24:34,860 But then as animals above them eat more and more of the small animals, 345 00:24:34,860 --> 00:24:37,460 they'll concentrate up the food chain. 346 00:24:42,140 --> 00:24:45,260 In the UK, we have one really striking example of that. 347 00:24:45,260 --> 00:24:48,220 The last remaining pod of in-shore killer whales 348 00:24:48,220 --> 00:24:50,100 up in north-west Scotland, 349 00:24:50,100 --> 00:24:53,100 where they only have eight individuals left. 350 00:24:53,100 --> 00:24:56,180 That population has been studied for about 30 years. 351 00:24:56,180 --> 00:24:58,620 In all that time, they've never had a calf. 352 00:24:58,620 --> 00:25:01,220 Lulu was a part of that pod. 353 00:25:03,300 --> 00:25:06,500 She died due to entanglement in fishing gear. 354 00:25:08,580 --> 00:25:11,620 When we had her blubber levels analysed for PCBs, 355 00:25:11,620 --> 00:25:13,060 they were quite shocking. 356 00:25:13,060 --> 00:25:15,660 One of the highest levels ever recorded 357 00:25:15,660 --> 00:25:17,860 in any killer whale on the planet. 358 00:25:17,860 --> 00:25:22,460 And when we looked at her ovaries, we found they were non-functional. 359 00:25:22,460 --> 00:25:25,940 In my lifetime, we're looking potentially at the complete loss 360 00:25:25,940 --> 00:25:28,260 of that population. 361 00:25:28,260 --> 00:25:30,740 And then we'll have no more killer whales left 362 00:25:30,740 --> 00:25:32,300 around the coast of the UK. 363 00:25:36,140 --> 00:25:40,940 In addition to these threats, many ecosystems are increasingly feeling 364 00:25:40,940 --> 00:25:44,820 the impact of another driver of biodiversity loss. 365 00:25:47,740 --> 00:25:49,180 Climate change. 366 00:25:51,820 --> 00:25:54,060 Our world is getting hotter. 367 00:25:56,660 --> 00:25:59,180 At this moment, we do have the Paris Agreement 368 00:25:59,180 --> 00:26:03,380 that says all governments should try and limit climate change 369 00:26:03,380 --> 00:26:05,780 to no more than two degrees Celsius. 370 00:26:07,300 --> 00:26:10,300 All of the calculations show we're on track 371 00:26:10,300 --> 00:26:12,900 for a three to four degree world. 372 00:26:12,900 --> 00:26:16,980 And the more the Earth warms, the worse the problem is. 373 00:26:19,500 --> 00:26:23,940 There are lots of ways that climate change will impact on species - 374 00:26:23,940 --> 00:26:28,140 changing food sources, how they breed 375 00:26:28,140 --> 00:26:31,540 and whole patterns of migration and movement. 376 00:26:34,300 --> 00:26:38,740 Increasing temperatures mean some species are unable to survive 377 00:26:38,740 --> 00:26:40,460 in their normal habitat. 378 00:26:42,620 --> 00:26:46,700 They're forced to move higher and higher where it's cooler, 379 00:26:46,700 --> 00:26:49,900 and eventually there's nowhere left to go. 380 00:26:51,660 --> 00:26:54,860 It's been called the escalator to extinction, 381 00:26:54,860 --> 00:26:57,820 and we see it all around the globe. 382 00:26:57,820 --> 00:27:00,500 In the Australian Wet Tropics, 383 00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:03,580 we're already seeing that with possums and birds 384 00:27:03,580 --> 00:27:06,420 that just can't handle the heatwaves. 385 00:27:06,420 --> 00:27:10,500 About 50% of the endemic species that live in these mountaintops 386 00:27:10,500 --> 00:27:13,180 are on that escalator to extinction. 387 00:27:13,180 --> 00:27:15,100 These are no longer predictions. 388 00:27:15,100 --> 00:27:16,740 We are seeing it happen. 389 00:27:17,980 --> 00:27:20,780 Scientists predict that in the future, 390 00:27:20,780 --> 00:27:23,260 as temperatures continue to rise, 391 00:27:23,260 --> 00:27:28,340 climate change will become the greatest threat faced by species. 392 00:27:31,780 --> 00:27:37,260 But right now, the single biggest driver of biodiversity loss 393 00:27:37,260 --> 00:27:40,460 is the destruction of habitats. 394 00:27:48,540 --> 00:27:51,700 Many people imagine there's this untouched wilderness 395 00:27:51,700 --> 00:27:53,940 because they see it on their TV screens. 396 00:27:53,940 --> 00:27:58,220 But the reality is there's really not a lot of wild left out there. 397 00:27:58,220 --> 00:28:02,940 We've already lost nearly 90% of the wetlands around the world. 398 00:28:02,940 --> 00:28:06,620 We've transformed the forests and grasslands, 399 00:28:06,620 --> 00:28:11,100 we've converted 75% of the land that is not covered by ice. 400 00:28:12,420 --> 00:28:15,060 Three quarters of the terrestrial surface has been changed, 401 00:28:15,060 --> 00:28:17,660 a lot of it just to feed one species. 402 00:28:20,340 --> 00:28:24,820 Obviously, if you clear a rainforest or natural savanna 403 00:28:24,820 --> 00:28:28,660 and you replace it with a monoculture agriculture, 404 00:28:28,660 --> 00:28:31,300 of course it's unsurprising you're going to lose 405 00:28:31,300 --> 00:28:34,300 most of the species that evolved to survive there. 406 00:28:36,820 --> 00:28:40,820 The critical thing is that there is now enough land that's already 407 00:28:40,820 --> 00:28:45,300 been cleared to sustain the levels of production that we need. 408 00:28:45,300 --> 00:28:48,780 But new land is still being cleared 409 00:28:48,780 --> 00:28:52,900 because often it's quicker and cheaper to do so. 410 00:28:55,980 --> 00:28:58,540 It's estimated that every year 411 00:28:58,540 --> 00:29:02,340 around 3.8 million hectares of forest are cleared. 412 00:29:07,260 --> 00:29:10,220 A lot of that clearance is driven by demand 413 00:29:10,220 --> 00:29:12,500 on the other side of the world. 414 00:29:14,140 --> 00:29:16,780 We want cheap food and we want to have choice 415 00:29:16,780 --> 00:29:18,540 on offer all year round. 416 00:29:19,860 --> 00:29:24,940 These commodities often provide the mainstay of countries' economies, 417 00:29:24,940 --> 00:29:29,820 but many are produced in ways that are not sustainable. 418 00:29:29,820 --> 00:29:35,100 So a consumer walking into a supermarket may unwittingly 419 00:29:35,100 --> 00:29:38,940 be contributing towards loss of biodiversity. 420 00:29:38,940 --> 00:29:43,100 What we're doing is taking customs data, shipping data, 421 00:29:43,100 --> 00:29:46,260 and for the first time we connect them all together and ask 422 00:29:46,260 --> 00:29:48,140 who is buying from the hot spots 423 00:29:48,140 --> 00:29:50,660 where we're really losing biodiversity. 424 00:29:52,580 --> 00:29:56,980 We now have enough data to be able to identify the main drivers 425 00:29:56,980 --> 00:29:59,260 of biodiversity loss. 426 00:29:59,260 --> 00:30:02,900 Soy, cocoa, coffee, palm oil and beef. 427 00:30:02,900 --> 00:30:05,580 Conversion of land for cattle 428 00:30:05,580 --> 00:30:10,380 is probably the greatest single cause of habitat loss. 429 00:30:12,740 --> 00:30:15,300 Of the total mass of mammals on Earth, 430 00:30:15,300 --> 00:30:19,940 livestock has been found to account for 60%, 431 00:30:19,940 --> 00:30:25,340 humans for 36%, and wild animals just 4%. 432 00:30:31,820 --> 00:30:35,380 Brazil has one of the world's largest cattle herds, 433 00:30:35,380 --> 00:30:37,500 more than 200 million animals. 434 00:30:39,740 --> 00:30:44,180 About 12% of Brazil's beef exports comes to the EU, 435 00:30:44,180 --> 00:30:46,340 but China is the main buyer. 436 00:30:48,620 --> 00:30:51,260 The UK doesn't import much beef, 437 00:30:51,260 --> 00:30:54,700 but we do import another product from Brazil 438 00:30:54,700 --> 00:30:57,860 which is driving the destruction of habitat. 439 00:31:02,180 --> 00:31:03,420 Soy. 440 00:31:05,860 --> 00:31:07,540 Soy is a bean. 441 00:31:07,540 --> 00:31:12,420 It's a very productive form of plant protein that's widely used. 442 00:31:12,420 --> 00:31:16,740 The majority goes into animal feed. 443 00:31:16,740 --> 00:31:22,420 Since 2006, efforts have been made to reduce deforestation for soy 444 00:31:22,420 --> 00:31:24,540 in the Brazilian Amazon, 445 00:31:24,540 --> 00:31:28,820 so production has moved to another part of the country. 446 00:31:28,820 --> 00:31:31,300 The Cerrado is very special 447 00:31:31,300 --> 00:31:35,340 and in many ways it's a forgotten landscape. 448 00:31:35,340 --> 00:31:38,380 At first glance, it may not seem attractive. 449 00:31:38,380 --> 00:31:41,620 It's basically scrub grasslands, scrub forests. 450 00:31:43,020 --> 00:31:46,060 Yet the Cerrado has many unique species. 451 00:31:54,780 --> 00:32:00,540 Giant anteaters have been around for millions of years, 452 00:32:00,540 --> 00:32:04,740 but they have gone extinct from many areas. 453 00:32:04,740 --> 00:32:07,420 They only have one pup at a time, 454 00:32:07,420 --> 00:32:10,500 so this one pup is very precious. 455 00:32:10,500 --> 00:32:15,580 So the mothers carry their pups on their backs, 456 00:32:15,580 --> 00:32:20,420 but their habitat is being lost in front of our very eyes. 457 00:32:22,140 --> 00:32:27,540 Over 50% has now been transformed into agricultural landscapes. 458 00:32:30,020 --> 00:32:32,860 The greatest expansion of agriculture, 459 00:32:32,860 --> 00:32:36,260 the destruction of habitat in the Cerrado, 460 00:32:36,260 --> 00:32:38,580 is in this northern area. 461 00:32:38,580 --> 00:32:42,380 And here we can see the exports of soy from this area 462 00:32:42,380 --> 00:32:46,660 are predominantly going to China. 463 00:32:46,660 --> 00:32:49,700 But some of it is actually imported into the UK. 464 00:32:49,700 --> 00:32:52,220 We're buying as much as half a million tonnes 465 00:32:52,220 --> 00:32:54,180 produced in the Cerrado per year. 466 00:32:58,220 --> 00:33:01,860 The majority of this is used to make feed for chickens 467 00:33:01,860 --> 00:33:04,780 that are sold by many British supermarkets. 468 00:33:06,740 --> 00:33:11,420 Some supermarkets and some manufacturers are starting to shift, 469 00:33:11,420 --> 00:33:15,300 but what our data show is that the consumption of soy in the UK, 470 00:33:15,300 --> 00:33:18,540 even though it's a small amount of the total exports, 471 00:33:18,540 --> 00:33:20,740 because of where we're buying it from, 472 00:33:20,740 --> 00:33:24,140 is having a disproportionate impact on certain species. 473 00:33:28,100 --> 00:33:32,940 Anteaters have to be able to move freely throughout its environment. 474 00:33:37,020 --> 00:33:40,860 This is important for males to find mates 475 00:33:40,860 --> 00:33:44,300 or when young will go find new territories. 476 00:33:45,940 --> 00:33:48,980 If there are barriers to movement, 477 00:33:48,980 --> 00:33:52,020 this can cause very serious consequences. 478 00:33:54,020 --> 00:33:56,140 As the Cerrado is being cleared, 479 00:33:56,140 --> 00:33:59,940 anteaters can be driven into isolated islands of habitat. 480 00:34:02,580 --> 00:34:06,260 And the surrounding areas become lethal territory. 481 00:34:08,940 --> 00:34:12,540 The land is being crossed by highways. 482 00:34:14,740 --> 00:34:19,100 Sometimes when a female giant anteater dies on the road, 483 00:34:19,100 --> 00:34:20,860 her pup will survive. 484 00:34:22,700 --> 00:34:27,340 But we have found roadkill decreases 485 00:34:27,340 --> 00:34:30,620 the population growth rate 486 00:34:30,620 --> 00:34:32,540 of anteaters by half. 487 00:34:36,740 --> 00:34:40,460 The unprecedented impact we are having on the planet 488 00:34:40,460 --> 00:34:44,820 is not only putting the ecosystems we rely on at risk. 489 00:34:47,340 --> 00:34:51,380 Scientists believe that our destructive relationship with nature 490 00:34:51,380 --> 00:34:55,620 is actually putting us at greater risk of pandemic diseases. 491 00:34:58,060 --> 00:35:01,900 We've seen an increasing rate of pandemic emergence. 492 00:35:01,900 --> 00:35:04,580 We've had swine flu, SARS, Ebola, 493 00:35:04,580 --> 00:35:08,180 and we've actually looked back over every emerging disease 494 00:35:08,180 --> 00:35:10,860 and said, where did it originate on the planet? 495 00:35:10,860 --> 00:35:14,740 And what are the things going on there that could have caused it? 496 00:35:14,740 --> 00:35:19,660 And we've found we're behind every single pandemic 497 00:35:19,660 --> 00:35:22,740 and it's human impact on the environment 498 00:35:22,740 --> 00:35:25,140 that drives emerging diseases. 499 00:35:26,700 --> 00:35:29,340 Animals have lots of different viruses that circulate 500 00:35:29,340 --> 00:35:32,140 inside their bodies, just like we do. 501 00:35:32,140 --> 00:35:36,220 And so one of the most obvious ways that we're making it more likely 502 00:35:36,220 --> 00:35:38,220 that a virus would jump 503 00:35:38,220 --> 00:35:42,780 is that we're having lots of contacts with animals. 504 00:35:42,780 --> 00:35:46,620 The wildlife trade is at unprecedented levels. 505 00:35:46,620 --> 00:35:51,700 We have huge markets with tens of thousands of live animals, 506 00:35:51,700 --> 00:35:55,500 shedding their viruses through faeces and urine, 507 00:35:55,500 --> 00:35:57,900 being killed in front of you. 508 00:35:57,900 --> 00:36:01,460 These are incredible places for viruses to spread. 509 00:36:03,220 --> 00:36:05,700 And we're connected to that trade 510 00:36:05,700 --> 00:36:08,580 through things like the fashion industry. 511 00:36:08,580 --> 00:36:10,540 We've seen this huge increase in the use 512 00:36:10,540 --> 00:36:12,780 of fur trims for winter jackets. 513 00:36:15,300 --> 00:36:18,460 And that means hundreds of thousands of animals are bred 514 00:36:18,460 --> 00:36:20,500 in fur farms. 515 00:36:20,500 --> 00:36:23,300 You have large densities of animals 516 00:36:23,300 --> 00:36:27,620 put in a situation with a lot of people. To make things worse, 517 00:36:27,620 --> 00:36:29,580 those animals are very stressed, 518 00:36:29,580 --> 00:36:32,260 and we know that animals that are stressed 519 00:36:32,260 --> 00:36:34,420 shed viruses at higher rates. 520 00:36:41,660 --> 00:36:44,260 What also drives emerging diseases... 521 00:36:46,900 --> 00:36:49,380 ..is that we are encroaching further and further every day 522 00:36:49,380 --> 00:36:50,980 into wildlife habitat. 523 00:36:56,500 --> 00:36:59,980 31% of all emerging diseases have originated 524 00:36:59,980 --> 00:37:03,180 through the process of land use change. 525 00:37:03,180 --> 00:37:07,100 Forests around the world, where there's a lot of biodiversity, 526 00:37:07,100 --> 00:37:11,740 have thousands of viruses that we've never come into contact with yet. 527 00:37:11,740 --> 00:37:14,140 The minute we build a road in there, 528 00:37:14,140 --> 00:37:15,860 we start getting exposed. 529 00:37:17,820 --> 00:37:21,340 The first people into those logging camps go out and hunt bushmeat 530 00:37:21,340 --> 00:37:24,500 and pick up the viruses. That's how HIV emerged. 531 00:37:24,500 --> 00:37:26,300 Then we bring our livestock in. 532 00:37:26,300 --> 00:37:29,780 Viruses move from wildlife into livestock, into people. 533 00:37:31,420 --> 00:37:35,860 At every step of the process, we're bringing people closer in contact 534 00:37:35,860 --> 00:37:38,100 with wildlife and their viruses. 535 00:37:39,220 --> 00:37:41,780 It's easy to imagine that we're so far away 536 00:37:41,780 --> 00:37:45,820 from these diseases' origins that it's nothing to do with us. 537 00:37:45,820 --> 00:37:47,860 But we drive it, actually. 538 00:37:47,860 --> 00:37:50,060 Our consumption of beef drives this, 539 00:37:50,060 --> 00:37:51,740 our consumption of poultry, 540 00:37:51,740 --> 00:37:54,820 and the products that are used in poultry, drives this. 541 00:37:58,820 --> 00:38:03,220 My research is showing that when humans convert habitat, 542 00:38:03,220 --> 00:38:05,820 there's also something else at play. 543 00:38:07,580 --> 00:38:11,860 It's not all species that are likely to make us sick. 544 00:38:11,860 --> 00:38:16,060 Often the best reservoirs for the pathogens that can jump to humans 545 00:38:16,060 --> 00:38:18,180 are smaller bodied species, 546 00:38:18,180 --> 00:38:21,500 like rats and mice and certain kinds of bats. 547 00:38:23,220 --> 00:38:26,500 When we have intact natural systems with high biodiversity, 548 00:38:26,500 --> 00:38:29,700 these species are kept in check. 549 00:38:29,700 --> 00:38:32,420 But when humans destroy habitat, 550 00:38:32,420 --> 00:38:36,580 the large predators and herbivores disappear first. 551 00:38:38,020 --> 00:38:41,380 Which means the smaller bodied species are the big winners. 552 00:38:41,380 --> 00:38:43,380 They proliferate wildly. 553 00:38:43,380 --> 00:38:47,780 They live at super high density and are the ones far more likely 554 00:38:47,780 --> 00:38:49,140 to make us sick. 555 00:38:51,460 --> 00:38:56,660 So we've been saying for 20-plus years that this exploitation 556 00:38:56,660 --> 00:38:59,740 of our environment is driving pandemics. 557 00:39:03,460 --> 00:39:07,020 But what we didn't think was it was going to happen so quickly 558 00:39:07,020 --> 00:39:08,500 and so devastatingly. 559 00:39:10,540 --> 00:39:15,020 Since the first cases of Covid-19 were identified in China 560 00:39:15,020 --> 00:39:18,700 and linked to a wet market in Wuhan, 561 00:39:18,700 --> 00:39:21,580 scientists around the world have been piecing together 562 00:39:21,580 --> 00:39:24,220 where and how the virus emerged. 563 00:39:25,980 --> 00:39:28,700 It was figured out quickly that it was a coronavirus. 564 00:39:28,700 --> 00:39:32,260 Those are known to reside in various kinds of animals, 565 00:39:32,260 --> 00:39:34,900 and so people started looking for the animal 566 00:39:34,900 --> 00:39:38,780 from which that coronavirus would have jumped into people. 567 00:39:42,260 --> 00:39:46,780 We found the closest relative to the virus 568 00:39:46,780 --> 00:39:49,940 in bats, in rural south China, 569 00:39:49,940 --> 00:39:52,100 in Yunnan Province. 570 00:39:52,100 --> 00:39:56,300 It's really well known for its biodiversity of plants and of 571 00:39:56,300 --> 00:39:59,700 animals, including bats, and they live in these 572 00:39:59,700 --> 00:40:01,940 incredibly complex colonies. 573 00:40:01,940 --> 00:40:05,820 One part of the colony's a nursery where all the kids live 574 00:40:05,820 --> 00:40:09,060 and the parents fly out every night to get food. 575 00:40:09,060 --> 00:40:12,500 But Yunnan has been under incredible change 576 00:40:12,500 --> 00:40:14,140 for the past few decades. 577 00:40:14,140 --> 00:40:15,980 High-speed rail links have gone in there, 578 00:40:15,980 --> 00:40:18,420 roads have been built into remote areas. 579 00:40:18,420 --> 00:40:22,460 And so we think Covid-19 maybe even started there. 580 00:40:23,700 --> 00:40:27,540 And either somebody got infected and travelled to Wuhan themselves 581 00:40:27,540 --> 00:40:30,340 or sent animals that they were shipping into the wildlife trade 582 00:40:30,340 --> 00:40:32,020 into those wet markets 583 00:40:32,020 --> 00:40:34,820 and then the virus exploded from there. 584 00:40:38,100 --> 00:40:41,180 We don't know exactly what happened yet, 585 00:40:41,180 --> 00:40:44,300 but it's my view that it's our relationship with nature 586 00:40:44,300 --> 00:40:46,380 and the way we interact with it 587 00:40:46,380 --> 00:40:48,820 that drove the emergence of Covid. 588 00:40:50,020 --> 00:40:54,140 We've been changing biodiversity in really critical ways 589 00:40:54,140 --> 00:40:56,820 that made this more likely to happen. 590 00:40:58,420 --> 00:41:00,860 If we continue on our current pathway, 591 00:41:00,860 --> 00:41:05,420 then what we've experienced this year might not be a one-off event. 592 00:41:06,860 --> 00:41:10,580 We estimate there are going to be five new emerging diseases 593 00:41:10,580 --> 00:41:12,620 affecting people every year. 594 00:41:14,020 --> 00:41:16,700 We cannot live with that. 595 00:41:16,700 --> 00:41:18,940 And the rate at which they're increasing 596 00:41:18,940 --> 00:41:22,620 and crushing our economies, if we have one of these every decade, 597 00:41:22,620 --> 00:41:25,100 we cannot persist with that level. 598 00:41:29,900 --> 00:41:32,620 We face a frightening future. 599 00:41:32,620 --> 00:41:35,180 So how has it come to this? 600 00:41:35,180 --> 00:41:38,580 Why haven't we acted sooner to address these issues 601 00:41:38,580 --> 00:41:41,220 and stem the loss of biodiversity? 602 00:41:48,540 --> 00:41:51,300 Many scientists, including myself, 603 00:41:51,300 --> 00:41:54,540 have been saying for the last 25 to 30 years 604 00:41:54,540 --> 00:41:58,500 that biodiversity is being lost due to human action. 605 00:41:59,780 --> 00:42:03,820 Thousands arrive for the largest UN meeting ever held 606 00:42:03,820 --> 00:42:08,460 in an effort to prevent drastic and irreversible changes. 607 00:42:08,460 --> 00:42:13,180 I'm here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet. 608 00:42:13,180 --> 00:42:15,860 We're a group of 12- and 13-year-olds 609 00:42:15,860 --> 00:42:19,420 come to tell you adults, you must change your ways. 610 00:42:19,420 --> 00:42:21,260 APPLAUSE 611 00:42:21,260 --> 00:42:24,180 In 1992 at the Earth Summit, 612 00:42:24,180 --> 00:42:28,620 a convention was signed to protect biodiversity. 613 00:42:30,100 --> 00:42:34,900 It was recognised to be of critical importance to the future of Earth. 614 00:42:34,900 --> 00:42:38,980 The bleak warning from scientists at a major UN conference in Japan... 615 00:42:38,980 --> 00:42:42,140 In 2010, governments came up with 20 targets 616 00:42:42,140 --> 00:42:44,780 to protect biodiversity. 617 00:42:44,780 --> 00:42:48,380 While we're making some progress, to be quite candid, 618 00:42:48,380 --> 00:42:51,460 we probably will not meet any of the targets. 619 00:42:52,540 --> 00:42:55,420 Part of the problem is that we don't 620 00:42:55,420 --> 00:42:58,620 have really good environmental laws 621 00:42:58,620 --> 00:43:01,100 that are global. 622 00:43:01,100 --> 00:43:04,380 Also, unfortunately, many in the private sector 623 00:43:04,380 --> 00:43:08,180 make a huge profit at the expense of our natural world. 624 00:43:09,420 --> 00:43:12,500 They want the status quo to exist. 625 00:43:12,500 --> 00:43:16,020 The reality is our world is based 626 00:43:16,020 --> 00:43:18,140 on economic growth, 627 00:43:18,140 --> 00:43:20,180 grabbing more and more. 628 00:43:23,060 --> 00:43:27,260 Thank you for joining us to examine the extinction crisis. 629 00:43:27,260 --> 00:43:29,340 The evidence is unequivocal... 630 00:43:29,340 --> 00:43:32,980 Even today, there are people that will do anything 631 00:43:32,980 --> 00:43:37,220 in their power to make sure that the politicians do not act. 632 00:43:38,820 --> 00:43:42,740 I'm here to tell you that the three lead authors here from the UN 633 00:43:42,740 --> 00:43:46,900 are part of this con that the United Nations presents itself 634 00:43:46,900 --> 00:43:49,220 as the world's expert on science. 635 00:43:49,220 --> 00:43:51,460 At a recent Congressional testimony, 636 00:43:51,460 --> 00:43:54,140 two of the Republican witnesses 637 00:43:54,140 --> 00:43:58,500 argued that the loss of biodiversity was nowhere near as serious 638 00:43:58,500 --> 00:44:01,060 as what we were saying in the report. 639 00:44:01,060 --> 00:44:03,780 As with the manufactured climate crisis, 640 00:44:03,780 --> 00:44:06,900 they are using the spectre of mass extinction 641 00:44:06,900 --> 00:44:10,540 to scare the public into compliance. 642 00:44:10,540 --> 00:44:15,060 We've wasted 20 to 30 years when the governments of the world, 643 00:44:15,060 --> 00:44:19,180 working with the private sector, could have done a much better job 644 00:44:19,180 --> 00:44:21,460 conserving biodiversity. 645 00:44:25,180 --> 00:44:27,580 If we had acted more seriously, 646 00:44:27,580 --> 00:44:31,020 many species could have been saved 647 00:44:31,020 --> 00:44:34,740 and we would not be facing such serious threats 648 00:44:34,740 --> 00:44:36,580 as we're seeing today. 649 00:44:41,340 --> 00:44:45,540 This year has shown the vulnerability of our societies. 650 00:44:45,540 --> 00:44:50,500 Will we take the opportunity, finally, to change our course? 651 00:44:50,500 --> 00:44:54,660 What can governments, industries and we as individuals do 652 00:44:54,660 --> 00:44:57,660 to slow this decline of the natural world? 653 00:45:02,780 --> 00:45:06,580 The world has been on pause during the pandemic, 654 00:45:06,580 --> 00:45:09,260 and as we begin to move forward, 655 00:45:09,260 --> 00:45:11,500 we have a moment, 656 00:45:11,500 --> 00:45:15,140 we can change the way we're running our world 657 00:45:15,140 --> 00:45:16,780 and make it better. 658 00:45:16,780 --> 00:45:18,580 This is that moment. 659 00:45:19,740 --> 00:45:23,340 The first thing that we have to do is to reset the way 660 00:45:23,340 --> 00:45:24,940 we run our economies. 661 00:45:24,940 --> 00:45:27,980 The massive hit to the economy is no surprise. 662 00:45:27,980 --> 00:45:31,580 The UK economy has lost a quarter of its value. 663 00:45:31,580 --> 00:45:33,660 The world is in a recession. 664 00:45:33,660 --> 00:45:36,940 Governments are recognising that they have to invest 665 00:45:36,940 --> 00:45:38,940 to drive out of it. 666 00:45:38,940 --> 00:45:43,020 And I've been involved in a study with the finance ministries 667 00:45:43,020 --> 00:45:46,060 and the central bank governors of the world 668 00:45:46,060 --> 00:45:50,660 in thinking through what the best ways out of this crisis are. 669 00:45:52,100 --> 00:45:56,620 And we've found that those investments which are good for the 670 00:45:56,620 --> 00:46:01,700 environment are very powerful ways out of the depression 671 00:46:01,700 --> 00:46:03,820 that we find ourselves in. 672 00:46:03,820 --> 00:46:08,580 So, for example, we could begin work on restoring degraded land. 673 00:46:08,580 --> 00:46:10,060 We can plant trees, 674 00:46:10,060 --> 00:46:14,500 we can start retrofitting buildings so they're much more efficient, 675 00:46:14,500 --> 00:46:17,260 make our cities much cleaner. 676 00:46:18,540 --> 00:46:21,460 All those examples can be done quickly, 677 00:46:21,460 --> 00:46:26,060 they are labour intensive and are strong economic multipliers. 678 00:46:26,060 --> 00:46:30,340 So exactly the kind of things you need for a strong recovery. 679 00:46:30,340 --> 00:46:33,780 There are all these things we know we have to do for biodiversity 680 00:46:33,780 --> 00:46:35,340 and for the climate, 681 00:46:35,340 --> 00:46:38,260 so let's bring them forward to this period of unemployment. 682 00:46:39,420 --> 00:46:41,780 And then, going forwards, 683 00:46:41,780 --> 00:46:46,140 we need to dramatically change the damage that we do 684 00:46:46,140 --> 00:46:48,580 from producing and consuming. 685 00:46:48,580 --> 00:46:50,100 That's the big prize. 686 00:46:53,620 --> 00:46:57,180 At the moment, nature is coming as a free good. 687 00:46:57,180 --> 00:46:59,940 We use rivers and estuaries 688 00:46:59,940 --> 00:47:02,580 as sinks for the pollution 689 00:47:02,580 --> 00:47:05,020 we create from industry. 690 00:47:05,020 --> 00:47:07,260 Who's paying for that? 691 00:47:08,900 --> 00:47:11,580 Large chunks of the rainforests 692 00:47:11,580 --> 00:47:14,340 have been converted at prices 693 00:47:14,340 --> 00:47:16,540 which are astonishingly low given 694 00:47:16,540 --> 00:47:19,260 the cost to the rest of the world. 695 00:47:20,740 --> 00:47:23,140 As an economist, I think it's right 696 00:47:23,140 --> 00:47:26,660 that people who extract from nature pay the due price. 697 00:47:28,660 --> 00:47:32,500 We have to recognise that nature has true value that is taken 698 00:47:32,500 --> 00:47:35,860 into consideration in national accounts. 699 00:47:38,380 --> 00:47:41,660 We also need to start producing affordable food 700 00:47:41,660 --> 00:47:45,060 without expanding any further into the forest. 701 00:47:46,260 --> 00:47:49,140 This is indeed quite possible. 702 00:47:49,140 --> 00:47:51,660 One of the biggest problems is incredible - 703 00:47:51,660 --> 00:47:55,700 we actually waste about 40% of the food that is produced. 704 00:47:58,100 --> 00:48:01,940 If a farmer can't produce stuff in exactly the right form, 705 00:48:01,940 --> 00:48:04,460 he has to throw it away. 706 00:48:04,460 --> 00:48:08,460 And of course, we throw it away from the plate. 707 00:48:08,460 --> 00:48:11,100 If we could reduce that food waste, 708 00:48:11,100 --> 00:48:13,540 it would go a long, long way to making 709 00:48:13,540 --> 00:48:16,380 a more sustainable agricultural system. 710 00:48:18,180 --> 00:48:21,460 And also, we need to reduce the amount of chemicals, 711 00:48:21,460 --> 00:48:25,420 we've got to make sure we're not degrading our soils. 712 00:48:25,420 --> 00:48:27,940 We need the best of the private sector 713 00:48:27,940 --> 00:48:33,140 to show the others they can make a profit and still conserve nature. 714 00:48:34,460 --> 00:48:37,860 Another possible solution is to make more rules. 715 00:48:37,860 --> 00:48:40,180 There does have to be some standard. 716 00:48:40,180 --> 00:48:43,180 We can't simply depend upon people of goodwill 717 00:48:43,180 --> 00:48:46,900 and institutions of goodwill to do what is needed to be done. 718 00:48:46,900 --> 00:48:49,700 If governments imposed legislation 719 00:48:49,700 --> 00:48:52,300 that says we will not be allowing 720 00:48:52,300 --> 00:48:53,980 the imports of products that are 721 00:48:53,980 --> 00:48:55,940 produced in an unsustainable way, 722 00:48:55,940 --> 00:48:58,620 then it levels the playing field. 723 00:48:58,620 --> 00:49:01,860 Lots of people don't like government regulation, 724 00:49:01,860 --> 00:49:04,860 but there are some tremendous success stories 725 00:49:04,860 --> 00:49:07,420 of international legal cooperation. 726 00:49:09,380 --> 00:49:12,500 Back in the 1980s, scientists figured out chemicals used 727 00:49:12,500 --> 00:49:15,500 in aerosol spray or used in refrigerants 728 00:49:15,500 --> 00:49:18,540 were actually eating the ozone layer. 729 00:49:18,540 --> 00:49:22,500 About a million tonnes of CFCs are produced every year. 730 00:49:22,500 --> 00:49:24,780 The nations of the world got together 731 00:49:24,780 --> 00:49:26,780 and they banned these chemicals, 732 00:49:26,780 --> 00:49:30,300 and the problem was solved because once the manufacturing companies 733 00:49:30,300 --> 00:49:34,020 started looking for alternatives, they found them quite quickly. 734 00:49:35,580 --> 00:49:37,420 So we shouldn't be demoralised, 735 00:49:37,420 --> 00:49:39,340 because we know how to do this stuff. 736 00:49:39,340 --> 00:49:42,380 It's a question of finding the political will to do it. 737 00:49:42,380 --> 00:49:45,700 We shape the future of the planet 738 00:49:45,700 --> 00:49:48,140 irretrievably by the decisions 739 00:49:48,140 --> 00:49:50,380 we take in this next few years. 740 00:49:51,700 --> 00:49:56,780 And indeed, in the months now, as we come out of the Covid crisis. 741 00:50:01,180 --> 00:50:04,420 For those of us who care about the future of our planet, 742 00:50:04,420 --> 00:50:06,980 you know, we have to look at our lifestyles 743 00:50:06,980 --> 00:50:10,140 and we can't look away from our own behaviours. 744 00:50:10,140 --> 00:50:15,980 40 years ago, people consumed a good deal less in the United Kingdom, 745 00:50:15,980 --> 00:50:20,460 but there is no evidence that we were unhappier then 746 00:50:20,460 --> 00:50:21,900 than we are now. 747 00:50:21,900 --> 00:50:24,980 We can be more diligent about thinking about 748 00:50:24,980 --> 00:50:27,180 what we're consuming and when. 749 00:50:27,180 --> 00:50:30,420 It's really digging down, saying, what's going on here? 750 00:50:30,420 --> 00:50:32,460 Where does that come from? 751 00:50:32,460 --> 00:50:35,860 We need to think about meat and dairy consumption. 752 00:50:35,860 --> 00:50:39,180 That's not to say that none of us should ever eat meat 753 00:50:39,180 --> 00:50:41,820 or should cut all dairy out of our diets. 754 00:50:41,820 --> 00:50:45,460 But we have to demand that they are produced sustainably. 755 00:50:46,860 --> 00:50:49,460 Increasingly, I feel it's not 756 00:50:49,460 --> 00:50:52,460 just about our current lifestyle, 757 00:50:52,460 --> 00:50:54,980 but about the education of our 758 00:50:54,980 --> 00:50:57,700 children on the way nature works. 759 00:50:59,900 --> 00:51:02,460 There's a wave of revolution going around, 760 00:51:02,460 --> 00:51:04,740 especially with young people. 761 00:51:04,740 --> 00:51:09,020 We are waking up, we are realising that the planet 762 00:51:09,020 --> 00:51:11,820 is an integral part of our existence. 763 00:51:13,500 --> 00:51:18,380 If we don't act now, the youth of today and the youth of tomorrow 764 00:51:18,380 --> 00:51:22,580 are going to look back on this generation with absolute horror. 765 00:51:22,580 --> 00:51:24,220 "What were you thinking?!" 766 00:51:26,060 --> 00:51:28,900 I want to tell our youth 767 00:51:28,900 --> 00:51:31,580 we have taken the lessons, 768 00:51:31,580 --> 00:51:33,780 that we will not allow 769 00:51:33,780 --> 00:51:35,620 any other species 770 00:51:35,620 --> 00:51:39,780 to walk this tragic road of extinction. 771 00:51:43,620 --> 00:51:48,340 One thing we do know is that if nature is given the chance, 772 00:51:48,340 --> 00:51:50,620 it can bounce back. 773 00:51:53,660 --> 00:51:56,020 40 years ago, I had one of the most 774 00:51:56,020 --> 00:51:59,380 memorable experiences of my life. 775 00:51:59,380 --> 00:52:01,420 I was in the Virunga Mountains, 776 00:52:01,420 --> 00:52:03,780 which straddle the borders of Uganda, 777 00:52:03,780 --> 00:52:06,660 the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. 778 00:52:08,540 --> 00:52:13,020 And there I met some of the few remaining mountain gorillas, 779 00:52:13,020 --> 00:52:17,020 including a mischievous youngster called Poppy. 780 00:52:28,420 --> 00:52:31,500 As I sit here, there's more meaning 781 00:52:31,500 --> 00:52:34,020 and mutual understanding 782 00:52:34,020 --> 00:52:37,540 in exchanging a glance with a gorilla 783 00:52:37,540 --> 00:52:41,140 than any other animal I know. 784 00:52:43,140 --> 00:52:47,140 As I was preparing to talk to camera, 785 00:52:47,140 --> 00:52:51,180 Poppy was at my feet, trying to take off my shoes. 786 00:52:57,300 --> 00:53:01,140 It was an experience that has stayed with me, 787 00:53:01,140 --> 00:53:03,460 but it was tinged with sadness 788 00:53:03,460 --> 00:53:07,020 as I thought I might be seeing some of the last of their kind. 789 00:53:12,540 --> 00:53:16,300 In the 1970s, this population of mountain gorillas was estimated 790 00:53:16,300 --> 00:53:19,220 to be around 250 individuals in this area. 791 00:53:21,660 --> 00:53:24,260 They were on the brink of extinction. 792 00:53:25,820 --> 00:53:30,660 Their habitat was under very rapid conversion from forest 793 00:53:30,660 --> 00:53:34,460 to agricultural fields. 794 00:53:34,460 --> 00:53:38,260 This part of Rwanda was one of the poorest and most densely 795 00:53:38,260 --> 00:53:40,980 populated in the country. 796 00:53:40,980 --> 00:53:44,380 And the expansion of agriculture was the only way 797 00:53:44,380 --> 00:53:46,420 for most people to survive. 798 00:53:47,460 --> 00:53:51,860 There were tensions between the park and communities. 799 00:53:51,860 --> 00:53:55,460 We had many poachers coming, 800 00:53:55,460 --> 00:53:58,380 setting snares, cutting bamboo. 801 00:54:01,100 --> 00:54:04,020 Coexistence of humans and mountain gorillas 802 00:54:04,020 --> 00:54:07,100 really wasn't a reality that many people saw. 803 00:54:10,740 --> 00:54:12,900 But over the next few decades, 804 00:54:12,900 --> 00:54:15,500 the situation would start to change. 805 00:54:17,300 --> 00:54:19,820 Government in all three countries, 806 00:54:19,820 --> 00:54:21,900 conservation organisations 807 00:54:21,900 --> 00:54:23,380 and local communities 808 00:54:23,380 --> 00:54:25,260 started to work together 809 00:54:25,260 --> 00:54:28,300 with an emphasis not just on the gorillas, 810 00:54:28,300 --> 00:54:30,900 but on the people that live with them. 811 00:54:33,940 --> 00:54:38,460 We have over 200 rangers, and their jobs 812 00:54:38,460 --> 00:54:42,900 is to see every gorilla and check on the habitat. 813 00:54:44,220 --> 00:54:46,660 And since 2005, the government set 814 00:54:46,660 --> 00:54:49,260 up a tourism revenue sharing scheme. 815 00:54:50,780 --> 00:54:53,060 A portion of the price that a 816 00:54:53,060 --> 00:54:56,060 tourist pays is actually reserved 817 00:54:56,060 --> 00:54:58,500 for those communities adjacent. 818 00:55:02,820 --> 00:55:06,060 The result is that the conversion of habitat 819 00:55:06,060 --> 00:55:10,100 for agricultural production actually ceased. 820 00:55:10,100 --> 00:55:13,260 And the population has recovered. 821 00:55:17,220 --> 00:55:20,660 30 babies were born in this park last year, 822 00:55:20,660 --> 00:55:24,580 and we know that these gorillas are going to grow. 823 00:55:24,580 --> 00:55:28,380 No-one will be a victim of poachers. 824 00:55:28,380 --> 00:55:31,460 So, things have changed. 825 00:55:31,460 --> 00:55:35,700 Their numbers have just reached and exceeded 1,000. 826 00:55:38,780 --> 00:55:41,820 This change has not happened overnight, 827 00:55:41,820 --> 00:55:45,300 but if it can be achieved here, where human population pressure 828 00:55:45,300 --> 00:55:49,540 is so high, where the politics can be very complicated, 829 00:55:49,540 --> 00:55:52,140 especially among different states, 830 00:55:52,140 --> 00:55:55,420 I believe it can be achieved elsewhere as well. 831 00:55:59,460 --> 00:56:02,100 Poppy grew up and actually was a 832 00:56:02,100 --> 00:56:04,540 very long-lived mountain gorilla 833 00:56:04,540 --> 00:56:06,500 and had many offspring. 834 00:56:09,220 --> 00:56:12,260 WHISPERS: Ururabyo Is right there. 835 00:56:14,300 --> 00:56:18,380 Ururabyo is actually the daughter of Poppy. 836 00:56:18,380 --> 00:56:20,180 WHISPERING 837 00:56:22,020 --> 00:56:23,620 Ururabyo means flower. 838 00:56:23,620 --> 00:56:26,700 She is shining flower in this park. 839 00:56:29,860 --> 00:56:32,980 Ururabyo also has a daughter. 840 00:56:35,620 --> 00:56:37,540 Prosperity. 841 00:56:55,020 --> 00:56:58,100 To see Poppy's daughter and granddaughter thriving 842 00:56:58,100 --> 00:57:00,020 is thrilling. 843 00:57:00,020 --> 00:57:04,980 It just shows what we can achieve when we put our minds to it. 844 00:57:04,980 --> 00:57:10,180 I do truly believe that together we can create a better future. 845 00:57:11,580 --> 00:57:13,220 I might not be here to see it, 846 00:57:13,220 --> 00:57:17,300 but if we make the right decisions at this critical moment, 847 00:57:17,300 --> 00:57:20,540 we can safeguard our planet's ecosystems, 848 00:57:20,540 --> 00:57:23,020 its extraordinary biodiversity 849 00:57:23,020 --> 00:57:24,780 and all its inhabitants. 850 00:57:26,140 --> 00:57:29,700 What happens next is up to every one of us.