COP15: These are the latest biodiversity stories you need to read

The United Nations' (UN) COP15 meeting will take place on 7 December to 19 December in Montreal, Canada. Biodiversity loss is one of the world's biggest dangers, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2022.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres explains that "we are losing our suicidal war against nature", therefore this meeting aims to give biodiversity and ecosystems the same international protection as the climate.

Ahead of the summit, these articles will help you understand more about the global state of biodiversity and how we can protect it.

The World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Living Planet Report 2022 has found that wildlife populations have declined by an average of 69% in the past 50 years.

Latin America has shown the greatest regional decline in average population abundance at 94%, while freshwater species populations have seen the greatest overall global decline at 83%, according to the report.

Find out what else the WWF report reveals about the state of biodiversity.

Akanksha Khatri, Head of Nature Action Agenda at the World Economic Forum explains that nature-positive economic models in key sectors could provide almost 400 million jobs and over $10 trillion in annual business value by 2030.

While the benefits of protecting nature are prosperous, the consequences of ignore it are dire.

More than half of the world’s GDP is at risk due to nature loss, and further encroachment into natural ecosystems increases the risk of future socioeconomic shocks such as pandemics.

Beyond the economic benefits, biodiversity is essential to healthcare. For example, 25% of drugs used in modern medicine are derived from rainforest plants.

Read more about the benefits of protecting biodiversity.

A new report from the University of Cambridge has drawn up the world’s first biodiversity-adjusted sovereign credit ratings. These show how ecological destruction can prompt credit rating downgrades and make borrowing costs spiral.

This report analysed the credit ratings of 26 nations. If these nations experienced a 'partial ecosystem collapse' then almost half of the 26 nations would increase their risk of bankruptcy by more than 10% under the scenario.

Discover more about how biodiversity loss could cause bankruptcy.

Rewilding schemes involve leaving habitats to regenerate naturally, allowing wildlife to flourish freely. Rewilding can also include reintroducing missing species and setting aside large areas for nature to grow freely, according to Rewilding Britain.

Learn more about how rewilding can improve biodiversity.

A campaign by the UK's Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) hopes to provoke community action to make the nation's gardens more sustainable with these ten tips.

1. Use a water butt. Instead of using the mains supply, water butts that capture rainfall can help save millions of litres of water.

2. Rid your garden of paving slabs. Instead, replace the space with perennial plants which help store carbon.

3. Avoid imported flowers. These come with a higher carbon footprint, so grow your own instead.

Explore the other top tips from the RHS to make your garden more eco-friendly.

With half of the world's population living in cities, tackling this issue by promoting city-based solutions is a necessity.

The local authority in the Dutch city of Eindhoven is encouraging citizens not to clear away fallen leaves in parks or gardens. Leaves provide useful habitats for insects, as well as reducing water runoff to drainage systems.

In Montreal, local authorities are preserving dead or diseased trees as they provide shelter for species of birds, small mammals and large amounts of organisms.

Find out how other cities are helping to protect biodiversity.

While the world is losing species to extinction, we are also discovering new ones.

This pygmy pipehorse was discovered expertly camouflaged in the red coralline algae-covered underwater cliffs off the coast of Northland, New Zealand.

Explore the other new species the world discovered in 2021.

Thanks to conservation efforts in Europe, grey wolf numbers have increased by 1,800% and brown bear numbers have increased by 44% since the 1960s, according to the Wildlife Comeback Report 2022 commissioned by Rewilding Europe.

Learn more about the environmental benefits of wildlife comeback and why it's a cause for optimism.

On Earth, as much as 80% of life has still to be found – and then protected for future generations. Scientists have therefore created an interactive map using 32,000 existing species to predict where the next ones might be discovered.

Discover where new species are most likely to be found and why this can help us protect them.

Invasive species are organisms that are not indigenous, or native, to a particular area. In fact, they are one of the top global causes of species becoming extinct and of declining biodiversity, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

A study has found that the brown tree snake and American bullfrog were the world’s most destructive invasive species between 1986 and 2020, causing $10.3 billion and $6 billion in damage, respectively.

Learn why invasive species are so detrimental to biodiversity and what can be done to solve the issue.