he challenge is massive, but so is the promise. Healing 100 million hectares of degraded and deforested land in Africa will bring countless benefits: fresh air and water, food and energy —the very stuff of survival. It will also build people’s climate resilience, and contribute in a big way to…

The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) highlighted ongoing efforts to leverage private funding for large-scale land restoration, through the newly launched LDN Fund, a public-private funding mechanism. Simone Quatrini, Global Mechanism of the UNCCD, said more than 100 countries so far…

In eastern Niger, 241 hectares of degraded land was converted into productive farms for 10,770 women through the Bio-reclamation of Degraded Lands (BDL) system. This has resulted in a 50% increase in agri-income over non-BDL participants. These impacts are from a mid-term evaluation study conducted…

Thirty kilometres from the bustle of downtown Abu Dhabi, lies a remarkable undertaking that could one day change the environmental impact of air travel. Set on a two-hectare farm down the road from the IRENA Headquarters building, a pilot project conducted by Masdar Institute’s Sustainable Bioenergy…

In 2015, alone, climate-related disasters displaced 14.7 million people, a new report from CARE Danmark shows. Unless governments take strong preventive action and invest in adaptation, climate change-related phenomena could push the total number of permanently displaced as high as 250 million…

The University of Liège launched a new research hub in November, dedicated specifically to the study of environmental change and migration.

Researchers have assessed how changes in production efficiency and dietary patterns can combine to ensure food supply whilst minimising the global environmental impact of food production. The gain in the production efficiency of agriculture was found to be insufficient to meet future food demand…

One year following the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 102 Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) have embarked on national processes to set voluntary targets to LDN, one of the targets under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 (Protect, restore and…

Africa’s soils hold the key to its food production and economic future, with agriculture accounting for 30 to 40 percent of the continent’s GDP. Food productivity on the continent is, however, plagued by soil degradation. As much as two-thirds of Africa’s arable lands could be lost by 2025 from the…

In the coming years, the agribusiness sector will navigate a rapidly shifting, increasingly challenging time. One of the challenges will be to meet the rising demand for agricultural products, even as the land suitable for growing crops declines. Navigating the changes will mean seizing new ways of…

World Bank Steps Up Climate Funding in Arab World. With a 2 degree Celsius temperature rise, rainfall in MENA is projected to decline by 20 to 40 percent. Increasing water scarcity will have an economic impact, and is expected to lower growth by 6 to 14 percent by 2050. But the impact will vary…

Severe climate shocks threaten to roll back decades of progress against poverty. Storms, floods, and droughts have dire human and economic consequences, with poor people often paying the heaviest price. Building resilience to disasters not only makes economic sense, it is a moral imperative

Climate change is already happening and represents one of the greatest environmental and societal threats facing the planet and our own existence. With the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in force this month and the skeptics who threaten its implementation, the time for bold and unprecedented…

New research shows that bringing life back to these damaged landscapes through landscape restoration can generate billions of dollars of profit for farmers, investors and society. A new WRI report, The Economic Case For Landscape Restoration In Latin America, finds that restoring 20 million hectares…

A new report released 11 November by the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) reveals that drylands, which cover some 40 per cent of the earth’s land surface, are critical in order to buffer the negative impacts of climate change, land degradation, and drought.…

Stakeholder support is essential to the success of environmental policies. A recent study has identified stakeholders that can promote biodiversity in European agricultural landscapes. The researchers found farmers were the most influential group of stakeholders, as they make the final decisions on…

A method for developing more cost-effective agri-environment schemes is outlined in a recent study. The procedure can be used over large areas, accounts for hundreds of management regimes and several different endangered species. The model is one of the first to account for the timing of measures…

You’re growing up and dreaming of success. Making your parents proud, having a stable income, knowing where your next meal is coming from. You work at that, every single day…. Yet, the land of opportunities in rural drylands seems utterly infertile here. You’re hungry, you’re dirt poor and you don’t…

According to FAO, women make significant contributions to rural economies across the globe, comprising 43 percent of the global agricultural labor force, and up to 50 percent or more in many parts of Asia and Africa.

Drylands are one of the world’s major ecosystems and cover 41 percent of the earth's land surface, spanning nearly 100 countries - mostly in the developing world. One third of the world population or 2.3 billion people who inhabit the drylands live at the margin of sustainability, where moisture is…

This report is aimed at readers who seek to build economic evidence in support of the inclusion of actions on agriculture in climate change plans and programmes, particularly at the national level under the umbrella of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the December 2015 Paris Agreement…

The New Climate Economy (NCE) and The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate have released two new reports. The first is titled, 'The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative: Financing for Better Growth and Development', and identifies the main barriers to financing sustainable infrastructure…

Landmark UNEP report puts state of the World’s environment under the microscope. Find all GEO 6 issues in our online catalogue.

A new World Bank reports finds that water scarcity, exacerbated by climate change, could hinder economic growth, spur migration, and spark conflict. However, most countries can neutralize the adverse impacts of water scarcity by taking action to allocate and use water resources more efficiently.

The new World Atlas of Desertification builds on recent scientific advancements, and aims to be a pragmatic exercise and example of the implementation of up-to-date concepts of land degradation.