COP16: Scientific report calls for urgent transformation of land management

At the opening of the COP16 summit of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Riyadh, scheduled for December 2-13, a report by Professor Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), demonstrates the urgency of reviewing land management to avoid an irreversible environmental crisis.

The Essential Role of Land
According to the report, Back from the Precipice: Transforming Land Management to Meet Planetary Boundaries , land plays a central role in the stability of the Earth. It regulates the climate, protects biodiversity, maintains freshwater resources, and provides food and materials essential for human survival.

However, practices such as deforestation, urbanization, and intensive agriculture are causing land degradation on an unprecedented scale. More than 15 million km² are affected, an area larger than Antarctica, and this area is increasing by approximately one million km² each year.

Planetary Boundaries Already Crossed
The report places these challenges within the framework of planetary boundaries, a scientific concept identifying nine critical thresholds necessary to maintain Earth's balance. Land use directly impacts seven of these, including climate change, biodiversity, and freshwater resources. Six boundaries have already been crossed, and two others, including ocean acidification, are dangerously close.

Agriculture at the heart of the crisis
Conventional agriculture is identified as the main driver of land degradation. Deforestation, soil erosion, and pollution from chemical fertilizers disrupt ecosystems, reduce agricultural yields, and increase the vulnerability of the most vulnerable populations.

Arid regions, particularly in Africa, South Asia, and the Mediterranean, are particularly vulnerable. The impacts disproportionately affect women, youth, and indigenous communities, exacerbating inequality and forced migration.

Transformative solutions
The report proposes urgent actions to restore land and return to planetary boundaries:

• Adopt regenerative agriculture to improve soil health and capture carbon.
• Protect forests, savannas and wetlands.
• Encourage equitable land management and transparency in land policies.
• Focus on technological innovations, such as precision agriculture, and promote sustainable supply chains.

It also highlights the need to reform agricultural subsidies, which still largely promote environmentally harmful practices. Between 2013 and 2018, more than $500 billion was allocated to these subsidies, 90% of which financed unsustainable activities.

A call to action
“We are at a critical juncture,” said Johan Rockström. “It is imperative that we take transformative action to avoid irreversible environmental change.”

The report calls for concrete and just commitments to halt land degradation, in a context of intensifying biodiversity loss, climate crises and pressures on natural resources.

Djamiou ABOUDOU