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19 Nov 2019 Video Climate Action

Restoring and rehabilitating land a big step towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals

With just 10 years remaining before the world’s nations are due to realize the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030, we still have a long way to go for countries to deliver on their targets and reverse the climate, species and resource consumption crises.

With just 10 years remaining before the world’s nations are due to realize the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030, we still have a long way to go for countries to deliver on their targets and reverse the climate, species and resource consumption crises.

The latest study from the International Resource Panel—the highlights of which are featured in the video here—shows the huge potential of land restoration and rehabilitation to deliver on all 17 of the Goals agreed to by the world’s nations as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Currently, about a quarter of the world’s land is degraded. Land restoration and rehabilitation together represent one of three primary strategies for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15 (Life on Land), and particularly to achieve a land degradation-neutral world (target 15.3). 

This International Resource Panel’s publication, Land Restoration for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, provides diverse reflections for policymakers, academics and practitioners for developing strategies to maximize the benefits of land restoration and rehabilitation, as it highlights the risks, trade-offs and costs for achieving sustainable development.

The study outlines a clear four-step strategy to maximize cross-cutting opportunities for land restoration or rehabilitation across multiple Sustainable Development Goals.

The observations and conclusions, provided by 37 authors from across the globe, while by no means exhaustive, provide hope and aspirations for investments in land restoration and rehabilitation across our planet.