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Fact Sheet

Each year, at least three million children under the age of five die due to environment-related diseases.

Acute respiratory infections annually kill an estimated two million children under the age of five. As much as 60 percent of acute respiratory infections worldwide are related to environmental conditions.

Diarrhoeal diseases claim the lives of nearly two million children every year. Eighty to 90 percent of these diarrhea cases are related to environmental conditions, in particular, contaminated water and inadequate sanitation.

Nearly one million children under the age of five died of malaria in 1998. Up to 90 percent of malaria cases are attributed to environmental factors.

Between 1990 and 2005, tropical deforestation happened at a rate of 130,000 km2 per year. That is about the size of the countries of Greece and Nicaragua.

If present trends continue, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity by 2025, and two thirds of the world population could be subject to water stress.

Around 2 million species have been identified and described. Out of these, only 10% (200,000) have been assessed for their conservation status. 16,000 species have been identified as threatened with extinction.