The latest IPBES assessment builds upon the reality that drastic and fundamental change in how people view and interact with nature is urgently needed to stop and reverse biodiversity loss, focusing on the underlying causes of our biodiversity crisis and outlining options for pursuing an equitable and sustainable world for all.

This report is a continuation of the 2019 IPBES Global Assessment Report, which found that the only way to achieve global development goals is through transformative change, as well as the 2022 Values Assessment Report. More than 100 experts from 42 countries prepared the report, drawing upon a vast body of research to explain what transformative change is, how it occurs and how to accelerate it toward achieving global development goals while preserving nature.

The report finds that acting immediately to undo biodiversity loss can generate USD 10 trillion in business opportunity value and 395 million jobs globally by 2030. It identifies three underlying causes of biodiversity loss: disconnection of people from nature and domination over nature and other people; the inequitable concentration of power and wealth; and the prioritization of short-term individual and material gains.

SEI’s Ed Carr co-led the chapter detailing the causes of and obstacles to transformative change, delving into why people do not change their behaviors and decisions despite the many reasons to do so, as well as the colonial legacies and economic systems that disincentivize the necessary change.

In addition to outlining the problem, the report offers principles and strategies for transformations that will foster a more just and sustainable world. This guidance allows decision-makers to pursue options appropriate to their realities to help generate the future everyone wants.