Transformative projects and programmes along with innovative finance are at the core of successful action to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality. Today, the pressure on global land resources is greater than ever. The Earth’s population is fast approaching the 10 billion mark. We will need more food, more energy and more water from the land to survive. These ever-increasing demands on the land multiply the threat posed by land degradation to our common future. Indeed, land degradation is a threat to human security. To address this threat effectively, we will need to shift our focus away from land as the main problem towards land as a key part of the solution.

The pressures on global land resources are greater than at any other time in human history. A rapid population growth, coupled with rising levels of consumption, is placing ever-larger demands on the world’s land-based natural capital. The result is the growing competition between land uses and the pressure on the land to provide more goods and services.