At the current rate, in less than three decades, an area the size of South America will be in a process of persistent soil degradation. Sustainable land use is a matter of “survival”, warns a UN report published this Wednesday (27).
“The way we manage and use land resources threatens the health and survival of many species on Earth, including humans,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). English), responsible for the document. “The status quo is not a viable option for our survival and prosperity.”
The food sector is responsible for 80% of deforestation and uses 70% of the world’s fresh water, the report points out. In addition, it is the main driver of species extinction.
The next meeting of the Convention, made up of 197 parties, will be held in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) from 9 May. The order of the day is adapting to droughts, which are multiplying due to climate change, transitioning to sustainable agriculture and, in general, restoring the good health of cultivated lands.
At least 70% of the world’s ice-free soil has been transformed for human use, with the installation of infrastructure, housing and agriculture, and most of it is degraded, which reduces its yield.
“There’s not much land left,” said Barron Orr, UNCCD’s scientific officer. “And yet, we continue to see a high pace of change in uses.”
About 1% of agri-food companies control 70% of the world’s agricultural land, the report highlighted.
Halting degradation also helps meet Paris Agreement commitments, such as keeping global temperature rise to 2°C. “Degraded soils emit COtwo“, said Thiaw.
The report evaluated different scenarios until 2050. If nothing is done, an additional 250 billion tons of CO would be releasedtwo equivalent in the atmosphere, four times the current annual emissions of greenhouse gases.
But if soils are restored and protected, they could store 300 billion tonnes by 2015.
The report recommended strengthening indigenous peoples’ land rights as a way to protect the climate and biodiversity.
“We gladly welcome our allies in this battle, including economic actors, but we will not let them use us for greenwashing,” said Venezuelan José Gregorio Diaz Mirabal, representative of 511 groups originating in the Amazon basin.
