Global Land Outlook

Global Land Outlook

Subject : Environment

Section :Report and Indices

Context: The second edition of the GLO has been  released .

Concept :

According to a new report from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) released April 27, 2022, Some 16 million square kilometres of land — the size of South America — will be degraded if current trends continue.

The Global Land Outlook (GLO), the UNCCD’s flagship publication, showcases new and transformative policies and provides guidance for planning land management at global and national level. It is part of a broader effort to facilitate discussion on land use policy and practice by illustrating the fundamental importance of good land management.

The various editions of the publication highlight the central importance of land quality to human well-being and make the case that the restoration and protection of our land is vital for a healthy, prosperous future.

The GLO and its associated products – such as regional reports and working papers – focus on:

• land degradation and land use trends
• future challenges and opportunities to restore and protect our land

The first edition of the Global Land Outlook was launched in September 2017 at COP13 in Ordos, China.

The second edition of the GLO has been released.

Highlights of report:

• The land degradation will induce severe climate-induced disturbances resulting in food supply disruptions, forced migrations and even increased species extinction.
• The report has predicted an additional 69 gigatonnes of carbon emission from 2015 to 2050 due to land use change and soil degradation and a slowing in growth of agricultural yields.
• However, if land restoration is done on a massive scale across a potential five billion hectares with various measures, crop yields will increase by 5-10 per cent in most developing countries, the report added.
• Carbon stocks will also rise by a net 17 gigatonnes between 2015 and 2050 due to gains in soil carbon and reduced emissions, it said.
• The measures enumerated are conservation agriculture (low- or no-till farming), agroforestry and silvo-pasture, improved grazing management and grassland rehabilitation, forest plantations.
• Up to 40 per cent of the planet’s land is degraded, directly affecting half of humanity and threatening roughly half of global gross domestic product ($44 trillion).
• The economic returns of restoring land and reducing degradation, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss could be as high as $125-140 trillion every year — up to 50 per cent more than the $93 trillion global GDP in 2021, according to the report.
• It raised an important point that globally, at least $300 billion will be required annually to achieve significant results in restoring land by 2030. This is far less than the amount of subsidies currently provided to farmers in developed countries.