The top 20 meat and dairy corporations emit more greenhouse gases (GHGs) than Germany, as our fact sheet shows. The authors note that commitments made by governments meeting in Bonn to keep global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degree or even 2 degrees will not be possible without addressing the…

A study just published by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Nature Climate Change shows that soils can be a net sink of greenhouse gases through increased storage of organic carbon.

Food waste has tremendous economic, social, and environmental consequences, but it is preventable. First-of-its-kind research on behalf of Champions 12.3 finds a robust business case for hotels to reduce this inefficiency

The Second International Symposium on Agroecology was held 3-5 April 2018 in Rome, Italy. Participants discussed how Agroecology can be scaled up so that it delivers benefits for multiple SDGs. They launched the 'Scaling up Agroecology Initiative' as a framework for concerted action and partnerships…

The concept of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) is distinct from, and more complex than, a conventional heritage site or protected area/landscape. A GIAHS is a living, evolving system of human communities in an intricate relationship with their territory, cultural or…

Today, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) released a new in-depth guide for policymakers on carbon pricing. The organization and its members believe that carbon pricing is one of the most efficient means of driving the transition to a low-carbon world. Strong business…

In this report, the notion of soil as an integral part of ecosystems and natural capital is explored and thus focused on the stock of the soil resource and the flows of valuable goods and services that can be derived from this stock. The concept of natural capital recognises soil as an asset that is…

Tourism 's climate footprint is formidable. The industry is not just big business, but a big carbon emitter as well, new research finds.

Drought is a complex and recurring natural disaster that occurs throughout the world and often has negative impacts on many sectors of society. Drought monitoring is challenging given the complex spatio-temporal dimensions of drought and its severity. Traditionally, drought monitoring has relied…

Researchers have proposed a global roadmap for decarbonisation over the coming decades. The roadmap is based on the idea of a simple heuristic, described by the researchers as ‘carbon law’, of halving carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions every decade from 2020 to 2050. The researchers say that, if…

The cultivation of bioenergy plants at fertile, arable lands increasingly results in new land use conflicts with food production and cannot be considered as sustainable, therefore. Marginal lands have been frequently considered as potential alternative for producing bioenergy from biomass. However…

The report — Mechanized: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture Value Chains—summarizes the findings of a systematic analysis of what countries at the forefront of progress in mechanization have done right. It analyzes which policy decisions were taken and which interventions were implemented to…

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…

Globalization increases the interconnectedness of people and places around the world. In a connected world, goods and services consumed in one country are often produced in other countries and exchanged via international trade. Thus, local consumption is increasingly met by global supply chains…

Launched during IRENA’s Innovation Week, the agency’s latest technology outlook ‘Hydrogen from Renewable Power’ outlines the potentially pivotal role hydrogen may play in a deeper energy transition. And, while hydrogen is already widely used in facilities such as chemicals plants and refineries, by…

In this report the findings of a questionnaire commissioned by the European Commission Joint Research Centre for the revision of the Indicator "Progress in the management of contaminated sites in Europe" in 2016 are presented. It has been produced with the contribution of data provid­ed by the…

The importance of soil is placed under the spotlight in this in-depth analysis by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC)

The world population is expected to approach 10 billion people by 2050. With this projected increase in population and shifts to higher-meat diets, agriculture alone could account for the majority of the emissions budget for limiting global warming below 2°C (3.6°F). This level of agricultural…

GLOBALANDS project aims to identify promising existing land use policies and to develop possible governance tools towards a more resource efficient and sustainable global land use.

Ecological restoration and the mainstreaming of the concept of ecosystem services will be critical if global society is to move toward sustainability.

The connectivity framework has practical implications for land management, especially with respect to decision making concerning the scale and location of agricultural production or habitat restoration in the world's drylands.

Increasing affluence is often postulated as a main driver for the human footprint on biologically productive areas, identified among the main causes of biodiversity loss, but causal relationships are obscured by international trade.

Soil is a natural resource essential to human welfare by virtue of its numerous crucial functions.

The EU-funded project INSPIRATION aims to develop a European research roadmap on sustainable land management practices. The agenda would help focus Europe's research, supporting policymaking on environmentally friendly, socially acceptable and economically affordable soil and land use management.

"Supporting regional cooperation and integration in Africa- What works and why?" A new study by Fredrik Soderbaum and Therese Brolin looks at “What works and why?” in supporting regional cooperation and integration in Africa. Quoting several papers by ECDPM, the study recommends donors to expand…