Life on Land

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss,

• [New] Within the century, land area flooded will increase by 48%, the population impacted will increase by 52% (about 287 million people) and the infrastructure affected will increase by 46% which will comprise about 20% of global GDP.
• China's nuclear arsenal - while still far smaller than the United States' stockpile of around 4,000 nuclear weapons - will grow in the next five years to include roughly 200 weapons launched from land-based ICBMs capable of hitting the United States.
• The Excellence in Agronomy 2030 initiative will assist millions of smallholder farmers to intensify their production systems while preserving key ecosystem services under the threat of climate change.
• Over half of the world's GDP - around $44tr - is potentially threatened by the loss of nature, with the destruction of natural ecosystems posing myriad financial threats to the global economy.
• Biodiversity conservation will remain a priority of EU external action and a pillar for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals as we move towards defining the world's post-2020 global biodiversity ambitions.
• In May, the European Commission adopted a biodiversity strategy for 2030, which incorporates biodiversity loss, climate mitigation and adaptation into their recovery plans.
• The number of warheads on the PRC's (People' s Republic of China) land-based ICBMs capable of threatening the United States is expected to grow to roughly 200 in the next five years.
• The number of warheads on land-based PRC ICBMs capable of threatening the United States is expected to grow to roughly 200 in the next five years.
• The EU Green Deal includes the adoption of several strategies relevant to the preservation of freshwater including the Circular Economy Action Plan, the 'Farm to Fork' strategy, the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the EU Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change and the Zero Pollution Action Plan.
• The potential ban on TikTok in the US over national security concerns looms over creators, and could result in a loss of biodiversity engagement online.
• As we enter into a historic decade of action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and address climate change, business has a critical role to play in environmental stewardship of our planet.
• Guided by science, the UK's COP26 presidency will promote a clean, inclusive and resilient recovery from Covid-19 which creates sustainable jobs and addresses the urgent and linked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and public health.
• The European Commission suggests the development of circular economy to reduce pressure on natural resources, stop the biodiversity loss, and reach the climate-neutrality targeted by 2050.
• Climate change and biodiversity loss are interlinked problems, and nature-based solutions to tackle climate change will be important for reducing pressures on biodiversity and increasing investment in habitats.
• In 2019, the IPCC studied analyses found that plant-based diets could ensure adequate food production by 2050, using less land than is currently used, allowing considerable forest regeneration, and reducing land-based GHG emissions by up to one-third of the business-as-usual case for 2050.
• Recent estimates from Climate Central, an independent climate research organisation, projects a rise in sea levels of up to 2.1-meters by 2100, which could potentially permanently drown land that is currently home to 200 million people around the world.
• By 2030, urban areas are expected to cover three times as much land as they did in the year 2000, with much expansion taking place in key biodiversity hotspots in Latin America and Asia.
• Clothing companies and brands are encouraged, but not mandated, to: 1) achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, 2) restore natural ecosystems and protect species, and 3) reduce the use of single-use plastic.
• There are around 10 billion IoMT devices connected to the global clinical ecosystem today, with over 50 more connected each second, and 50 billion projected by 2028.
• A further 104 million tonnes of plastic will leak into ecosystems by 2030 if policymakers, businesses and consumers do not collaborate to drastically change their approaches.
• Damage to ecosystems including forests, grasslands and coral reefs - and the associated loss of biodiversity - could drain nearly $10 tn from the global economy by 2050.
• Transforming food and land use systems could create new business opportunities worth up to $4.5 trillion a year by 2030.
• New investment of $350 billion a year in sustainable food and land use systems could create as many as 120 million new jobs and unlock up to $4.5 trillion in new business opportunities by 2030.

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Last updated: 20 September 2020