Restoration needs along Africa's drylands have been mapped and quantified for the first time. A groundbreaking map of restoration opportunities along Africa's Great Green Wall has been launched at the UN climate change conference, based on collection and analysis of crucial land-use information to…

An urgent reconsideration of rural development is needed for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The current strategies and patterns of rural development are failing to meet either the socioeconomic or the environmental Goals of this Agenda.

This report examines the link between water and migration, and the implications for economic development. The report is based on analysis of the largest data set on internal migration ever assembled, covering nearly half a billion people from 189 population censuses in 64 countries from 1960 to 2015…

Over the past decade there have been extraordinary advances towards drought risk reduction with the development of new water-conserving technologies, and new tools for planning, vulnerability and impact assessment, mitigation, and policy. Drought and Water Crises: Integrating Science, Management…

A warmer world means more chance of extreme heat in more than one continent at the same time, and a rising threat to global food security.

Land degradation – the reduction or loss of the productive potential of land – is a global challenge. Over 20% of the Earth’s vegetated surface is estimated to be degraded, affecting over 1.3 billion people, with an economic impact of up to US$10.6 trillion. Land degradation reduces agricultural…

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 Climate Transparency Report is the world’s most comprehensive annual review of G20 countries’ climate action and their transition to a net-zero emissions economy. Developed by experts from 16 partner organisations from the majority of the G20 countries, the report informs policy makers and…

Against a backdrop of environmental crisis, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a chance to revive the natural world that supports us all. A decade may sound like a long time. But it is these next ten years that scientists say will count most in the fight to avert climate change and the loss…

“Extended drought due to enhanced warming and rapid population growth pose major threats to the people living in the drylands,” says atmospheric scientist Jianping Huang at Lanzhou University in China. “Degradation and desertification will become a challenge to the global ecosystem and human…

Global Policy journal Current Issue:May 2017 Volume 8, Issue 2 March 2017 Volume 8, Issue Supplement S2 Special Issue: Health Care Policy, Resource Allocation... February 2017 Volume 8, Issue 1 February 2017 Volume 8, Issue Supplement S1 Special Issue: Critical Perspectives on Human Mobility…

Where in the world will people’s lives be affected by water issues by the year 2050? What is the impact of the growing global population, further urbanisation and climate change on these water risks, the food supply and migration? This new report by the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment…

Loss of biodiversity and pressures on ecosystem services are global challenges. Land cover change is the best measure available to monitor pressures on terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity. The OECD is developing new indicators on land cover changes and conversions.

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.

The International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy is a book series exploring critical questions under law and policy regarding the protection and sustainable management of soil and land at the international, national and regional level. Now in its fourth volume, the International Yearbook of Soil…

The Paris Agreement introduced an ambitious goal of limiting warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Here we combine a review of modelled pathways and literature on mitigation strategies, and develop a land-sector roadmap of priority measures and regions that can help to achieve the 1.5 °C…

A climate hazard that doesn’t disappear when the rainclouds gather, drought's lingering death can delay recovery a very long time.

Through the experiences of people who earn their livelihoods by tending the land, these eight ‘Stories of Resilience’ reflect how, in countries as varied as Namibia, Cuba, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, SLM is improving living conditions of communities and strengthening environmental resilience.

This report is a first step towards a uniform mechanism for business to report on their contribution to and impact on the SDGs in an effective and comparable way. It contains a list of existing and established disclosures that businesses can use to report, and identifies relevant gaps, where…