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Humanity is facing a herculean task of reversing climate change and protecting the natural world that supports us. We need to reshape human society to live in harmony with nature – all this while leaving room for people to thrive and grow in developing nations.
We want this to happen immediately. But we have to be realistic. Even though they all immediately begin to turn the promises of climate change and nature loss into action – needlessly and properly – we are looking at decades of work.
In order to take the time to complete these transformations, especially to move to zero carbon economies, we need quick and easy solutions. Solutions that slow down climate change, restore nature and biodiversity, protect us from pandemics, allow us to produce more food, create jobs, reduce inequality, build peace.
Restoring degrading soils can do all of this quickly, with relatively low cost and modest technological solutions. We need to get all the stops out to unlock the full potential of the earth UN Decade for the Restoration of Ecosystems is launched.
We need to be clear that land restoration cannot do everything. It is not a substitute for a broader reform or an excuse not to act. Yet we need to completely change energy and transportation systems, reform agriculture, rethink how we produce and consume resources, find ways to expand cities and infrastructure without destroying nature, and much more. But if we restore the health of the land, we can reap greater benefits.
One in five acres of land cannot be used. The recovery of 350 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 could remove half of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. Inaction is irresponsible at a time when we need to lower emissions quickly to meet targets Paris Agreement.
What’s more, land reclamation can earn an additional $ 1.4 trillion in agricultural production each year at a time when the world is trying to figure out how to feed growing populations. It can reduce the need for new agricultural land at a time when we need to reverse the rapid decline of nature and the biodiversity it supports. And it can restore natural buffers against diseases that jump from animals to humans at a time when humanity is counting the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Restoration of forests, wetlands and other ecosystems can strengthen nature’s defenses in the face of extreme weather as storms, floods and droughts associated with climate change become commonplace. Land reclamation can create jobs at a time when hundreds of millions of jobs are being lost, hitting women and young people particularly hard in many countries.
This is not an unwanted thought. The benefits of land restoration are visible in many places, from Burkina Faso and China to Costa Rica.
Take the African The Great Green Wall Initiative, Which aims to reclaim 100 million hectares of degraded land across the Sahel on a list of 8,000 km long, hijack 250 million tonnes of carbon and create 10 million jobs in rural areas by 2030. The initiative, launched in 2007 by the African Union, has already reclaimed more than 20 million hectares across the continent, hijacked tons of carbon and created more than 300,000 jobs in rural areas. In response to these promising initial results, a $ 14 billion stimulus, known as the Great Green Wall Accelerator, was announced by world leaders at the One Planet Summit in January to accelerate the completion of the project. This is the model we need to follow.
The number of countries and companies committed to keeping the earth healthy grew as the UN Decade of Deserts and the Battle against the Desert ended last year. More than 100 countries are pursuing Earth Degradation Neutrality targets UN Convention to Combat Desertification. That’s 450 million acres of commitments, and they’re counting – about a billion so far in global restoration commitments.
But we have to pick up the pace. More than 125 countries plan to reclaim about a billion acres in the next decade. We need to make all the stops to meet those commitments. That should start with governments paying more attention to healthy land in pandemic recovery packages that make investments in land reclamation and in national commitments under the Paris Agreement. Ecosystem Restoration should continue throughout the UN Decade.
Earth is our greatest ally in this decade, we want to eradicate the damage our species has caused to nature and ourselves. But first we need to regain full health.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the attitude of Al Jazeera’s editorial.
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