The world needs a new approach to environmental crises threatening the health of people and the planet by adopting policies to jointly tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation and pollution, according to a comprehensive United Nations report released Tuesday.

Those issues are inextricably linked and require solutions that include increased spending and financial incentives to transition away from fossil fuels, encourage sustainable agricultural practices, curb pollution and limit waste, authors of the U.N. Environment Programme's quadrennial Global Environment Outlook said.

“You can’t think of climate change without thinking of biodiversity, land degradation and pollution,” said Bob Watson, one of the report’s lead authors and a former top NASA and British climate scientist. "You can’t think of biodiversity loss without thinking about the implications of climate change and pollution."

They’re “all undermining our economy," worsening health and poverty and threatening food and water security and even national security, Watson said.

Almost 300 scientists from 83 countries contributed to this year's report — called the most comprehensive global environment assessment ever undertaken — which was released during the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya.

Experts have warned that the world is nearing a tipping point on climate change, species and land loss and other harms. But efforts to address those problems largely have been pursued through individual agreements that haven't made nearly enough progress, they said.

Instead, they advocate an approach that involves every area of government, the financial sector, industry and citizens and a circular economy that recognizes that natural resources are limited.

“What we’re saying is we can become much more sustainable, but it will take unprecedented change to transform these systems,” Watson said. “It has to be done rapidly now because we’re running out of time.”

The report lays out a dire future if the world continues on its current path.

Emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases — primarily from burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil — reached a new high in 2024, despite decades of negotiations between countries to curb emissions.

Ten years ago, almost 200 nations signed the Paris Agreement with the goal of limiting future warming to no more than 1.5 Celsius (2.7 F) since preindustrial times to avoid or lessen the most catastrophic effects of climate change. But on the current trajectory, the climate could warm by 2.4 degrees Celsius (4 F) by 2100, Watson said.

Scientists say climate change is contributing to wilder weather extremes, including more intense storms, drought, heat and wildfires.

What's more, climate change is a threat multiplier, meaning it makes things like land degradation, deforestation and biodiversity loss worse, said Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University and chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, who was not involved in the report.

Among other challenges: Up to 40% of land area globally is degraded. More than 1 million plant and animal species face extinction. And pollution contributes to an estimated 9 million deaths a year.

Adopting a comprehensive approach would be expensive, scientists acknowledge, but cost far less than the harms that otherwise could result.

The report says that to achieve a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and restore biodiversity, about $8 trillion in global investment is needed every year. But starting in 2050, economic benefits will surpass spending, growing to $20 trillion a year by 2070 and $100 trillion a year thereafter.

Nations also must look beyond gross domestic product as a barometer for economic health, because it doesn't measure whether growth is sustainable or recognize its potential harms, Watson said.

Environmental issues aren't the only things interlinked, Watson said. He also said governments, nonprofits, industry and the financial sector also must ensure that there are incentives and funding for renewable energy and sustainable agricultural practices, for example.

Despite the report's urgent call for action, international cooperation is anything but guaranteed, scientists say — especially as U.S. President Donald Trump has refused to participate in many of the ongoing discussions.

Trump, who withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, has called climate change a hoax. He's promoted fossil fuel use, canceled permits for renewable energy and is abandoning automobile fuel-efficiency standards.

“International action and agreements are becoming harder and harder,” Watson said, noting that this year's U.N. climate conference in Brazil failed to “move in the direction we needed it to move” with stronger commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other issues.

Talks this summer on a treaty to address plastic pollution in Geneva ended without an agreement, though a U.N. conference earlier in the year garnered commitments for funding to protect global biodiversity.

Watson said the U.S. did not attend the intergovernmental meeting in Nairobi, but joined discussions on the last day and "said they didn’t agree with anything in the report.”

“Some countries might say if the U.S. is not willing to act, why should we act?” Watson said.

Still, he believes some countries will move forward while others — including the U.S. — could fall behind.

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