June 2014: The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has published a report, ‘Land-Based Adaptation and Resilience: Powered by Nature,’ which highlights the connections between land degradation, natural resource and food security, and climate change. The forward by the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, indicates that, “We need national and international measures to help us recover degrading land and ensure that the productive land under our care can withstand future climate change-related stresses. Land-based adaptation is a practical and affordable path towards that goal. It will surprise you how cost-effective it is.”

The publication reviews linkages between land degradation and climate change, noting that there are three significant changes taking place in parallel that will make food security a bigger challenge than before: crop yields are falling in all regions of the world; demand for food, water, energy and housing is growing; and a large number of people who depend on the land or produce food for others may not be able to keep up their production due to climate change. The publication cautions that “growing food insecurity will be a trigger for political instability,” and suggests switching to “more sustainable land use practices to recover degrading land, boost production on all lands and adapt the agricultural sector to climate change.”

In addition, the publication notes that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the post-2015 development agenda could help promote land-based adaptation through the adoption of targets and indicators for a land-degradation neutral world. [Publication: Land-Based Adaptation and Resilience: Powered by Nature]