Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet

by Hannah Ritchie

Taking all this into account, studies suggest that crop production would decline by around 5% in higher income countries and 8% in low to middle incomes if pollinator insects vanished. I don’t say that to undermine the importance of insects. They are crucial. They decompose organic matter to make nutrients available to plants. They keep our soils healthy. They lie near the base of the food chain, allowing the ecosystems that are built on top of them to thrive. They play a key role in the diversity of our crops, and they are essential to some foods: Brazil nuts, fruits including kiwis and melons, and cocoa beans would not grow without them. A world without pollinators would mean a world without chocolate. That’s not a world I want to live in. So, sure, we might be able to get enough calories without them, but our diets would lack diversity and farmers across the world would struggle to make a living.