Since 2009, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative has coordinated an annual horizon scan, a well-established method for predicting which threats, changes, and technologies will have the biggest impact on biological conservation in the following year.

This year, the 15th horizon scan included 31 scientists, practitioners, and policymakers who developed a list of 96 issues, which they eventually narrowed down to the 15 most novel and impactful. Their findings, publishing in the journal Trends in Evolution & Ecology on December 18, include topics related to sustainable energy, declining invertebrate populations, and changing marine ecosystems.