Land Degradation Neutrality and the UNCCD: From Political Vision to Measurable Targets

Abstract

Efforts to establish Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) as a global objective in the fight against land degradation culminated in 2015 when LDN became part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (target 15.3). Following swiftly, the twelfth session Conference of the Parties (COP 12) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) decided to integrate LDN into the Convention process and invited countries to set themselves national voluntary targets to achieve LDN. This recognition of LDN at the political stage created the need to further operationalize the concept of LDN and transform it into an implementable approach that helps countries to make progress towards reaching the SDGs and the objectives of the UNCCD. Given that LDN is essentially a ``not net loss'' approach it requires the quantification of land degradation. As such, a particular challenge lies in identifying and measuring appropriate indicators that allow for monitoring changes and tracking progress.