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What do you think of when you hear the word \u201cdesertification\u201d? Sand dunes slowly encroaching on bountiful farmland? The Sahara and Gobi taking over Africa and Asia? Rivers and streams drying up? That\u2019s certainly part of it. But the key impact of desertification is the degradation of land \u2013 to the point where soil becomes so damaged that it no longer supports life.<\/p>\n
Soil is so much more than dirt. And healthy soil is essential to a healthy planet. The ground beneath our feet is teeming with a hidden world of plants, animals and microbes \u2013 many too tiny to see. But our survival depends on them. This overlooked reservoir feeds our agriculture and food industries. It helps to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and keeps plants, animals and humans strong.<\/p>\n
But today, more than one fifth of the planet\u2019s land \u2013 including more than half of our agricultural land \u2013 is suffering. Each year, more than 12 million hectares of land are lost to desertification, land degradation and drought. This loss hurts over 3 billion people, particularly poor and rural communities in the developing world. At the same time, when land is hastily converted to cropland, without considering the overall health of our environment, then carbon and nitrous oxide are released into the atmosphere. Climate change accelerates, biodiversity withers and infectious diseases blossom. This all jeopardizes water supplies, livelihoods and our ability to face natural disasters and extreme weather events.<\/p>\n
Unless we act now, it\u2019s only going to get worse. Over the next 25 years, land degradation could reduce global food productivity by as much as 12%, leading to a 30% increase in world food prices. We will never achieve the Sustainable Development Goals if we remain complacent.<\/p>\n
But there is much to be hopeful about \u2013 and much that we can achieve together. As we have seen with the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines, when the will is there and resources are deployed, humankind can achieve truly astounding feats.<\/p>\n
Restoring 350 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 could take between 13 and 26 gigatons of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. For every dollar spent on land restoration \u2013 including through low-skilled and labour-intensive projects \u2013 at least 9 dollars of economic benefits can be expected. Restoring land not only generates green job opportunities across a wide range of industries \u2013 but will also enable us to grow more nutritious food, provide clean water security, address biodiversity loss, and mitigate and adapt to climate change.<\/p>\n
Whether we\u2019re talking about city dwellers, who need reliable supplies of fruits and vegetables, or island hoteliers, who count on protected beaches and swaying palm trees to draw in tourists, or hospital patients, whose lives depend on nature-derived medicines, one thing is clear. There is no person on earth \u2013 or for that matter any being \u2013 whose existence is not tied to land.<\/p>\n
So, what can you do to help protect our land and soil? One simple step is not to waste food \u2013 because when farmers work the land to produce food we\u2019re not eating, that just exhausts our soil unnecessarily. And if you\u2019re an urbanite, you can work with your local officials to make your city greener \u2013 through such innovative methods as rooftop gardens and vertical forests.<\/p>\n
Here at the Â鶹APP, promoting land regeneration is a critical part of our work. In the coming months, major conferences to follow up on the three Rio Conventions \u2013 the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) \u2013 will all be held during the same year for the first time ever. This a unique opportunity to reflect on the health of our planet \u2013 and on what we can do to improve it and protect our very existence.<\/p>\n
For my part, on 20 May, I will host a high-level meeting on desertification, land degradation and drought, in the iconic Â鶹APP General Assembly Hall in New York. This meeting \u2013 the first of its kind in more than a decade \u2013 will build on previous achievements, highlight gaps in our collective efforts and spur momentum towards the three big Rio-related conferences. It will remind us that land degradation is real and needs to be fought. It will show how three seemingly different issues \u2013 climate, biodiversity and desertification \u2013 are actually intrinsically linked. And it will drive up ambition for global action.<\/p>\n