Halting the degradation of Nature upon which humans depend for fresh water, clean air and arable land will require a sweeping overhaul of the way our species produces and consumes almost everything, especially food, according to a UN report released Monday.

"We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide," said Robert Watson, chief of the UN science panel for biodiversity. "By 'transformative change', we mean a fundamental, system-wide reorganisation.

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