Obsession with growth is destroying nature, 150 countries warn

More than 150 countries including China, India and European Union members have signed off on a report that warns focusing on unchecked economic growth is contributing to the destruction of global biodiversity.

"Unsustainable economic activity and a focus on growth as measured by the gross domestic product, has been a driver of the decline of biodiversity ... and stands in the way of transformative change," warns a report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published Monday.

IPBES is the leading intergovernmental body for assessing the state of biodiversity. Monday's report follows three years of work, and was approved by government representatives at the IPBES summit that wrapped up in Manchester, U.K. on Sunday.

One eighth of the world’s estimated 8 million species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction, according to IPBES. Some 75 percent of the Earth’s land surface has already been significantly altered by human actions.

If that course doesn't shift, the report warns, future prosperity is at risk. Markets are failing to adequately price or value biodiversity, such as filtration of pollutants, climate regulation and pollination.