What is a desert? Experts hope destructive trend can be reversed — Global Issues

On December 2, countries from around the world will meet in Riyadh under the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, (UNCCD) to discuss how to turn the corner from destruction to reconstruction.

Here are five things you need to know about deserts and why the world needs to stop treating the planet like dirt to protect the productive land that supports life on Earth.

There is no life without the earth

Perhaps it is stating the obvious, but without a healthy world there would be no life. It feeds, clothes and protects mankind.

It provides jobs, sustains livelihoods and is the hub of the local, national and global economy. It helps regulate the climate and is important for biodiversity.

Despite its importance to life as we know it, up to 40 percent of the world is degraded, affecting approximately 3.2 billion people; that’s almost half of the world’s population.

From the deforested mountains of Haiti, to the gradual disappearance of Lake Chad in the Sahel and the drying up of the productive lands of Georgia in eastern Europe, land degradation affects every part of the world.

It is no exaggeration to say that our future is at risk if our world does not stay healthy.

A ruined world

Desertification, the process by which land is degraded in normally dry areas, is caused by a variety of factors, including climate variability and human activities, such as over-farming or deforestation.

100 million hectares (or one million square kilometers), the size of a country like Egypt, of healthy and productive land is lost every year.

Soils on these soils that can take centuries to form are being eroded, often by extreme weather conditions.

Droughts are becoming more and more frequent, and three out of four people in the world are expected to face water shortages by 2050.

Temperatures are increasing as a result of climate change which is driving more extreme weather events, including droughts and floods, posing a challenge to keeping the land productive.

Land loss and climate change

There is clear evidence that land degradation is linked to broader environmental challenges such as climate change.

Earth’s environment absorbs one-third of human CO₂ pollution, the gas that drives climate change. However, poor land management threatens this critical position, and jeopardizes efforts to reduce the release of these harmful gases.

Deforestation, which contributes to desertification, is increasing, as only 60 percent of the world’s forests remain, below what the UN calls the “safe goal of 75 percent.”

What needs to be done? – ‘moon shot time’

The good news is that humanity has the knowledge and power to bring the world back to life, turning destruction into restoration.

Stronger economies and stronger communities can be cultivated as the impacts of devastating droughts and devastating floods are addressed.

The important thing is that the people who depend on the world are the ones who must have a big say in how decisions are made.

The UNCCD says that in order to “deliver on Earth’s climate,” 1.5 billion hectares of degraded land need to be restored by 2030.

And this is already happening with farmers using new techniques in Burkina Faso, ecologists in Uzbekistan planting trees to eliminate salt and dust emissions and activists protecting the capital of the Philippines, Manila, from bad weather by renewing natural barriers.

What can be achieved in Riyadh

Policymakers, experts, the private sector and civil society and youth will gather in Riyadh with a series of goals, including:

• Accelerating restoration of degraded land by 2030 and beyond
• Increase resilience to drought and sand and dust storms
• Restore soil health and increase organic food production
• To protect land rights and promote equality for sustainable land management
• Ensuring that the world continues to provide climate and biodiversity solutions
• Opening up economic opportunities, including decent land-based jobs for youth