Almost 40% of the land area on Earth has been degraded by human activities.
About this with reference to the report of the experts of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification writes Reuters.
According to the study, deforestation, mining, industrial pollution and intensive agricultural activities have depleted 40% of the world's soil.
Experts stressed that if humanity does not take any measures and trends continue, by 2050 this figure will reach 55%. In this case, the area of degraded land will be equivalent to the area of South America.
"Soil degradation means death. This report is an alarming signal. We cannot take land for granted," said Ibrahim Tiau, executive secretary of the convention.
According to the UN, developing countries are the first to suffer from land degradation. At the same time, land degradation threatens almost half of the world's GDP, or about $44 trillion a year, while the economic benefits of rehabilitating degraded land can range from $125 to $140 trillion a year.
The United Nations also reminded that world governments have pledged to restore 10 million square kilometers of land by 2030, which is approximately equal to the area of China.
Projects include soil remediation, wildlife protection, access to water and other measures, but $1.6 trillion is not enough to implement them.
Experts have proposed to allocate for these purposes the $700 billion that is allocated annually in the form of subsidies to support agriculture and fossil fuels.
"The growing population of the planet needs more and more food — for this we have to clear forests to create pastures and agricultural fields. At the same time, combating the climate crisis means the opposite — keeping the forest intact."
Before EcoPolitica wrote what is the situation with lands in Ukraine and how to solve the problem of desertification.
