A new report analyses how the transition to a low-carbon economy – and the minerals and metals required to make that shift – could affect fragility, conflict, and violence dynamics in mineral-rich states. Could the pursuit of one Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) jeopardize the success of another?…

Agroforestry (AF) has the potential to restore degraded lands, provide a broader range of ecosystem goods and services such as carbon (C) sequestration and high biodiversity, and increase soil fertility and ecosystem stability through additional C input from trees, erosion prevention, and…

Highlights Perceived livelihood impacts were distributed unevenly between social groups. The majority of respondents perceived negative livelihood outcomes. Respondents reporting negative outcomes lived in remote villages, were poorer or more reliant on forest resources. Main drivers of negative…

Quantified information on land degradation and restoration is needed to support policies for sustainable ecosystem management and socioeconomic development. The arid and semiarid zones of China (ASZC) have experienced significant land degradation, and in response to such degradation, multiple…

This study is the first to comprehensively evaluate the spatial and temporal change of vacant land within the built‐up area of a large city in China. We used the core city of Shanghai as a case‐study to systematically investigate the spatial–temporal distribution of vacant land at the fine scale.…

Highlights The authors identify 100 questions that, if answered, would enhance ecological restoration. Questions cover all aspects of landscape restoration in Europe. A wide range of restoration experts identified questions by voting and discussion. The authors hope these will be used by policy…

Land is often a critical aspect of conflict: it may be a root cause or trigger conflicts or may become an issue as the conflict progresses. Conflicts lead to forced evictions; the people who are displaced by conflict need somewhere to live and some land to farm or to graze their animals, often…

Better land management practices can sequester enough carbon to lower global temperatures

What drives farmers’ decision-making? To inform effective, efficient, and legitimate governance of agricultural soils, it is important to understand the behaviour of those who manage the fields.

Today, the New Climate Economy launches its 2018 report, Unlocking the Inclusive Growth Story of the 21st Century: Accelerating Climate Action in Urgent Times. It demonstrates the benefits of a new low-carbon growth model and outlines how we can urgently accelerate efforts to achieve it. Bold action…

Without dramatic reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions, most of the planet's land-based ecosystems -- from its forests and grasslands to the deserts and tundra -- are at high risk of 'major transformation' due to climate change.

Higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere don’t just mean a warmer world: they could also mean both shrunken harvests and a less nourishing diet.

Global food security and agricultural land management represent two urgent and intimately related challenges that humans must face. The authors quantify the changes in the global agricultural land footprint if the world were to adhere to the dietary guidelines put forth by the United States…

There has been growing concern that both intensive agriculture in the developed world and rapid expansion of crop cultivation in developing countries is damaging the health of soils which are the foundation of farming. At the same time we are discovering much more about how complex soils are as…

The land degradation‐neutrality (LDN) national baseline for Kenya in 2015 was established in terms of the three LDN indicators (land cover, land productivity, and carbon stocks), and using trends in GIMMS NDVI and land cover datasets over the 24‐year period from 1992 to 2015. Human‐induced land…

Limiting global warming to well below 2°C requires the rapid decarbonization of the global economy. If this enterprise fails, we will jeopardize the life-support systems of future generations. The longer the transformation towards climate compatibility is delayed, the more severe the risks and…

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 15.3 commits countries to strive towards land degradation neutrality (LDN) by 2030. LDN requires reductions in land quality to be balanced by efforts to restore or rehabilitate degraded areas. However, decisions need to be made as to where to invest given…

Now that the debate on climate refugees is getting increased media attention, it may be helpful to refer to a special issue of the International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management , which produced a special issue on climate change, migration and displacement of populations. The…

Despite the wide recognition of the importance of soils, soil protection efforts in European Union have been partial, fragmented and insufficient to halt their degra­dation. Calls for improving this situation have increasingly come from scientists, policymakers, non-governmental organisations and…

When an El Niño or its opposite, La Niña, forms in the future, it's likely to cause more intense impacts over many land regions -- amplifying changes to temperature, precipitation and wildfire risk. These are the findings of a new study" ENSO's Changing Influence on Temperature, Precipitation, and…

This paper summarizes WRI current understanding of water and security threats and their links to conflict, migration, and food insecurity. It is intended for professionals in the defense, diplomacy, and development fields. WRI reviews the key drivers behind growing water risk, describe and…

This publication provides facts, figures and key messages to encourage more investments in forest and landscape restoration, leading to more restoration action. The GPFLR outlines how we can reach the 2020 and 2030 targets, and how we can best collaborate, using regional and global platforms. The…

This report explores the lack of governance as a structural driver of resource conflict in the region and identifies a mix of short- and long-term measures to increase the legitimacy of the Malian state.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have released a report that analyzes the direct and indirect interlinkages between migration,…

Viewing humans as drivers of change operating outside the natural environment is unhelpful for defining interventions that effectively manage change and complexity. Indeed, there is now broad agreement that environmental governance needs to consider integrated social-ecological systems (SES) in…