Sample task 2 Soil Degradation and Restoration

Healthy soil is the foundation of food production and a vital carbon sink. Yet human activity is degrading land at an alarming rate. The United Nations estimates that up to 40 % of the world’s land surface is degraded, including 30 % of cropland and 10 % of pastureland. Drylands experiencing drought have expanded by more than 1 % per year over the past five decades. When land is degraded, it directly affects half of humanity and causes an annual loss of about US$40 trillion in ecosystem services—nearly half of global GDP in 2021. Degraded land undermines food security, reduces freshwater availability and contributes to biodiversity loss. Severe degradation such as desertification could displace up to 250 million people by 2050.

Land‑based ecosystems currently absorb around 30 % of carbon emissions produced by human activities. However, deforestation, unsustainable agriculture and urbanization reduce the land’s ability to store carbon. Without efforts to restore and protect land, nearly 70 gigatonnes more carbon could be emitted by 2050 due to land‑use change and soil degradation. Restoration offers powerful socio‑economic benefits: the UN calculates that the economic gains from land restoration could reach up to US$140 trillion per year—about 50 % more than the global GDP in 2021. Investing just US$1.6 trillion of the US$700 billion that governments currently spend on fossil‑fuel and agricultural subsidies each year could restore one billion hectares of degraded land, an area the size of the United States.

Restoration practices include agroforestry, improved grazing management, crop rotation and protecting areas critical for biodiversity and water provision. Sustainable land management techniques—such as efficient irrigation and reduced tillage—can improve soil fertility, conserve water and boost yields while reducing emissions. Policies that incentivize farmers to adopt such practices, coupled with community‑based land‑use planning, are essential. Recognizing the value of ecosystem services and integrating them into national accounting can drive investment. Land restoration is not only about sequestering carbon; it also enhances resilience to climate change, supports rural livelihoods and preserves cultural landscapes. By acting now, societies can transform degraded soils from a source of emissions into a cornerstone of climate and food security.