Current global trends show that the world is facing interconnected and compounding crises in ecological, economic and political systems – a polycrisis. These crises require coordinated responses in the areas of climate change, water, biodiversity, food and health, and their effects are collectively reshaping and threatening the world’s future, including that of the Caribbean. Consequences of the polycrisis include:
» Natural ecosystems have declined by 47 per cent on average, with coastal socioecological systems among the most drastically impacted.
» Global freshwater availability per person has decreased by 50 per cent since 1970, leaving one in four people facing “extremely high” levels of water stress and exposing water systems to growing risks from industrial development.
» Noncommunicable diseases are now the leading cause of death globally, while zoonotic diseases continue to emerge and re-emerge due to the combination of unsustainable and unhealthy practices in sourcing, growing, trading and consuming other living organisms, compounded by climate change.
» Income inequalities have widened sharply, increasing for around 68 per cent of the global population in 2021. The Caribbean remains one of the most unequal regions. In 2024, total billionaire wealth grew three times faster than in 2023, while poverty rates showed little improvement.
» Violence is also increasing. In 2024, civilian fatalities in armed conflicts rose by 40 per cent – the third consecutive year of such an increase – and 196 environmental defenders were murdered in 2023.
These destructive trends underscore the urgent need to address their underlying causes.
