Ocean temperatures are rising fast, caused by human-induced climate change. And the oceans are becoming increasingly acidic - harming marine animals and coral reefs - as they absorb exccess CO2 from our atmosphere. 

Since 2016, half of all coral in the Great Barrier Reef have died due to rising sea temperatures caused by global warming. The Reef will continue to die until we stabilise the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Destructive fishing techniques are also causing irreversible damage with bottom trawlers crushing deep-sea coral with their weighted nets.

Trawlers also kill thousands of turtles, dolphins, sharks & other 'by-catch' animals that get caught in their nets and are thrown back in the ocean dead or dying. 

Each year, an astounding 27 million tonnes of "bycatch" - juvenile fish and unwanted species, including dolphins, sea turtles and sharks - are discarded, often thrown overboard dead to free up freezer space for higher value animals.

In just 55 years, humans have wiped out 90 percent of the oceans top predators. If we keep fishing at our current rate, all species of wild seafood will collapse within years. 

The world is now experiencing the sixth mass extinction event in its history, involving the highest rate of species die-off since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. 

Since 1970 there has been a 58% overall decline in the numbers of fish, mammals, birds, and reptiles worldwide. 

Species are becoming extinct as much as 1,000 times more frequently now than in the 60 million years before people came along. While the other five extinction events were caused by natural disasters, this one is on us. 

Deforestation accounts for about 10% of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. With seven football fields of land bulldozed every minute to create room for livestock.

We are replacing the world's forests with the industrial livestock system. 

A typical meat eater's diet requires up to 2.5 times the amount of land compared to a vegetarian diet and 5 times that of a plant-based diet.

Industrial animal agriculture currently occupies more than half of the worlds arable land resources, uses the majority of our fresh water stores, and expels more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transport sector. It also causes damaging air and water pollution, land degradation, and is pushing countless species to the brink of extinction. 

Trees play a vital role in balancing and maintaining the world’s ecosystems. When the trees go, we lose a lot more than wood. Forests absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide and may well be our best defense against climate-change-causing greenhouse gas emissions. By clearing forest areas, we are not only cutting down our best defences but also releasing all of the carbon stored by those trees back into the atmosphere.

One obvious drawback of relying on a system comprised of billions of living beings to feed our population is that those animals need to be fed as well.  

Animals raised to produce milk or eggs must be kept alive for much longer. This requires a tremendous amount of livestock feed, resulting in 33% of arable land on the planet being used for its production - and more land being cleared every day. 

From great blue whales to vast colonies of Emperor and Adélie penguins, Antarctic wildlife is under acute pressure from climate change and now industrial fishing vessels are vacuuming up the tiny shrimp-like krill which Antarctic life relies upon. The fishing industry simply can not be allowed to expand their operations and steal food from threatened penguins and whales.

Ocean sanctuaries not only protect incredible wildlife like whales and penguins, but they ensure healthy oceans which soak up CO2 and help drawdown carbon from the atmosphere, minimising the impact of imminent climate change.

Today, only 2.7% of the ocean is strongly protected. Scientists are clear that we need to create marine sanctuaries across at least 30 percent of our oceans by 2030, to protect wildlife, ensure food security for billions and help tackle climate change.  But without immediate global cooperation, this target is unlikely to be met.

Proposals to create an Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary which would be the largest protected area on Earth have been blocked by countries who are heavily involved in krill fishing.  The UN’s upcoming Kunming biodiversity summit will be a critical meeting to secure a global 30 by 30 commitment.

Children working in their school garden  in Cambodia, which is funded by a charity organisation.

Growing vegetable gardens at home is difficult for many families who cannot afford the strong fencing required to keep livestock away from their plantings.

Children at this school are able to regularly harvest iron rich leafy greens that are high in a range of necessary micronutrients. 

Soknouv next to his family’s new vegetable garden. His family was finally able to save enough money to build a strong enough fence to keep roaming cattle out of a garden.

Cows, owned by wealthier villagers, roam the area throughout the day, and eat anything they can access.

This leaves the poorest villagers unable to grow vegetables, unless they are able to build strong fencing. In many cases the families do not have enough money and are forced to purchase vegetables at the local markets.

Like many poor families, Sreynit is raising a piglet for a wealthier villager. She’s responsible for feeding and nurturing the pig until it is big enough to be slaughtered.

For her efforts, she will receive a very small sum of money, hardly worth her time, but she is so poor that she has little choice.  She’s sacrificing funds to feed the pig, rather than feed herself. 

Srey Touch, cooking a typical meal for herself. This particular meal is almost all meat, without any leafy greens. Though she is extremely poor, she believes that eating meat is the best way to get the nutrition she needs. The meat is expensive, and she would only be able to afford the least desirable pieces, while a similar amount of money would enable her to purchase greater nutritional value in vegetables and leafy greens.

In Central America, 40 percent of all the rainforests have been cleared or burned down in the last 40 years, mostly for cattle pasture to feed the export market—often for U.S. beef burgers. Meat is too expensive for the poor in these beef-exporting countries, yet in some cases cattle have ousted highly productive traditional agriculture. 

We are replacing the forests with the industrial livestock system, which further exacerbates the impact on surrounding ecosystems and releases more greenhouses gases - because of the respiratory and digestive emissions from livestock.

The Wuaruni can feel and understand all parts of the jungle, they know the jungle like the back of their hand and they treat it as we treat our villages and cities.

Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef. With rapid growth in the sales of Brazilian beef leading to accelerated destruction of the Amazon rainforest. “In a nutshell, cattle ranchers are making mincemeat out of Brazil’s Amazon rainforests,”

The government of Brazil offers loans of billions of dollars to support the expansion of its beef industry. Approximately 200 million pounds of beef is imported by the United States from Central America every year. And demand is increasing day by day with China and Russia consuming more Brazilian beef than the European market.  

In Central America, 40 percent of all the rainforests have been cleared or burned down in the last 40 years, mostly for cattle pasture to feed the export market—often for U.S. beef burgers.

The Tarqui family pose for a picture in their kitchen garden where they grow over 15 different kinds of vegetables in El Alto, a sprawling shantytown, on the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia. 

Growing vegetables in El Alto, which is some 4,000 meters above sea level, is not easy because of low temperatures throughout the year. Some 1,500 families, including the Tarqui's, are taking part in a project that aims to fight malnutrition in El Alto, a city of nearly 1 million people, by encouraging them to grow vegetables in small greenhouses.