Infectious diseases still kill more people than car accidents, cancer or war – 17.3 million in 1995 alone, and the numbers are increasing. Many of the factors in this rising incidence are environmental: from deforestation to contaminated water, global warming, the shift of populations from rural locations to cities and mobility from globalization.

The variety of natural life forms, whether eco-regions, habitats, species or gene pools, is being endangered by human activity. This biodiversity ensures the regeneration of harvested resources and the maintenance of ecological processes, whether as a vital part of world heritage or for its own sake. It also provides resources for the development and improvement of domesticated crops and livestock, for recreation and tourism, and for research and education.

At the broadest level, biodiversity loss is driven by economic systems and policies that fail to value properly the environment and its resources, legal and institutional systems that promote unsustainable exploitation, and inequity in ownership and access to natural resources, including the benefits from their use. While some species are under direct threat, for example from hunting, poaching and illegal trade, the major threats come from changes in land use leading to the destruction, alteration or fragmentation of habitats.

The forces of competition between states, backed by military power, achieve unequal allocations of territory, influence, raw materials, or prestige goods. The fulfilment of national destiny is therefore dependent on the frustration of the goals of rival governments.