Addressing the policy and business drivers of global freshwater biodiversity loss
Local conservation alone cannot reverse global freshwater biodiversity loss. This study identifies the major policy and business sectors—water management, agriculture, energy and fisheries—whose decisions drive freshwater degradation. Drawing on international policy experience and freshwater science, the authors outline risks and opportunities for conservation engagement and propose priorities for integrating biodiversity into sectoral decision‑making. They argue that addressing systemic socio‑economic drivers is essential for meaningful progress and call for a more strategic, driver‑focused research agenda to support global freshwater recovery.
Subject Tags
- Biodiversity
- Fisheries
- Policy
Abstract
While they are important, local or catchment-level conservation efforts are by themselves unlikely to bend the curve of dramatic global-scale biodiversity loss in rivers, lakes, and freshwater wetlands. Other interventions will also be required, especially those that address the underlying socio-economic drivers of freshwater ecosystem degradation. Such drivers often manifest through decisions made at national or international scales by policymakers and business leaders in sectors including water resource management, agriculture and food production, energy generation, and inland fisheries. Few analyses have traced the impacts of such decisions on freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity, and the evidence base provides scant insight into effective approaches for addressing these underlying drivers. We begin to address this strategic knowledge gap by describing key policy and business sectors that the conservation and science communities should engage to address the systemic drivers of global freshwater biodiversity loss. Drawing on diverse experiences of international policy and business discourses and applied freshwater sciences, we provide an overview of international sector-specific risks and opportunities for freshwater conservation and propose potential priorities for engagement. We reflect on actions the freshwater sciences community can take to respond to these risks and opportunities, and we suggest priorities to shape a more systemic, driver-focused approach to freshwater conservation research that can support the integration of freshwater biodiversity considerations into policy and business decisions.
Citation
Tickner, D., Schiller, L., Cooke, S. J., Ordóñez, E. B., Collier, U., Dalton, J., ... & Young, W. J. (2025). Addressing the policy and business drivers of global freshwater biodiversity loss. Environmental Reviews, 33, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2024-0139
TNC Authors
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Sui Chian Phang
Freshwater Fisheries Deputy Director
The Nature Conservancy
Email: sui.phang@tnc.org