The UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) released its latest report, The Global Land Outlook 2 last week. The report discusses the extent of global land degradation and the threat that it poses to soils, water, and biodiversity. As is stated in the report, human activity has altered 70% of the Earth’s land away from its natural state. Food systems are, of course, one of the main drivers of land-use change and degradation. Agriculture currently accounts for about 40% of global land area, 70% of freshwater use, and 80% of global deforestation. Transforming food systems is therefore a major focus of the report and a major focus of efforts to fulfill the global pledges made by 115 countries to restore one billion hectares of land.
Within the discussions of transforming food systems for land restoration in the report, regenerative agriculture gets several explicit mentions. The report defines regenerative agriculture as a methodology that restores soil health and protects water and biodiversity by reducing erosion, tillage, and the use of agrichemicals while integrating crops, trees, and livestock on farms. It is touted as a practice that can help move agriculture from being a driver of degradation to a piece of the solution towards land restoration. The UNCCD even extrapolates some of the potential benefits suggesting that regenerative agriculture could help secure livelihoods in rural areas providing important opportunities for young people.
While my thesis is likely to focus more narrowly on the soil carbon sequestration potential of regenerative agriculture practices rather than all the benefits discussed in The Global Land Outlook 2 reading this report provided an interesting opportunity to see how the international community has also come to embrace the promise of regenerative agriculture as it has also had a surge of popularity in mainstream media–making its way into a documentary on Netflix, podcasts, and mainstream news articles
You can find the full UNCCD report The Global Outlook 2 here.
Reference:
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, 2022. The Global Land Outlook,
second edition. UNCCD, Bonn