G20 Global Land Initiative targets a 50% cut in degraded land by 2040

The G20, or Group of Twenty, is an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies. It comprises 19 countries — Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the UK and the USA — and the European Union. Collectively, the G20 accounts for 85% of global GDP, 75% of international trade and two-thirds of the world population, making it the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

In November 2020, at the Riyadh (Virtual) Summit of the G20 leaders, the G20 launched the Global Initiative on Reducing Land Degradation and Enhancing Conservation of Terrestrial Habitats. The ambition of the initiative is to prevent, halt and reverse land degradation and to reduce degraded land by 50 per cent by 2040.

Objectives

• Conserving land and halting habitat loss, fragmentation and land degradation, notably through sharing knowledge and best practices on conservation incentives and policy implementation.
• Promoting integrated, sustainable and resilient land and landscape management through nature-based solutions or ecosystem-based approaches, and sustainable land, water and agricultural practices.
• Restoring degraded land through reforestation, afforestation, natural regeneration, restoration of ecosystem services and sustainable agricultural practices appropriate to each locality or region.

Activities

• An information-sharing hub on land degradation, conservation, sustainable management and restoration.
• Engagement of the private sector and civil society to support restoration efforts and adopt sustainable land management practices.
• Knowledge sharing and capacity building between G20 members, non-member countries and other partners.

Implementation framework

The initiative is implemented through an Initiative Coordination Office (ICO) under the oversight of the UNCCD. The ICO has dedicated full-time staff and an annual budget funding its core activities, and receives administrative and financial oversight from the UNCCD Secretariat.

A steering committee consisting of interested G20 members, the secretariats of the UNCCD, FAO and UNEP, along with non-member countries and other contributing institutions, provides strategic direction to the ICO.

The ambition is to prevent, halt and reverse land degradation and reduce degraded land by 50 per cent by 2040.

Source: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), G20 Initiative — unccd.int. Further information is published at g20land.org.