Deena Robinson & Martina Igini / Global Commons
The world is grappling with a host of pressing environmental challenges that demand immediate attention and action. From climate change-induced disasters, biodiversity loss and plastic pollution to the rise of artificial intelligence, the 16 biggest environmental problems of 2026 paint a stark picture of the urgent need for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Earth.Org / January 9, 2026
- Plastic Pollution
In 1950, the world produced more than 2 million tons of plastic per year. By 2015, this annual production swelled to 419 million tons and exacerbating plastic waste in the environment.
Currently, roughly 14 million tons of plastic make their way into the oceans every year, harming wildlife habitats and the animals that live in them. Research found that if no action is taken, the plastic crisis will grow to 29 million metric tons per year by 2040. If we include microplastics into this, the cumulative amount of plastic in the ocean could reach 600 million tons by 2040.
Some 91% of all plastic that has ever been made is not recycled, making it only one of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime. Considering that plastic takes 400 years to decompose, it will be many generations until it ceases to exist. There is no telling what the irreversible effects of plastic pollution will have on the environment in the long run.
To address the issue, the UN in 2022 initiated a process to create a legally binding international treaty aimed at curbing plastic pollution. It was supposed to culminate in a meeting in Busan, South Korea in November 2024, though negotiators walked away without a deal. A subsequent meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 2025, also failed to produce a much needed treaty. It remains unclear when and how the negotiations will continue.
- Deforestation
Every hour, forests the size of 300 football fields are cut down. By the year 2030, the planet might have only 10% of its forests; if deforestation is not stopped, they could all be gone in less than a century.
The three countries experiencing the highest levels of deforestation are Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest – spanning 6.9 million square kilometres (2.72 million square miles) and covering around 40% of the South American continent – is also one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems and is home to about three million species of plants and animals.
Despite efforts to protect forest land, legal deforestation is still rampant, and about one-third of global tropical deforestation occurs in Brazil’s Amazon forest, amounting to 1.5 million hectares each year.
Agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, another one of the biggest environmental problems appearing on this list. Land is cleared to raise livestock or to plant other crops that are sold, such as sugar cane and palm oil. Besides for carbon sequestration, forests help to prevent soil erosion, because the tree roots bind the soil and prevent it from washing away, which also prevents landslides.
COP30, which took place in the heart of the Amazon, delivered little on forest protection. Although Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva pushed for strong language, the final agreement failed to mention deforestation.
- Air Pollution
Among the biggest environmental problems today is also air pollution. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated 4.2 to 7 million people die from air pollution worldwide every year and nine out of ten people breathe air that contains high levels of pollutants. In Africa, 258,000 people died as a result of outdoor air pollution in 2017, up from 164,000 in 1990, according to UNICEF.
Causes of air pollution mostly comes from industrial sources and motor vehicles, as well as emissions from burning biomass and poor air quality due to dust storms.
According to a 2023 study, air pollution in South Asia – one of the most polluted areas in the world – cuts life expectancy by about five years. The study blames a series of factors, including a lack of adequate infrastructure and funding for the high levels of pollution in some countries. Most countries in Asia and Africa, which together contribute about 92.7% of life years lost globally due to air pollution, lack key air quality standards needed to develop adequate policies. Moreover, just 6.8% and 3.7% of governments in the two continents, respectively, provide their citizens with fully open-air quality data.
Recent research linked nearly 280,000 deaths across the European Union in 2023 to exposure to air pollution concentrations exceeding levels deemed safe. Some 95% of Europeans are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution, according to the European Environment Agency, which conducted the study. Meanwhile in the US, researchers found that air pollution from the oil and gas industries are attributable to 91,000 premature deaths, 10,350 preterm births and 216,000 childhood-onset asthma and 1,610 cancer cases every year in the country.