IUCN

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) continue to influence global development policy in the coming decade. Under SDG15, Target 15.3 calls to “combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world” by 2030. As of May 2019, 122 countries committed to set national targets for a land degradation-neutral world (LDN).

The European Red List is a review of the status of European species according to IUCN regional Red Listing guidelines. It identifies those species that are threatened with extinction at the regional level – in order that appropriate conservation action can be taken to improve their status.

Of the 8,300 million tonnes of plastic produced from 1950 to 2015, only 7% has been recycled while more than half has been discarded in landfill or leaked into the environment. Companies, organisations, and governments are taking measures to tackle plastic pollution. However, there is currently no standard methodology to measure the extent of the plastic problem.

Within a landscape of overlapping ecological, social and economic priorities, there exists a fundamental need to balance the land use dynamics of natural resource management with environmental and livelihood considerations. However, in striving to reach such a balance, people and local institutions are often excluded or forgotten.