54 per cent of the world’s terrestrial surface consists of rangelands, but just 10 per cent of national climate plans (as part of the Paris Climate Agreement) include references to rangelands. Despite their importance to climate, nature and people, rangelands are threatened with escalating…

First session of the International Dialogue on Migration (IDM) 2021. Accelerating integrated action on sustainable development: migration, the environment and climate change 25-27 May 2021, Zoom, 9:00-12:00, New York local time (EST) Climate change and environmental degradation are profoundly…

Tracking progress towards global targets for protected and conserved areas. Protected Planet Reports are biennial landmark publications that assess the state of protected and conserved areas around the world. The 2020 edition provides the final report on the status of Aichi Biodiversity Target 11…

The natural world is under threat. In the Amazon, more than 150 acres of rainforest are lost every minute of every day. Wildlife population sizes have seen an alarming average drop of 68% since 1970. And this isn't just about the natural world - it's about our world as well. We depend on nature for…

West Africa experienced severe drought from 1968 to 1993, which was all the more brutal as it followed a very wet period from 1950 to 1967. This drought was both exceptionally long, pronounced (a15–25 percent rainfall deficit compared with the long-term average, and a 25–50 percent deficit compared…

Land restoration is an essential component of any building forward strategy. Without land restoration, we will continue to face global crises. Ensuring food and water security, reducing emissions, and conserving biodiversity will not be possible without concerted efforts to regenerate our natural…

Leveraging LDN Commitments to Boost Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security. The greatest prospects for reversing land degradation, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss lie in transforming how we use and manage human, financial and natural capital to produce, distribute, and…

At the beginning of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, this 60th issue of ETFRN News is very timely, with the preface signed by UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, reflecting a focus on drylands that cover some 40% of the world’s land area and contain some of the most severely degraded…

At the beginning of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, this 60th issue of ETFRN News is very timely, with the preface signed by UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, reflecting a focus on drylands that cover some 40% of the world’s land area and contain some of the most severely degraded…

Climate change is upsetting rainfall patterns and the frequency of flooding in West Africa as it makes the region's Sahel storms three times likelier.

Ensuring that the world's food needs are met by 2050 will take a doubling of global food production. To improve agricultural yields on that scale will require a radical rethink of global water-management strategies and policies.

The Atlas is based on an analysis of mapped regional security issues and development objectives to open the necessary dialogue between regional and international organizations, governments, researchers and local stakeholders tracks

Why Europe should care more about environmental degradation triggering insecurity- Hartmut Behrend in " Global Affairs" Volume 1; Issue 1; 2015

The goal of the project is to reduce food insecurity and improve livelihoods of poor people living in African drylands by restoring degraded land, and returning it to effective and sustainable tree, crop and livestock production, thereby increasing land profitability and landscape and livelihood…

Water insecurity has driven social distress throughout history, from the Mayan Empire to modern-day Syria. But global efforts to avoid crises have been inadequate. There's a better path forward. The Commentary by Charles Iceland Aqueduct Director discusses the state of current water hotspots, and…

Africa is projected to have the fastest urban growth rate in the world — by 2050, Africa’s cities will be home to an additional 950 million people. Urban planning and management are essential development challenges. Understanding urbanisation, its drivers, dynamics and impacts, is key to designing…

The present volume is devoted to sounding the alarm about one of the most dramatic faces of the regional crisis: the refugees in the Sahel, with a special focus on Chad and Niger. The Sahel is experiencing political upheaval and insecurity due to the conflict in Libya, the crises in Mali and Nigeria…

A recent joint report by the European Commission and the EEAS on the implementation of the EU's Sahel Regional Action Plan (RAP), demonstrates priority given by EU to migration control in the Sahel.

This online report analyses the relationship between irregular migration and conflict and stability in Mali, Niger and Libya. Studying the human smuggling networks that operate within and across these three countries provides insights into the transnational dynamics of irregular migration as well as…

Read about developments in LDN in Northeast Asia, East Africa, West Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean

Suddenly, a drought-stricken African region could benefit from a Sahel monsoon, with climate change storm clouds breaking over Chad and Mali.

The assessment of land degradation and the quantification of its effects on land productivity have been both a scientific and political challenge. After four decades of Earth Observation (EO) applications, little agreement has been gained on the magnitude and direction of land degradation in the…

At the beginning of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, this 60th issue of ETFRN News is very timely, with the preface signed by UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, reflecting a focus on drylands that cover some 40% of the world’s land area and contain some of the most severely degraded…

The Senior Officials of the UN have agreed at EMG SOM 24 in the margins of UNGA to form a Coalition to Combat Sand and Dust Storms. Major tasks of this coalition will include raising awareness, convening stakeholders and raising the proper amount of funds to help combat this phenomenon. A few other…

On the eve of the World Day to Combat Desertification, the UNCCD library opens the archives to look back the important milestones of the Convention, such as the first scientific evidence of desertification, authentic papers from the negotiation process before 1994 and awareness raising materials…