Which of the following organizations released the Living Planet Report 2020?

The correct answer is World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

• Living Planet Report is published every 2 years by WWF.
• It is a comprehensive study of trends in global biodiversity and the health of the planet.
• The report presents a comprehensive overview of the state of the natural world through the Living Planet Index (LPI).

Important Points

• What is the Living Planet Index (LPI)?
  • It is a measure of the state of the world’s biological diversity based on population trends of vertebrate species in terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats.
  • This year’s Living Planet Report, a collaboration between WWF International and the Zoological Society of London, is the 13th edition of the biennial publication tracking wildlife populations around the world.

Additional Information

• Key findings of the released report -
  • Vertebrate species population has registered a decline of 68 per cent between 1970 to 2016.
  • There was a decline of 84 per cent wildlife population in the freshwater habitats.
  • On average, two-thirds of the global mammal, bird, amphibian, fish and reptile population witnessed a decline in less than 5 decades.
  • This has been one of the major reasons for the rise in zoonotic diseases like COVID-19.
  • There has been an alteration of 75 per cent of earth's ice-free land.
  • Most of the oceans has become polluted.
  • Around 85 per cent of the wetland area has been lost to anthropogenic activity.
  • Every one in five plants is threatened with extinction.