By approximately 6,000 years ago, agricultural expansion had spread across most continents, leading to the clearing of native vegetation and to the culling, or domestication, of herbivores. Native flora and fauna were replaced with intensive crop and livestock management practices as human…

The growing demand for food, fodder, fuel, and raw materials is increasing pressures on land and the competition for natural resources. At the same time, degradation is reducing the amount of productive land available. The drivers of land degradation are mainly external factors that directly or…

It is clear that unsustainable human activities put land at risk and at the same time threaten the ecosystem services on which all humanity depends. There is enormous pressure on global land resources due to rising food demand, a global shift in dietary habits, biofuel production, urbanization, and…

This chapter looks at some of the wider human security issues related to the condition of land. Many of the underlying pressures on land resources are not immediately obvious. Considerable evidence suggests that people are more likely to use land sustainably if they have secure tenure. Gender…

Given growing demands on land and emerging challenges from land degradation and climate change, policymakers require information on the possible consequences. This chapter explores trends up to 2050, through the Shared Socio-Economic Pathways scenarios. Future changes in the condition of land…

Agriculture and livestock cover over one-third of the world’s land surface, dwarfing all other land uses. Intensification, driven by a lucrative but largely inefficient food system, has boosted production. However, it has also disturbed cultural landscapes, sustained over thousands of years, and…

A UN General Assembly side event in New York highlighted current progress toward two global compacts: one on refugees and the other on safe, orderly and regular migration. The discussions are an outcome of commitments made in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, which was adopted a…

This paper seeks to assess the interdependencies among water scarcity, youth unemployment and migration. It also attempts to unravel the different roles of women and men in the gendered migration process. Evidence shows that growing climatic variability has impacts on water availability and quality…

NSF awards $36.6 million in new food-energy-water system grants

The thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification has concluded with the adoption of 37 decisions. The meeting launched the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund and the UNCCD flagship publication, the ‘Global Land Outlook’. Brazil, India, and Liberia…

Speeding up efforts to reverse or prevent land degradation in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is vital in the next few years if the Sustainable Development Goals are to be achieved. That was the message at an event hosted by FAO last week during the 13th session of the Conference of the…

Land is an essential building block of civilization yet its contribution to our quality of life is perceived and valued in starkly different and often incompatible ways. Conflicts about land use are intensifying in many countries. The world has reached a point where we must reconcile these…

Migration is one of the defining features of the 21st century. It contributes significantly to all aspects of economic and social development everywhere, and as such will be key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This synthesis collates, and draws out key findings from, a series…

During the first week of the thirteen session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) gave an update on its land degradation and restoration…

On 12 September 2017, the UNCCD launched its new flagship report titled, 'The Global Land Outlook' (GLO), which assesses the current and future state of the world’s land resources. Along with the GLO, the UNCCD released a series of working papers meant to "provide an expanded format as well as an…

The Ramsar Convention recognizes the interdependence of people on wetlands for their important economic, cultural, scientific and recreational values. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) provides a framework for considering the multiple values…

Large parts of Southern Europe have suffered from drought this summer as a result of ruthless heat and low rainfall. A new near-real-time soil moisture data set developed as part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) uses space-derived information to support drought…

The Global Mechanism of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and private sector asset manager Mirova have launched the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Fund, co-promoted and structured by the two partners since December 2015. The Fund is described as the first-ever privately managed…

In conjunction with the 13th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has launched a publication focused on land restoration and achievement of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)…

The 13th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will also focus to the issue of drought. COP 13 is meeting in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China, from 6-16 September. One of three ministerial round tables at the Conference will address the…

The article outlines some of the ways in which an understanding of policymaker psychology and factors such as group dynamics and political context are reflected in the grey literature, and the implications of this for understanding the role of storytelling in political advocacy. It highlights…

The global economy appears stuck on its path to recovery. The new UNCTAD Trade and Development Report: Beyond Austerity – Towards a Global New Deal, proposes an ambitious alternative policy route to build more inclusive and caring economies that place people's wellbeing before profits.

The number of people hungry around the world is up for the first time in more than a decade, says a new United Nations report issued today, pointing to violent conflicts and climate change as the major drivers. “This has set off alarm bells we cannot afford to ignore: we will not end hunger and all…

To achieve the target of a land degradation neutral world (SDG target 15.3) by 2030, large amounts of financial resources must be mobilized. Public resources alone will not suffice, as acknowledged in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. New financial instruments and intermediaries, as well as enabling…

“Consumption of the earth's natural reserves has doubled in the last 30 years, with a third of the planet's land now severely degraded. Each year, we lose 15 billion trees and 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil. Smallholder farmers, women and indigenous communities are the most vulnerable, given…