Wetlands, which sustain life across the planet, are disappearing faster than any other ecosystem.
A new report by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Global Wetland Outlook 2025: Valuing, conserving, restoring and financing wetlands (GWO 2025), warns that without urgent action, one fifth of the world’s remaining wetlands could vanish by 2050.
According to GWO 2025, the estimated cost of this habitat loss is up to USD$39 trillion in benefits that support people, economies, and nature.
Wetlands provide ecosystem services including clean water, food production, flood protection, and carbon storage. They also support livelihoods across sectors like agriculture, aquaculture, and tourism.
Launched ahead of the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP15) in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, from 23 to 31 July 2025, GWO 2025 outlines four pathways to reversing wetland loss and unlocking nature-positive investment:
- Integrate wetland value in decision-making – treating wetlands as essential infrastructure in land-use, water, and economic planning.
- Recognize wetlands as key to the global water cycle – for their role in storing, filtering, and regulating water.
- Embed wetlands in innovative financing mechanisms – including carbon markets, resilience bonds, and blended finance.
- Mobilize public and private resources for wetland restoration – through partnerships that fund action on the ground and support local communities.
The Global Wetland Outlook 2025 is available in English, French, and Spanish here.
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