Land degradation is expanding worldwide at the rate of 1m sq km every year, undermining efforts to stabilise the climate, protect nature and ensure sustainable food supplies, a study has highlighted.
The degraded area is already 15m sq km, an area greater than Antarctica, the scientific report says, and it calls for an urgent course correction to avoid land abuse “irretrievably compromising Earth’s capacity to support human and environmental wellbeing”.
The paper aims to galvanise global efforts to sustainably manage land ahead of a summit of 200 nations this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the UN convention on combating desertification (UNCCD).
This convention is the least well known of three international meetings, along with the climate and biodiversity Cops, that were established at the 1992 Earth summit to ensure the planet remained habitable. The new report underscores how all these issues are interlinked and contributing to a series of environmental and humanitarian crises.
The UNCCD executive secretary, Ibrahim Thiaw, whose organisation collaborated on the report, said: “If we fail to acknowledge the pivotal role of land and take appropriate action, the consequences will ripple through every aspect of life and extend well into the future, intensifying difficulties for future generations.”
The synthesis study, Stepping Back from the Precipice, was produced at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), which analysed the land use issue in the context of the planetary boundaries framework.
It noted that until recently land ecosystems absorbed nearly one-third of human-caused carbon dioxide pollution, even as those emissions increased by half. But over the last decade the capacity of trees and soil to absorb excess CO₂ has shrunk by 20% due to deforestation and climate change.
The main culprit, according to the report, is unsustainable agricultural practices, which are responsible for 80% of forest loss. These techniques, which include heavy use of chemical inputs, pesticides and water diversion, also erode soil, diminish water supplies and contaminate ecosystems.
In the short term, this intensive extraction can be more profitable, but it soon leads to lower crop yields and poorer nutrition quality of harvests. In a growing number of cases it results in desertification and dust bowls.
The report identifies several degradation hotspots in dry regions such as south Asia, northern China, the High Plains and California in the US, and the Mediterranean. A third of humanity now lives in drylands, which include three-quarters of Africa.
This has dire humanitarian effects because low-income countries and socioeconomic groups are disproportionately affected. Women face increased workloads and health threats, while children are at greater risk of malnutrition and educational setbacks.
Extra pressure comes from climate disruption, which intensifies land degradation through prolonged droughts and intensified floods.
The authors said the report showed the importance of taking an integrated approach to these problems.
“Policymakers should strengthen their focus on land as a cornerstone of global sustainability,” said Claudia Hunecke, a scientist at PIK. “Neglecting land degradation risks pushing humanity beyond its safe operating space, exacerbating resource pressures, poverty, migration and conflict.
“Policymakers must address both the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of land use. The interconnectedness of land use with the Earth system and human livelihoods can act as an important lever to achieve sustainability goals.”