🔗 Full report: Turning Over a New Leaf – Interconnected Disaster Risks 2023

The Challenge: Knowing What to Do, But Failing to Act

Climate change is accelerating. Species extinction and ecosystem degradation are occurring at unprecedented rates. The world produces over two billion tonnes of waste annually, a figure expected to double by 2050. Scientists have repeatedly sounded the alarm: phase out fossil fuels, restore ecosystems, and shift to sustainable living. Yet, progress remains sluggish. The question is no longer what to do—but why aren’t we doing it?

Introducing the Theory of Deep Change

This year’s report responds to that question by introducing the Theory of Deep Change (ToDC). This new framework helps us understand why surface-level responses often fall short. It explains that real change requires addressing the root causes of global crises—our beliefs, values, and social systems.

The theory involves four core stages:

1. Observe current outcomes.
2. Identify root causes.
3. Envision a desirable future.
4. Explore transformations to achieve it.

Rather than simply preventing catastrophe, ToDC helps reimagine how we might live in a future that is abundant, resilient, and just.

Five Transformational Shifts

The report outlines five key transformations needed for deep systemic change:

1. Rethink waste – From trash to treasure
2. Realign with nature – From separation to harmony
3. Reconsider responsibility – From me to we
4. Reimagine the future – From seconds to centuries
5. Redefine value – From economic wealth to planetary health

These changes require moving away from reactive, short-term thinking to proactive, long-term systems redesign.

From Plastic Waste to Planetary Health

One practical example explored is our relationship with waste. Current systems are based on linear consumption: extract, use, discard. Even well-intended efforts like recycling struggle because they operate within a system that rewards overproduction and disposability.

To fix this, ToDC suggests changing our underlying assumption that material consumption equals happiness. Only by shifting our values to recognize resource finiteness and the value of durability can we build effective circular systems—supported by policies such as right-to-repair laws or design standards that promote reuse and longevity.

🔗 Technical report: Rethinking Waste – Interconnected Disaster Risks 2023

Inner and Outer Levers of Change

The report distinguishes between inner levers—changes in personal or collective values—and outer levers—changes in societal structures like laws and institutions. While inner levers deal with the “soil” (beliefs and assumptions), outer levers affect the “trunk and branches” (structures and systems).

When used together, these levers can reinforce one another. For instance, the global shift in attitudes toward smoking resulted from both public health campaigns (inner levers) and regulatory action (outer levers). This same interplay is needed to address climate and ecological breakdown.

A Global Responsibility: Moving Beyond Unilateralism

UNU-EHS also warns of the dangers of individualistic or unilateral climate actions, such as solar geoengineering. Though marketed as quick fixes, such technologies can have unintended global consequences—worsening inequalities and climate injustices. Instead, we must embrace global cooperation, based on shared responsibility and mutual care.

🔗 Technical report: Reconsidering Responsibility – Interconnected Disaster Risks 2023

Learning from the Past: The Montreal Protocol

The report highlights the 1987 Montreal Protocol as a rare but powerful example of successful global coordination. Through binding agreements, financial support, and shared goals, the Protocol reversed ozone depletion—a feat now guiding us toward full ozone recovery by 2066. It proves that unified global action is possible—and effective.

Hope Through Radical Imagination

While today’s risks are daunting, UNU-EHS emphasizes that human-made systems can be unmade—and remade. With bold imagination and deliberate action, we can cultivate systems rooted in planetary health and collective wellbeing. The report urges us not just to limit harm but to actively build the future we want.

🔗 Technical report: Redefining Value – Interconnected Disaster Risks 2023

🔗 Technical report: Reimagining the Future – Interconnected Disaster Risks 2023

🔗 Technical report: Realigning with Nature – Interconnected Disaster Risks 2023

Rewilding is deep change

In the technical report “Realign with Nature” (2025), rewilding is presented as a vital approach to restore ecological integrity and reconnect humans with natural processes. The report highlights rewilding as a means to support ecosystems in regaining their functionality by reintroducing keystone species, allowing natural succession, and reducing human control over landscapes.

Rather than managing nature for useful outcomes, rewilding embraces uncertainty and complexity, fostering self-sustaining systems that can adapt to change. This approach aligns with the broader transformation advocated by the UNU-EHS—to shift from dominating and exploiting nature to collaborating with it. Rewilding, in this context, is not just an ecological intervention but a cultural shift toward humility, participation, and coexistence with the living world.

Turning Over a New Leaf: A Call to Action

“Turning Over a New Leaf” doesn’t just diagnose the crisis—it offers a roadmap to deep, meaningful transformation. By rethinking what we value, reimagining our relationship with nature, and committing to both personal and collective change, we can move from crisis to opportunity.

This is not about returning to an idealized past—it’s about courageously creating a future where both people and planet can thrive. The time to act is now—and it starts with shifting our beliefs, our systems, and ultimately, our direction.

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For decades, Purnima has been at the forefront of conservation, leading the Hargila Army, an inspiring grassroots movement dedicated to protecting the endangered Greater Adjutant stork (Hargila) in Assam, India. Through her work, she has transformed local perceptions of the stork from a neglected, despised species to a cherished symbol of cultural pride. Her efforts have not only revived dwindling Hargila populations but also uplifted communities by integrating conservation with women’s empowerment, sustainable livelihoods, and traditional knowledge.

Honoring 12 Other Changemakers

Purnima joins an extraordinary group of 12 women recognized by TIME this year for their groundbreaking contributions across different fields. From environmental advocacy to social justice, science, and human rights, these leaders are paving the way for a more just and sustainable future.

This recognition is more than a personal achievement—it is a testament to the power of community-driven conservation and rewilding. As Purnima always emphasizes, conservation is strongest when it is rooted in local traditions, led by the community, and driven by shared responsibility.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Purnima Devi Barman and all the inspiring Women of the Year 2025. Their work serves as a beacon of hope for the planet and future generations.

Read TIME’s full feature here: https://time.com/7216405/purnima-devi-barman-hargila-storks/

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The initiative’s Coordination Office, established at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), plays a crucial role in ensuring the effective implementation of this goal. The G20 Global Land Initiative is also at the forefront of the Land Challenge under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, emphasizing the importance of involving all countries and terrestrial ecosystems.

Integrating Land Restoration into Education

A significant focus of the event was on integrating land restoration into educational curricula, a step seen as vital for fostering environmental stewardship and sustainable development among future generations. The initiative recognizes that educating young minds about land restoration’s ecological, social, and economic benefits is essential to addressing the environmental challenges our planet faces. By embedding these principles into the curriculum, students can develop a comprehensive understanding of the importance of restoring degraded landscapes, empowering them to participate actively in restoration projects and inspire innovative approaches to sustainable land management.

Rewilding Activities and Global Participation

Among the notable presentations, Rewilding Academy showcased their pioneering work in ecosystem restoration, training and education, demonstrating the practical and transformative impact of such efforts. Alongside Rewilding Academy, 14 other participants from aroundthe world presented their projects focusing on education and land restoration. These presentations underscored the global nature of the initiative, highlighting diverse approaches and solutions tailored to different ecosystems and communities.

The Role of the G20 Global Land Initiative

The G20 Global Land Initiative’s workstreams are comprehensive, encompassing knowledge sharing, engaging the private sector, empowering civil society, and building capacity. These efforts aim to promote and strengthen institutional skills, regulatory frameworks, technology, innovation, investments, and resources dedicated to land restoration.

Workshop Highlights

The workshops held during the event focused on developing a strategic plan to integrate land restoration principles within school curricula for students aged 11-16. This will include the creation of relevant online and offline materials for use in schools and at home. One of the workshop’s innovative elements is the development of Nature Labs in schools worldwide. These labs are designed to provide students with hands-on experience in land restoration activities, fostering a deep connection with the natural world.

Objectives and Outcomes

The key objectives of the workshop included:

• Developing a comprehensive plan to integrate land restoration into global school curricula.

• Establishing Nature Labs to offer experiential learning opportunities.

• Building a global network to facilitate the exchange of ideas, experiences, and best practices among educators, environmental experts, and policymakers.

The workshop aimed to create a collaborative action plan for schools to integrate land restoration into their educational programs. Another crucial goal is the formation of a global network of schools committed to implementing and sharing innovative practices in environmental education, supported by the development of Nature Labs.

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The World Restoration Flagship awards form a crucial component of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, spearheaded by UNEP and FAO. This initiative aims to halt, mitigate, and reverse the decline of ecosystems across the globe. These recognized initiatives exemplify the global commitment to restoring over one billion hectares of land – an area larger than China.

The announcement of the winning initiatives precedes the 6th session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-6), scheduled from February 26th to March 1st at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Collectively, the seven new flagships are projected to restore nearly 40 million hectares of land – an expanse nearly 600 times the size of Nairobi – and generate approximately 500,000 employment opportunities.

In the words of Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, “TFor too long, economic development came at the expense of the environment. Yet today we see global efforts to usher in a comeback for nature. These initiatives show how we can make peace with nature, put local communities at the heart of restoration efforts and still create new jobs. As we continue to face a triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, now is the time we must double down and accelerate restoration initiatives.”

The selection process for the World Restoration Flagships involves a meticulous review by the Task Forces for Science and Best Practices of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, aligning with the Decade’s 10 Restoration Principles. The initiatives selected represent ongoing, large-scale, and long-term ecosystem restoration efforts.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu emphasized, “FAO is pleased to recognize these seven worthy champoins, proving that we can offer the leading examples to reverse ecosystem degradation at scale, while also addressing the impacts of the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. Restoring terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems is a crucial step in the transformation of global agrifood systems to be more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. Ecosystem restoration is long term solution in the fight to eradicate poverty, hunger and malnutrition, as we face population growth and increased need for foods and ecosystem goods and services.”

The World Restoration Flagships initiative, inaugurated in 2022 as part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, will continue recognizing exemplary efforts biennially until 2030. This year’s selection reflects an escalated commitment to nature conservation by governments and private entities, as demonstrated by the USD 1.4 billion funding allocated by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council last year.

Renowned actor and UNEP Advocate for Life Below Water, Jason Momoa, remarked, “Conserving nature is crucial, but it’s not cutting it anymore. We’ve lost too much of our planet, and it’s time to step up and rebuild what we messed up, fix what we broke, and restore what we trashed. These restoration initiatives are like the exciting answers to the big questions our connection to the natural world raises – just like the best movies do”

Each of the seven World Restoration Flagships is being unveiled through video messages shared on various UN social media platforms by UN or UNEP Goodwill Ambassadors or Advocates, including actors Dia Mirza, Jason Momoa, and Edward Norton, chef Leyla Fathallah, and supermodel and bestselling author Gisele Bündchen.

Initiative Highlights:

1. From Fires to Forests – Resilience in the Mediterranean The Restoring Mediterranean Forests Initiative, spanning Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Türkiye, adopts an innovative approach to safeguarding and restoring natural habitats in the face of escalating threats such as wildfires and prolonged droughts. Since 2017, approximately two million hectares of forests have been restored across the region, with plans underway to restore over eight million hectares by 2030.

2. Living Indus – Restoring a Cradle of Civilizations The Living Indus initiative in Pakistan aims to rejuvenate the ecosystem of the Indus River, a vital lifeline for the nation. Encompassing 25 million hectares by 2030, this initiative is instrumental in safeguarding Pakistan’s agricultural and ecological sustainability, designating the Indus River as a living entity with inherent rights.

3. Acción Andina: Saving a Global Water and Climate Hotspot Led by the Peruvian conservation organization ECOAN, the Acción Andina movement aims to restore and grow 30 million trees across seven South American countries by 2030, fostering climate resilience and sustainable community development.

4. Sri Lanka Mangrove Regeneration Initiative In Sri Lanka, mangrove forests are vital coastal ecosystems under threat from climate change and human activities. The initiative focuses on restoring 10,000 hectares of mangroves by 2030, benefiting coastal communities and creating thousands of jobs.

5. Terai Arc Landscape: Reviving Asia’s Mega-fauna The Terai Arc Landscape Initiative in India and Nepal focuses on restoring critical wildlife corridors and habitats, doubling the tiger population and improving the livelihoods of local communities by restoring 350,000 hectares of forests by 2030.

6. Regreening Africa The Regreening Africa initiative employs agroforestry techniques across eight African nations to restore over 350,000 hectares of land, benefiting over 600,000 households and enhancing agricultural productivity and climate resilience.

7. Forest Garden Program Spanning multiple African countries, the Forest Garden Program aims to restore 229,000 hectares of land by 2030, creating over 230,000 jobs and fostering sustainable agriculture through agroforestry practices.

For more information, visit UNEP and FAO websites.

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In this interview with the Nature-positive tourism course leaders, we delve into the core principles and unique offerings of the course, highlighting the transformative mindset shift and sustainable practices that participants acquire along the way.

How does your course/training on Nature Positive Tourism contribute to building a regenerative industry that benefits nature, communities and tourism entrepreneurs?

We believe that a mutually beneficial partnership between nature and people is critical, to ensure a long-term sustainable future. By stimulating a positive relationship between nature and local communities, we believe that tourism provides communities with the opportunity to remain authentic while integrating closely with wild nature. 

We encourage a hands-on tourism experience where guests not only contribute to nature and communities, but add value by sharing experiences with local enterprises. We also want our participants to leave feeling responsible for ensuring the future of not only the natural areas they have visited but also the people who live in those areas. 

As a Foundation we have made a conscious decision to contribute 10% of all training revenue back to nature, and to people who will benefit from this Nature Positive Tourism training.

In your course, you mention the significance of community engagement and partnerships in nature-positive tourism. Could you elaborate on the role of local communities and businesses and how your course helps participants strengthen these partnerships?

Our training provides first-hand learning and experience on:

• how beneficial, authentic community partnerships are, 
• recognizing the value of long-term partnerships, 
• accepting local partnerships for the value they have and bring (and allowing them time to develop organically)
• appreciating the value and importance of local culture

By delivering training in these areas with local partners, we provide the local partners with a direct impact on their businesses but also stimulate positive conversation around the role and relationship that they have with nature.

The field training portion of your course focuses on providing firsthand experiences and learnings in wildlife tourism, nature conservation, and rewilding efforts. How do these practical experiences enable participants to actively contribute to the protection and support of wildlife and habitats?

We hope that the firsthand experiences create connectivity between participants and the areas and conservation efforts we take them to, forging an emotional understanding of how valuable these examples are and then providing them with examples and ways to stimulate and support these conservation efforts. It helps to open them up to a greater opportunity to have an impact. 

Just by taking this training, participants actively contribute to local communities and businesses and have a direct impact on nature (as part of their training fee is directly contributed to local conservation efforts).

One of the course objectives is to introduce participants to the concept of being “nature positive” and the mindset shift required. Could you explain how your course facilitates this mindset shift and equips participants to align their businesses with nature-positive practices?

The courses are designed to bring people closer to nature, using specially crafted moments in nature to connect people to the wild, which allows them to understand the critical role they play in ensuring nature’s protection. 

Using international examples and experience we provide participants with insights and learnings that show how positive engagement with nature can be created.

 These learnings include financial responsibility and contribution, selecting and stimulating the right partnerships (both locally and internationally), and being bold enough to market truly sustainable tourism offerings.

Embrace Nature Positive Tourism

Join us on this transformative journey and become a force for change in the world of travel. Sign up now, and by enrolling in this course, you contribute 3-5% of the fees to support our projects, enabling us to expand our training opportunities to individuals in economically disadvantaged regions. Together, we can create a positive impact and work towards a sustainable future for our planet.

Ecotourism

Nature Positive Tourism: Online Training

Ecotourism

Nature Positive Tourism: Field Training

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Rewilding is the process of restoring natural ecosystems. With an increasing number of rewilding success stories, the global interest in this topic keeps growing. Many rewilding projects focus on natural areas and the reintroduction of missing species to restore food webs and ecosystem processes. But rewilding can take place at different scales and with a growing urban population, rewilding our cities can bring multiple benefits to human wellbeing, biodiversity and climate resilience of our cities.

During the webinar, we explored urban rewilding initiatives and discussed opportunities and challenges linked to rewilding our cities. We let these questions guide our event and discussion:

What does rewilding mean in the urban context? What are the success stories in urban rewilding? What role can urban areas play in the quest of restoring the planet?

Urban Rewilding Panelists

Juat Ying Ng,
Assistant Director, Gardens by the Bay

Juat Ying Ng, Assistant Director of Singapore’s iconic Gardens by the Bay’s sustainability office. She focuses on initiatives for urban rewilding, such as restoring Singapore’s kingfisher wetlands, and local ecosystem restoration. She is a strong proponent of effective climate action and has previously worked in the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment where she was in charge of promoting Singapore’s Green Plan 2030, which outlines a bold national vision for sustainable development.

Cain Blythe,
CEO at Ecosulis

With over 30 years of experience in ecosystem restoration and urban rewilding, Cain Blythe is a chartered environmentalist. He is a co-author of Rewilding: the radical new science of ecological recovery, a book that has received widespread recognition. Cain places a special emphasis on the use of technology as a tool for natural recovery.

Hakim El Amrani,
Founder, Studio NousNous

Hakim is the founder of Studio NousNous, a design and research firm based in the Netherlands specializing in biophilic spatial design. He is an advocate for green healing spaces with a track record of creating highly regarded nature-based design projects in the built environments for clients such as the city of Amsterdam and the Stedelijk Museum.

Why do we need to Rewild our Cities?

Introducing functional ecosystems back into our cities, urban rewilding helps to create more liveable spaces. There are a number of benefits linked to rewilding our cities such as physical and mental well-being, improved climate (self-)regulation, and the creation of more liveable habitats for biodiversity.

Learn more about rewilding our cities in our course on Urban Rewilding re-launching on October 4th 2022.

The post Rewilding our Cities: Nature-Based Solutions for our Urban Environment appeared first on Rewilding Academy.

The world’s dire ecological situation, and the challenges faced by present and future generations, are increasingly clear. Youth are protesting in the streets and in the courts, as calls for deep transformation and renewal are heard from all segments of society. On October 8, 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) recognized the “right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment”.

For this right to be implemented, structural changes to the legal, economic, social, political, and technological spheres will be required to restore a stable and well-functioning Earth System. A shared consciousness of our global interdependence must give rise to a new common logic, to define and recognize the global commons that support life on Earth — the planetary system that connects us all and on which we all depend. This is a foundational step toward the establishment of a governance system to effectively manage human interactions with the Earth System¹.

Fifty years after the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, the signatories of this civil society Declaration call upon the United Nations, its agencies, and all Member States to act upon a four-step pathway towards the critical paradigm shift we all need – the Stockholm+50 Declaration:

1 – IMPLEMENT THE RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT. 

Member States should implement UNHRC Resolution 48/13 recognizing this right. This requires acknowledging and acting upon intra- and intergenerational equity which, in turn, requires that principles are progressive and include obligations of non-regression – e.g., enshrining a “regeneration” agenda – in all spheres of environmental law. Non-regression must prevent erosion of protection, while principles of regeneration and progression will ensure that environmental laws and regulations consistently advance in both ambition and effectiveness. It entails ensuring procedural environmental rights, including access to information, public participation, and access to justice. The right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment (itself a core global public good) can only be achieved if our shared life support system – the Earth System – is protected as a single, indivisible whole.

2 – RECOGNIZE, RESTORE AND SAFEGUARD THE GLOBAL COMMONS.

The foundational step for successfully managing a common good is to recognize and define it. This will facilitate the establishment of a genuinely effective global environmental governance framework, consistent with the indivisibility of the natural system that supports life on this planet. A well-functioning Earth System, keeping humanity in a “safe operating space” within all vital and interdependent Planetary Boundaries, must be recognized as a fundamental global common in need of urgent stewardship. It thus should be legally recognized as the “Common Heritage” of humankind. A stable climate is a manifestation of the Earth System functioning and represents more than an issue of “Common Concern,” as expressed in the Paris Agreement. Due to the urgency of the climate crisis, the recognition of a stable climate as Common Heritage, to allow for its restoration and safeguard, must become an immediate flagship issue and central priority in the “Our Common Agenda” process.

3 – ESTABLISH A REGENERATIVE ECONOMY. 

Our current economic system treats the consumption of physical natural resources as “wealth creation,” despite the resulting destruction of natural infrastructure. A prosperous future requires an economy in which the natural processes that support all life on Earth and maintain a stable climate become economically visible. Recognizing the Earth System and a stable climate as a “Common Heritage” will enable the proper valuation of these benefits for human societies, which today are considered mere “externalities”. This will provide the legal basis and catalyst to build a regenerative economy and a system of governance that restores and maintains a stable climate and other vital Planetary Boundaries.

4 – PRIORITIZE GOVERNANCE AND INSTITUTIONAL SOLUTIONS. 

The long-term governance of the global commons, the delivery of global public goods, and management of global public risks all require a permanent system of effective governance to reliably manage our interactions with the Earth System as a whole. For example, a proposal to repurpose the inactive United Nations Trusteeship Council has been widely discussed, including most recently in the UN Secretary-General’s Our Common Agenda (OCA) report. The OCA report calls for a Declaration for Future Generations and highlights the desirability of transforming the Council into a multilateral space for the governance of the commons and to give voice to the interests of succeeding generations. Ensuring adequate global ecological governance and strengthening today’s fragmented institutional frameworks, and making them inclusive, representative, and accountable to global citizens, must be made a central priority for the international community.

Source: Stockholmdeclaration
Photo: Unsplash/Alessandro Erbetta

You can help!

We urge you to support this effort by signing the Declaration for Stockholm+50, setting forth a four-step pathway towards the critical paradigm shift we need to ensure effective planetary governance.

SIGN THE DECLARATION

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Becoming #GenerationRestoration: Ecosystem Restoration for People, Nature and Climate synthesizes evidence of the state of degradation of the world’s ecosystems and details the economic, environmental and social rewards that restoration can bring. The report shows that, far from being a ‘nice to have’, ecosystem restoration is needed on a large scale in order to achieve the sustainable development agenda.

Over-exploitation of natural resources is embedded in economies and governance systems, and the resulting degradation is undermining hard-won development gains and threatening the well-being of future generations.

Countries need to deliver on their existing commitments to restore 1 billion hectares of degraded land and make similar commitments for marine and coastal areas. Ecosystem restoration is one of the most important ways of delivering nature-based solutions for food insecurity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and biodiversity loss.

It won’t be quick or easy, and it will take deep changes to everything from the way we measure economic progress to how we grow food and what we eat. But the beauty of ecosystem restoration is that it can happen at any scale – and everyone has a role to play.

Synthesis report

Trees are more important today than This report represents a synthesis of recent research. All selected ecosystems – farmlands; forests; freshwater; grasslands, shrublands and savannahs; mountains; oceans and coasts; peatlands; and urban areas – are being degraded, often at an accelerating rate. We are fast approaching a tipping point for the climate (IPCC 2018) and are close to overshooting some of our other ‘planetary boundaries’. The demands humanity places on the biosphere – our ecological footprint – are simply too much (Dasgupta 2021).

Read the full report

KEY MESSAGE 1
Countries need to deliver on their existing commitments to restore 1 billion hectares of
degraded land and make similar commitments for marine and coastal areas.

The fulfilment of these commitments is not simply something that is ‘nice to have’. Restoration is essential for
keeping global temperature rise below 2°C, ensuring food security for a growing population and slowing the rate of
species extinctions. Humanity is not outside of nature; it is part of it. We need to recreate a balanced relationship with the ecosystems that sustain us.

KEY MESSAGE 2
Unfortunately, we are still going in the wrong direction.

The world’s ecosystems – from oceans to forests to farmlands – are being degraded, in many cases at an accelerating rate. People living in poverty, women, indigenous peoples and other marginalized groups bear the brunt of this damage, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened existing inequalities. While the causes of degradation are various and complex, one thing is clear: the massive economic growth of recent decades has come at the cost of ecological health.

KEY MESSAGE 3
Ecosystem restoration is needed on a large scale in order to achieve the sustainable development agenda.

The conservation of healthy ecosystems – while vitally important – is now not enough. We are using the equivalent of 1.6 Earths to maintain our current way of life, and ecosystems cannot keep up with our demands. Simply put, we need more nature. The good news is that nature has an extraordinary capacity for renewal. While some ecosystems are approaching a tipping point from which they cannot recover, many others can flourish again if we stop the damage and restore their health, biodiversity and productivity.

KEY MESSAGE 4
Ecosystem restoration delivers multiple benefits.

It is one of the most important ways of delivering nature-based solutions for societal challenges.

• Half of the world’s GDP is dependent on nature, and every dollar invested in restoration creates up to USD 30 dollars in economic benefits.
• Restoring productive ecosystems is essential to supporting food security. Restoration through agroforestry alone has the potential to increase food security for 1.3 billion people. Restoring the populations of marine fish to deliver a maximum sustainable yield could increase fisheries production by 16.5 million tonnes, an annual value of USD 32 billion.
• Actions that prevent, halt and reverse degradation are needed if we are to keep global temperatures below 2°C. Such actions can deliver one-third of the mitigation that is needed by 2030. This could involve action to better manage some 2.5 billion hectares of forest, crop and grazing land (through restoration and avoiding degradation) and restoration of natural cover over 230 million hectares.
• Large-scale investments in dryland agriculture, mangrove protection and water management will make a vital contribution to building resilience to climate change, generating benefits around four times the original investment.
• With careful planning, restoring 15 per cent of converted lands while stopping further conversion of natural ecosystems could avoid 60 per cent of expected species extinctions.

KEY MESSAGE 5
Achieving successful ecosystem restoration at scale will require deep changes, including:

• Adopting inclusive wealth as a more accurate measure of economic progress. This will rest on the widespread introduction of natural capital accounting.
• Creating an enabling environment for private sector investment, including through public-private partnerships.
• Increasing the amount of finance for restoration, including through the elimination of perverse subsidies that incentivize further degradation and fuel climate change, and through initiatives to raise awareness of the risks posed by ecosystem degradation.
• Taking action on food waste, making more efficient use of agricultural land, and encouraging a shift to a more plant-based diet.
• Expanding awareness of the importance of healthy ecosystems throughout our educational systems.

KEY MESSAGE 6
Everyone has a role to play in ecosystem restoration.

The restoration of ecosystems at scale is no small task, and it will take a concerted effort to truly restore the planet. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to catalyse a global movement among local communities and activists, women, youth, indigenous groups, private companies, financial investors, researchers and governments at all levels.

The beauty of restoration is that it conveys a message of action and hope, and it can happen at any scale – whether a backyard plot, a city park, a river valley, a national forest or a globally threatened ecosystem. This means that everyone can get involved.

KEY MESSAGE 7
Achieving the aims of the UN Decade will require action by many. We call on:

• Governments to ensure that their COVID-19 recovery plans incorporate significant allocations for ecosystem restoration as a central component to delivering a green, sustainable and fair recovery. Currently, only about 18 per cent of recovery stimulus plans can be characterized as ‘green’.
• Parties to deliver on existing commitments under the Rio Conventions and the Bonn Challenge to restore 1 billion hectares of land.
• Donors and institutions working on coastal and marine restoration to develop and deliver on ambitious restoration goals equivalent at least to the Bonn Challenge.
• Public and private financial institutions and regulatory bodies to develop and strengthen instruments and mechanisms to ensure that finance flows support – and do not compromise – restoration efforts.
• Indigenous peoples and local communities across the world to build on their knowledge, experience and capacity for action to help achieve restoration goals.
• Youth organizations to play an active leadership role in ecosystem restoration locally, nationally and globally and to actively participate in the governance and implementation of the UN Decade.

Source: UNEP
Featured photo by Pablo Nida

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