While climate change, around which there is more awareness, is driven by several lifestyles domains (primarily food, mobility and energy), this desktop research reveals that biodiversity loss is driven by food production and consumption, and more specifically by (red) meat consumption for terrestrial biodiversity loss and by fishing for marine biodiversity loss. Though how much and what stuff you buy, how you get around and where you live also have consequences, if there is one action to start with - swap proteins in your diet.

How our daily decisions impact biodiversity is not well known though there is increasing interest. Yet, the evidence is there - land use change is the largest driver followed by overexploitation.

# On land, an estimated 80% of land use change is related to agriculture and 24,000 out of 28,000 species are at risk of extinction because of food systems.
# Amongst agricultural lands, almost 80% are used for livestock and feed production. When it comes to marine biodiversity, overexploitation (namely fishing) is the key driver for increasing loss.

This research has been carried out using UNEP's Anatomy of Action framework which identifies impactful actions people can take (15 key actions in 5 domains - food, stuff, move, money, fun).

Led by the Sustainable Lifestyles and Education team, within UNEP's Economy Division, this research has been reviewed, refined and improved with inputs from: The One Planet Network Programme experts (food, tourism, buildings and construction) and internal UNEP sector experts.

Consumption and Consumer Footprint: methodology and results, 2019, EuropeanCommission (EC). The Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services, 2020, IPBESLiving Planet Report, 2020, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)Make peace with nature, 2021,
# UNEP Reports agree that land use change is the biggest threat to biodiversity loss and ecosystem damage
# (today, 50% of habitable land is used for agriculture).
WWF and IPBES reports agree that species overexploitation is the second largestrelative impact on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystem (and the first for marineecosystems alone).

EC study shows that climate change is the 2nd driver for biodiversity loss, while IPBES and WWF studies conclude that climate change is respectively the third and fourth driver.
#pollution and invasion of alien species are shown to have significant negativeimpacts on ecosystems and biodiversity loss.

From 1970 to 2020, trade has grown tenfold, resource used has tripled, GHGemissions have doubled, and now humans impact 3/4 of ice-free land and 2/3 ofoceans.
DRIVERS FOR BIODIVERSITY LOSS
While greenhouse gases (GHG) are well identified as the driver for climate change, the
drivers for biodiversity loss and ecosystem damage are multiple and need to be well
understood.
The team focused on the following reports: Conclusions: Understanding what drives biodiversity loss and ecosystem damage is key tounderstanding which aspects of our lifestyles affect nature most.

### Agriculture uses ~50% of habitable land on the planet and livestock feed takes upnearly 80% of global agricultural land.
[1] Agriculture is the single largest cause of land-use change and habitat destruction, [
2] accounting for 80% of all land-use change globally.
3] Documented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),agriculture is an identified threat to 24,000 of the 28,000 species that are at risk ofextinction.
[4] Dietary change is a necessary global enabler to allow widespreadadoption of nature-friendly farming without increasing the pressure to convert naturalland.
[5] Hence, in terms of a lifestyles perspective, the food domain has the largest impact on nature due to land use.
A recent report from the Chatham House Food System impacts on biodiversity loss, three levers of food systems transformation in support of nature, 2021 provides great insights and ways forward.

STUFF BEYOND BUYING
Household goods have the largest impact on the environment in upstream stage(production, packaging and logistics).
Upstream stage is responsible for :
### ~70% climatechange, 80% on air pollution, and 65% for the use of metal and mineral resources. [28]

Household appliances are responsible for :
## over 40% of mineral and metal resources extracted for use in EU. [29]

Mineral and metal extraction contributes to land conversion and greatly to land and water pollution. The impact from extraction of natural resources may vary across regions and countries, depending on the extent to which ecosystem and biodiversity policies exist and are enforced.
Electronic waste increased by 8% from 2014 to 2016 and was expected to rise by 17percent by 2021. [30]
Dangerous metals and toxic chemicals in E-waste do not organically break down. However, over time, it seeps into the environment around landfills, contaminating local groundwater or get absorbed into the atmosphere. Mercury has devastating effects on fauna and flora and eventually human beings. [31


FASHION SLOW DOWN
Fast fashion has risen dramatically in recent years: the number of garments purchasedper capita between 2000 and 2014 increased by about 60 percent. [32]
# Only 12% textile waste is down-cycled and less than 1% is closed loop recycled.
# 73% oftextile waste is incinerated or ends up in landfills, which releases pollutants and contributes to habitat loss. [33]
# Fashion industry is directly linked to soil degradation, conversion of natural ecosystems, and waterway pollution contributing greatly to biodiversity loss.
# 150+million trees logged annually to make man-made cellulose fibres (MMCFs) and 30% come from endangered primary forests. ~25% of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment.

An estimated 35% of primary micro-plastics in the world’soceans originate from washing synthetic textiles. [34]
# Plastic micro-fibres and nano-fibres have been identified in ecosystems around the globe.
# 35% of micro-plastics released into the world's oceans are from synthetic textiles. These accumulate in marine habitats globally, representing a new environmental and health threat. [35]
# And cotton cultivation uses 2.5% of the world’s arable land but some 16% of total global use of pesticide.

Other natural fibres also have high land footprints, with wool at the top end of the scale. [36]
# Both natural and synthetic fibres have very negative impact on biodiversity and ecosystems.

Finally, reducing the impacts on ecosystems will require finding ways of caring for textiles with less electricity and water use, e.g., cold washing, line drying, no ironing, water efficient washing machines etc. Caring for garments is also very important as the number of times a garment is worn has the greatest effect in reducing itsenvironmental footprint. [37]