Land, air and water are the cornerstones of life on Earth. To sustain the vitality of our global ecosystem, we must understand the health of our natural assets and how to halt and repair damage done to them. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)…

The Sahara Desert has expanded by about 10 percent since 1920, according to a new study by University of Maryland scientists. The research is the first to assess century-scale changes to the boundaries of the world's largest desert and suggests that other deserts could be expanding as well. The…

Climate change is already influencing migration and population movements – and will do so in future. Two perspectives on the nexus of migration and climate change have emerged: On the one hand, much policy and research attention is directed to climate change as a cause for migration, and for…

This OECD Global Forum on Environment focuses on "Mainstreaming Gender and Empowering Women for Environmental Sustainability". It will identify and propose ways to capitalise on synergies between environmental policies and economic and social goals, such as achieving gender equality and women’s…

Several multilateral environmental agreements include ecosystem restoration. These include Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)’s Aichi Biodiversity Targets 1431 and 15,32 the Sustainable Development Goals,33 and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification’s land degradation…

Forests are vitally important for sustaining life on Earth, and play a major role in the fight against climate change

This publication, prepared by the FAO Statistics Division, offers a synthesis of the major factors at play in the global food and agricultural landscape. Statistics are presented in four thematic chapters, covering the economic importance of agricultural activities, inputs, outputs and factors of…

Built on the first volume of this series of the “Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable Development” launched in 2016 and the second volume in 2018, this year the third volume continues to showcase and expand on how South-South and triangular cooperation is being…

Scientists call for urgent protection of ecologically valuable roadless areas as map shows that roads lead to loss of biodiversity and damage to ecosystems. European, Brazilian and US scientists have delivered a new map of humanity’s mark on the world. Roads now fragment the terrestrial landscape…

Extreme weather events and climate variability threaten millions of livelihoods. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization is developing a new tool that helps attenuate the impact of disasters before they occur.

Biodiversity refers to the variety and number of species of life found within certain regions and in the world as a whole. An ecosystem is an ensemble consisting of a specific environment and the living beings in it. There are a great number of different species within the same ecosystem, and a huge…

The natural world is under threat. In the Amazon, more than 150 acres of rainforest are lost every minute of every day. Wildlife population sizes have seen an alarming average drop of 68% since 1970. And this isn't just about the natural world - it's about our world as well. We depend on nature for…