The Global Wetland Outlook 2025 (GWO 2025) by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands titled Valuing, conserving, restoring and financing wetlands warns that without urgent action, one fifth of the world’s remaining wetlands could vanish by 2050.
The report was 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.
The key negative drivers causing wetland loss and degradation have been identified as urban, agricultural and industrial pollution, urban expansion, industrial development, agricultural intensification, drainage, and non-native alien species introductions and invasions.
The report articulates that millions of hectares (ha) of wetlands have been lost due to land use change since 1970, while both reporting by Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands and the World Wetland Survey (WWS) indicate there is ongoing deterioration in the ecological character of wetlands in most regions and globally. According to the GWO 2025, the estimated cost of the habitat loss is up to USD$39 trillion in benefits that support people, economies, and nature.
‘‘Documented wetland loss has occurred for all natural wetland types since 1970. The average rate of wetland loss was -0.52% per annum (ranging from -1.80% to -0.01%, depending on wetland type). Millions of hectares (ha) of wetlands have been lost due to land use change. For example, an estimated 177 million ha of Inland marshes and swamps have been lost since 1970,’’ states the report.
According to the report, the drivers of wetland loss and degradation land-use change, through agriculture and urbanisation has had the largest relative negative impact on nature, including wetlands. Agricultural activities reportedly remain the largest driver of global wetland loss through conversion to cropland along with other industrial activities, and have resulted in stressed global water resources.
Food and agricultural production accounts for 70% of water withdrawals globally, while other industries such as energy, mining and manufacturing account for another 19%. Climate change is increasingly exacerbating the impact of other drivers on wetlands and human well-being through changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, associated fires, floods, and droughts, and through sea level rise.
However, the GWO 2025 outlines four pathways to reversing wetland loss and unlocking nature-positive investment, the first being integrating wetland value in decision-making by treating wetlands as essential infrastructure in land-use, water, and economic planning.
The second pathway outlines wetlands as key to the global water cycle for their role in storing, filtering, and regulating water, while the third one outlines embedding wetlands in innovative financing mechanisms including carbon markets, resilience bonds, and blended finance. The forth pathway outlines mobilising public and private resources for wetland restoration through partnerships that fund action on the ground and support local communities.
The report has further highlighted the importance of wetlands in providing ecosystem services including clean water, food production, flood protection, and carbon storage, while also supporting livelihoods across sectors like agriculture, aquaculture, and tourism.
