Economics of Land Degradation Initiative: Report for the Private Sector
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Akima Cornell, Jonathon Weier, Naomi Stewart, James Spurgeon, Hannes Etter, Richard Thomas, Nicola Favretto, Andrew Chilombo, Niek Van Duivenbooden, Christy Van Beek, Tomek De Ponti. (17/7/2016). Economics of Land Degradation Initiative: Report for the Private Sector. Bonn, Germany: Economics of Land Degradation Initiative (ELD).
Abstract
With around one third of the world’s arable land
degraded, estimated annual losses of 6.3 to 10.6
USD trillion, and a projected need to increase food
production from land by 70 per cent by 2050, we
simply cannot afford to neglect the loss of potential
production from careless land management.
Whenever land is not producing at its potential,
it is an under-performing asset that requires
investments to ensure the future supply chains
that many industries depend upon.
Sustainable land management and landscapes
are now beginning to be recognised as central
to the achievement of the global agendas such
as the Sustainable Development Goals, and the
UN climate, biodiversity, and desertification
conventions. This shift in the political landscape
creates substantial rewards for businesses that
invest in sustainable land management in their
value chains. Expected returns on investment
are high for more at-risk sectors, including food
and beverages, construction, utilities, mining,
renewable biomass energy, clean and reliable
water supplies, etc. At the same time, investments
create ‘shared value’ that equitably benefit all
involved in land management. With up to 2 billion
hectares suitable for restoration/rehabilitation, a
reversal of land degrading trends will contribute
to multiple benefits while helping to address the
great challenges of climate change, biodiversity
loss, alleviation of poverty, and hunger.
In this report, the Economics of Land Degradation
(ELD) Initiative outlines opportunities and benefits
for the private sector in directly and indirectly
investing in sustainable land management. These
come through improved yields of goods like food,
fibre, and timber, new business opportunities and
novel markets, and creating and ensuring social
“licences to operate”. It builds on the previous
report on the assessment of business exposure to
land degradation risk from 2013.
Pathways are outlined where large, medium, and
small companies can position themselves to take
advantage of potential benefits, including; 1) new
products and markets that are resource-use efficient
and are suited to restoration and rehabilitation
sites; and, 2) improvements in existing markets
by increasing production and adding value. Many
companies are already recognising the need
for greater environmental accountability and
gain competitive advantages by doing do. The
report further discusses barriers and incentives
and ways to manage them. Emphasis is given to
striking up new partnerships with civil society
and governments that are profitable, distribute
benefits to all stakeholders, assure maintenance
of valued ecosystem services, and ensure enabling
environments for investment and implementation
that pose no threats to any participant.
The challenges of sustainable land management
are great, but we believe that the required market
transformation strategies will be better informed
by the work of the ELD initiative through this
publication, and the continued support of the
private sector by the ELD in transitioning to
sustainable land management practices and the
resulting benefits and rewards.
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Thomas, Richard https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8009-5681