In the debate about decarbonization and the environmental health of our planet, one area that has not received its due prominence is the theme of land degradation. Yet, some estimates suggest that over the long term this factor played a crucial role in the evolution of Earth’s decarbonization capacity – according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), “an estimated two-thirds of all terrestrial carbon stores from soils and vegetation have been lost since the 19th century through land degradation”[1]. Given the connection between land degradation and environmental challenges, of concern is the scale of land erosion observed over the past decade. Data from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) suggests that between 2015 and 2019, the world lost at least 100 million hectares of healthy and productive land each year, equivalent to nearly twice the size of Greenland. Furthermore, UNCCD data shows that, if current trends in land degradation persist, the global economy would need to restore up to 1.5 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030 to reach Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)[2].
Advancing land restoration benefits the global economy in a number of ways – it raises the potential for sustainable agricultural production, while also increasing the capacity of the restored land to absorb emissions. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) estimates that almost a quarter of the world’s total land area has been degraded[3]. In view of the scale of these challenges, land restoration is about the well-being of billions of people across the global economy – according to Johan Robinson, a Senior Programme Management Officer with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), “land degradation and desertification negatively affects 3.2 billion people around the world today”[4].
Across regions, economies face different aspects of the land degradation challenge. In Latin America, most notably in Brazil, the key problem is deforestation, in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region) it is desertification, in the maritime East Asian regions of the world such as in ASEAN a key risk is the rise in sea levels due to climate change. One way to address these challenges at the global level would be to create platforms that address these various aspects of land degradation and provide for scaling up the advances made in land restoration from individual economies to the wider regions. Such a platform could bring together small economies from across the globe that are among the leaders in land restoration in their respective regions: Uruguay in Latin America, the UAE in the MENA region and Singapore in Southeast Asia. Switzerland and Austria could serve as key partners in such a platform to coordinate national and international efforts (given the presence of international environmental organizations in these economies) to finance and support land restoration initiatives.
In Latin America Uruguay is among the most active economies in countering deforestation. It joined Initiative 20×20[5] with a commitment to restore 2.5 million hectares of degraded land[6]. The country’s targets and commitments involve “the restoration of the condition of 180,000 ha of degraded native forests, developing strategies to conserve 800,000 additional ha of native forest”[7]. Furthermore, building on its policy advances in mitigating the effects of climate change and countering deforestation, Uruguay is adopting its Sovereign Sustainability-Linked Bond (SSLB) Framework via “linking its bond financing strategy to climate and nature targets as established under the Paris Agreement”[8].
In East Asia Singapore is a leader in meeting the challenge of climate change and rising sea levels – in fact despite these challenges Singapore has actually increased its land territory by a quarter since independence and is at the very front of the global community’s efforts to mitigate the risks associated with global warming[9]. The stakes for Singapore are particularly high given the sizeable value of high-end real estate and vital economic activity zones that are at risk of being affected by rising sea levels – billions of dollars have been allocated by Singapore’s authorities to the coastal and land protection fund. The measures include not only the construction of dams and the fortification of the coastline (70-80% of the coastline is protected by man-made fortifications[10]), but also land reclamation, use of mangrove trees to reduce wave heights as well as smart-city/digital economy technologies to track and counter vulnerabilities associated with rising sea levels and climate change.
In the MENA region, the United Arab Emirates is one of the regional leaders in transforming vast areas of desert land into green spaces and farms. In November 2022, the country joined the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA) “to stimulate momentum and mobilise resources for targeted actions to build drought resilience in countries, cities, and communities”[11]. It was also among the leaders in the region in adopting artificial rain in combating desertification and expanding green spaces[12]. According to the representatives of the League of Arab States (LAS), UAE’s and Saudi Arabia’s experience in countering land degradation and desertification could be replicated by other countries in the region, facing similar challenges[13].
In Europe Switzerland, a country that hosts a number of key international organizations in the environmental sphere, is an important driver of sustainability initiatives and support for land restoration across the global economy. One of the recent examples in this area is the support extended to Armenia in the sphere of countering deforestation – in 2024 the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), together with partners Armenian National Agrarian University (ANAU) and Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) launched a 10-year development project “Forest Restoration and Climate Change in Armenia” (FORACCA)[14].
Switzerland is also actively supporting international initiatives in the environmental sphere through voluntary contributions – in 2023 the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) signed a new voluntary contribution agreement for 2023-2024 to further support sustainable land management[15].
Within the European Union Austria played an important role in the eventual approval of the Nature Restoration Law (NRL)[16] and starting from 18 August 2024, the NRL sets binding targets for ecosystem restoration in the EU[17]. The key objective within the EU’s NRL is to restore 20 percent of the EU’s land and sea by 2030. And while the implementation of the NRL framework could be fraught with disagreements and controversy, Austria’s capability to contribute to European and global land restoration efforts over the longer term makes it an important part of any international environmental platform.
Overall, a global platform that brings together some of the small economies that are among the most active in land restoration efforts could provide an important basis for spreading such practices in the respective regions of the world economy. Scaling such efforts to the larger economies in the respective regions could render such initiatives more palpable globally – in the GCC area the scaling of land-restoration initiatives could involve Saudi Arabia and the economies of North Africa. In Latin America Uruguay’s advances in tackling de-forestation could deliver an important contribution to efforts in this area undertaken in the neighbouring Brazil and Argentina. In the ASEAN region, Singapore’s experience with land reclamation and climate change mitigation measures could be an important reference point for the neighbouring Malaysia, Indonesia and other regional economies susceptible to the effects of climate change. Switzerland and Austria for their part could coordinate their efforts in this area with their EFTA and EU partners with the view to supporting such initiatives globally. The environmental challenges facing our planet necessitate a proactive approach to forming collaborative platforms across the globe from the leading economies that can serve as role models in the respective regions and regional integration arrangements.
Yaroslav Lissovolik, Founder, BRICS+ Analytics
Image by rauschenberger via Pixabay
[1] https://iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/land-degradation-and-climate-change
[2] https://www.unccd.int/news-stories/press-releases/least-100-million-hectares-healthy-land-now-lost-each-year
[3] https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/chile-china-global-battle-against-desertification
[4]https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/chile-china-global-battle-against-desertification
[5] Initiative 20×20 is an effort led by 17 countries seeking to change the dynamics of land degradation in Latin America and the Caribbean by beginning to protect and restore 50 million hectares of forests farms, pasture and other landscapes by 2030. In total, that’s an area of land roughly the size of France
[6] https://initiative20x20.org/regions-countries/uruguay
[7] https://www.wri.org/initiatives/initiative-20×20
[8] https://sslburuguay.mef.gub.uy/innovaportal/file/30690/20/uruguay_sslb_framework__2.pdf
[9] https://time.com/6322111/singapore-fights-rising-sea-levels-climate-change/
[10] https://www.nccs.gov.sg/singapores-climate-action/coastal-protection/#:~:text=To%20cater%20for%20long%2Dterm,Second%20National%20Climate%20Change%20Study
[11] https://www.wam.ae/en/article/b3hvdhv-uae-champions-greener-future-leading-regional
[12] https://www.wam.ae/en/article/b3hvdhv-uae-champions-greener-future-leading-regional
[13] https://bricsyoung.com/news/147
[14]https://www.eda.admin.ch/countries/armenia/de/home/aktuell/news.html/content/countries/armenia/en/meta/news/2024/march/switzerland-launches-a-10-year-forest-restoration-project-in-arm
[15] https://www.unccd.int/news-stories/press-releases/unccd-welcomes-switzerlands-new-contribution-sustainable-land
[16] https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/06/17/nature-restoration-law-gets-green-light-after-austria-flips
[17] https://www.schoenherr.eu/content/austria-eu-nature-restoration-law-has-come-into-force