Transforming land management to stay within planetary boundaries

The report Stepping back from the precipice: Transforming land management to stay within planetary boundaries charts an urgent course correction for how the world grows food and uses land in order to avoid irretrievably compromising Earth’s capacity to support human and environmental well-being.  It was produced under the leadership of Professor Johan Rockström at Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in collaboration with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and published in December 2024.

The report situates both problems and potential solutions related to land use within the scientific framework of the planetary boundaries, which has rapidly gained policy relevance since its unveiling 15 years ago. 

The planetary boundaries define nine critical thresholds essential for maintaining Earth’s stability. How humanity uses or abuses land directly impacts seven of these, including climate change, species loss and ecosystem viability, freshwater systems and the circulation of the naturally occurring elements nitrogen and phosphorus. Change in land use is also a planetary boundary.   

Alarmingly, six boundaries have already been breached to date, and two more are close to their thresholds: ocean acidification and the concentration of aerosols in the atmosphere. Only stratospheric ozone – the object of a 1989 treaty to reduce ozone-depleting chemicals – is firmly within its “safe operating space”. 

Conventional agriculture is the leading culprit of land degradation, contributing to deforestation, soil erosion and pollution. Unsustainable irrigation practices deplete freshwater resources, while excessive use of nitrogen- and phosphorus-based fertilisers destabilises ecosystems.

Meanwhile, climate change – which has long since breached its own planetary boundary – accelerates land degradation through extreme weather events, prolonged droughts and intensified floods. Melting mountain glaciers and altered water cycles heighten vulnerabilities, especially in arid regions.

Transformative action to combat land degradation is needed to ensure a return to the safe operating space for the land-based planetary boundaries. Just as the planetary boundaries are interconnected, so must be the actions to prevent or slow their transgression, the report states.

(UNCCD/ile)

Read more and download the report on the UNCCD website 

Download Rural 21, Issue 4/2024: Land Matters