Unsustainable Food and Fossil Fuel Systems Cost Nature $5bn an Hour, UN Warns
The world’s unsustainable food and fossil fuel systems are inflicting environmental damage worth around $5bn (£3.8bn) every hour, according to a major United Nations report that warns global systems must be transformed before ecological collapse becomes inevitable.
The Global Environment Outlook (GEO), produced by 200 scientists for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), concludes that the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution can no longer be treated as isolated environmental problems. Instead, they represent interconnected political, economic and security emergencies threatening the foundations of human societies.
“They are all undermining our economy, food security, water security, human health and they are also [national] security issues, leading to conflict in many parts of the world,” said Prof Robert Watson, the co-chair of the assessment.
Multiple Crises, One Failing System
As the global population grows, demand for food and energy continues to rise. The GEO report finds that most of this demand is still being met through systems that pollute the atmosphere, degrade land and oceans, and destroy wildlife.
A sustainable future remains possible, the authors say, but only with “political courage” and fundamental reform of governance, economics and finance.
“This is an urgent call to transform our human systems now before collapse becomes inevitable,” said Prof Edgar Gutiérrez-Espeleta, another co-chair and the former environment minister in Costa Rica.
“The science is good. The solutions are known. What is required is the courage to act at the scale and speed that history demands,” he said, adding that the window for action was “rapidly narrowing”.
The experts acknowledged that progress is being hindered by today’s geopolitical reality, including resistance from some governments and powerful corporate interests. They pointed to the US under Donald Trump, alongside other countries, as working to block or reverse environmental protections.
Watson, a former chair of leading international climate and biodiversity science groups, said: “The public have got to demand that they want a sustainable future for their children and their grandchildren. Most governments do try and respond.”
A statement made by the UK on behalf of 28 countries said: “We witnessed diversion attempts to question the scientific nature of this process. Our delegations fully respect every state’s right to safeguard their country’s national interests and rights, but science is not negotiable.”
The GEO report spans 1,100 pages and is typically accompanied by a summary for policymakers agreed by all UN member states. This year, however, no consensus was reached.
“We need visionary countries and private sector [companies] to recognise they will make more profit by addressing these issues rather than ignoring them,” Watson said.
Gutiérrez-Espeleta said: environmental crises were political and security emergencies, threatening the social ties that held societies together. Today’s governments and economic systems were failing humanity and financial reform was the cornerstone of transformation, he said: “Environmental policy must become the backbone of national security, social justice, and economic strategy.”
Countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia, Turkey and Argentina objected to references to fossil fuels, plastics, reducing meat consumption and other politically sensitive issues, preventing adoption of the summary.
The True Cost of Pollution
The report estimates that environmental damage caused by fossil fuels and industrial agriculture totals around $45tn a year. The food system accounts for the largest share at $20tn annually, followed by transport at $13tn and fossil fuel-powered electricity at $12tn.
These hidden costs – known as “externalities” – are currently borne by nature and society rather than reflected in the price of food or energy, the report says. Pricing them properly would help shift consumers and markets towards more sustainable choices.
Watson said: “So we need social safety nets. We need to make sure that the poorest in society are not harmed by an increase in costs.”
Action Is Cheaper Than Inaction
Despite political resistance, the report stresses that acting now would be far cheaper than allowing environmental breakdown to continue. Benefits from climate action alone are estimated at $20tn a year by 2070, rising to $100tn annually by 2100.
Gutiérrez-Espeleta, one of the report’s authors, said the GEO set out several “critical truths”: environmental crises are also political and security crises; current economic systems are failing humanity; and financial reform is central to any meaningful transformation.
Ending Harmful Subsidies
The report highlights around $1.5tn a year in environmentally damaging subsidies for fossil fuels, agriculture and mining. Removing or repurposing these could rapidly cut emissions and environmental damage.
Ending fossil fuel subsidies alone could reduce global emissions by around a third, the authors said, noting that renewable energy such as wind and solar is already cheaper in many regions but held back by entrenched fossil fuel interests.
The GEO calls for bold measures including dietary shifts, taxes on high-impact foods such as meat, subsidies for plant-based diets, and policies such as universal basic income to support a just transition.
Without such changes, the report warns, the cost of environmental damage will continue to rise – until collapse becomes unavoidable.
Watson said: “We are likely to be underestimating the magnitude of climate change”, with global heating probably at the high end of the projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
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