Environmental Degradation Exposes Vulnerable Communities to New Risks

Climate change is altering ecosystems and exposing communities to new and intensifying dangers, warns the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in its Frontiers Report 2025. The report highlights four critical areas where environmental degradation intersects with human vulnerability: legacy pollution, melting glacier microbes, undamming rivers, and climate risks for an ageing population. The report emphasizes the need for action to protect people, nature, and economies from threats that will only grow with each passing year. The Frontiers Report paints a vivid picture of how climate change is not only altering ecosystems but also exposing communities to new and intensifying dangers, especially the most vulnerable.

Key Takeaways:

• The Frontiers Report 2025 highlights four critical areas where environmental degradation intersects with human vulnerability: legacy pollution, melting glacier microbes, undamming rivers, and climate risks for an ageing population.
• Melting glacier microbes pose a threat to communities living downstream, as reactivated microbes in a warming cryosphere can spread diseases and disrupt ecosystems.
• The number of dams operating in the world is exacerbating the problem of droughts, keeping over 420,000 children out of school in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru alone.
• Older people face increased risks during extreme weather and suffer more from ongoing environmental degradation, as the global share of people over 65 years old will rise from 10 per cent in 2024 to 16 per cent by 2050.
• Legacy pollutants, such as heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants, are being released as extreme rainfall and floods wash away sediments and debris, posing a hidden danger to communities.

Statistics:

• Over 420,000 children are out of school in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru due to droughts triggered by climate change. (Source: UNICEF)
• The global share of people over 65 years old will rise from 10 per cent in 2024 to 16 per cent by 2050. (Source: UN)
• The Pakistan floods of 2010, flooding in the Niger Delta in 2012, and Hurricane Harvey off the coast of Texas in 2017 all released legacy pollutants into the environment. (Source: UNEP)
• Up to 80 per cent of river water levels have dropped in the Colombian Amazon, restricting access to drinking water and food supplies. (Source: UNEP)

Sources:

• United Nations Environment Programme. (2025). Frontiers Report 2025.
• United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). (No date). Report on children out of school due to droughts.