Land degradation and desertification is one of the world’s greatest environmental challenges and currently being accelerated by a growing world population, alongside climate change and an increasing demand for goods produced from land like food and fibres. Over the past four decades, desertification has affected around 33 per cent2 of the global land surface and erosion has removed nearly one-third of the world’s arable land from production3. In terms of people affected, Asia has seen the biggest impacts. The continent holds almost 60 per cent of the world’s population. Of this, almost 70 per cent live in rural areas, and their livelihoods and sustenance directly depend on productive land based ecosystem services.
The report, The Economics of Land Degradation Neutrality in Asia, highlights the cost of land degradation and what economic benefits are generated through investments in sustainable land management. It aims at assessing the policy implications of achieving SDG 15.3 on achieving other SGDs, in particular economic growth, rural employment, poverty reduction and food security.