Implementing land degradation neutrality (LDN) is listed as goal 15.3 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aims to combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil and achieve a land degradation-neutral world by 2030. Using several land degradation indicators, Wuepper et al. (2021) apply spatially explicit measurements to depict the natural resource 'debt' caused by land degradation, expressed as the difference between current and natural/historical conditions. Their novel approach combines vegetation and soil indicators to provide an integrated framework that enables more accurate assessments of global environmental change in addressing LDN for a sustainable future.
Degradation debts accounting: A holistic approach towards land degradation neutrality.