Accelerating all SDGs through the GEO-LDN federated tool and capacity development approach

The focus of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) interventions on maintaining and improving natural capital, building resilience and generating co-benefits that strengthen other forms of capital has the potential to act as an accelerator and integrator for progress towards all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Through its federated tool and capacity development approach, the Group on Earth Observation Land Degradation Neutrality (GEO LDN) Initiative is helping countries more effectively assess land degradation, evaluate trade-offs among competing interests across the landscape, optimize the spatial mix of land use in order to achieve multiple benefits, and plan interventions to conserve, sustainably manage and restore land, in line with the LDN response hierarchy to avoid, reduce and reverse land degradation.

The strategy of the GEO-LDN Initiative is to connect existing and new tools, data and capacity development modules in a federated approach that is flexible to be adapted to specific local use cases making it transversal and relevant to nature-based solutions even beyond LDN.

This side event will illustrate the federated approach by showcasing two of the GEO-LDN’s major expected outputs: the LDN toolbox and postgraduate program. The goal of the side event is to introduce these outputs, mobilize support, and gather feedback concerning further development and improvement, including by building on the lessons learned from developing other SDG toolkits in the framework of the EO4SDG initiative.

The LDN toolbox will provide national and local stakeholders—in the 129 countries that have committed to set LDN targets—with effective access to data, tools, and methods to fulfill their environmental targets and reach or exceed LDN. Moreover, it builds on the foundation laid by the Land Use Planning for Land Degradation Neutrality (LUP4LDN) tool, winner of the GEO-LDN’s 2021 international technology innovation competition, which already supports land degradation monitoring in over 120 countries. The toolbox promotes interoperability among the diverse range of earth observation and other types of data and tools involved in integrated land use planning by consolidating these into a unified system. Through a workflow mechanism, users’ access to the toolbox is tailored to their needs and objectives, facilitating better data use. The LDN toolbox bridges the gap between data providers and users, empowering both in the pursuit of LDN.

The side event will kick-off the international postgraduate program on LDN hosted by the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani, Ghana. Its purpose is to build the capacity of future decision-makers to integrate LDN into planning and use and adapt the LDN toolbox to achieve local LDN targets. The modular design of the postgraduate programme will allow other universities to integrate relevant parts of it into their curricula; furthermore, specific modules will be singled out for vocational training of current decision-makers thus enhancing national capacities to meet LDN targets.

The GEO-LDN is supported by a diverse range of organizations and initiatives, including the UNCCD, Conservation International, and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), among other partners.