If humanity doesn’t take action now, we will be left to survive on an “empty world.”

That’s the warning from new United Nations biodiversity chief Elizabeth Maruma Mrema. 

In an interview with the Guardian Monday, Mrema declared that unless the world takes action, the complex system of biodiversity that sustains life on the planet will collapse, taking it with it much of the “prerequisites for human health and livelihoods.”

That doesn’t leave much hope for the continuation of human civilization.

“People’s lives depend on biodiversity in ways that are not always apparent or appreciated,” said Mrema. “Human health ultimately depends on ecosystem services: the availability of fresh water, fuel, food sources.”

Mrema gave the interview to the Guardian on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The forum, which began today and goes through Friday, has already been the scene of climate protests and demands for immediate action to address the global environmental crisis.

“My friend and colleague Elizabeth Mrema is absolutely right,” tweeted U.N. Environmental Program executive director Inger Andersen. “2020 is not a ‘year of conferences,’ but a real opportunity for us to stop and indeed reverse ecological devastation.”