Global GDP could increase by $140,000 billion a year,
or 1.5 times the world’s annual GDP, if we achieve the objectives of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. If thehe cost of action may seem enormous, but governments could pay an even higher price if they do nothing. “The benefits of action against land degradation far outweigh the costs of sustainable landscape management. In sub-Saharan Africa, it’s at least seven times! Inaction costs sub-Saharan countries 490 billion dollars a year, whereas, according to the Economics of Land Degradation initiative, measures to reverse land degradation could generate benefits worth up to 1,400 billion dollars”, said Luc Gnacadja, former Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and former Environment Minister of Benin, currently co-chair of the Executive Committee of the Adaptation Benefits Mechanism.
