UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Name	UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Start	2021
End	2030
Proclaiming body	United Nations General Assembly
Coordinating agency	United Nations Environment Programme
Focus	Ecosystem restoration

UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a global initiative proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation between 2021 and 2030, aligning with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement, and the Convention on Biological Diversity. It mobilizes states, subnational authorities, indigenous peoples, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and private sector actors including the World Bank, Global Environment Facility, and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to scale up restoration across terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine realms.

Background and goals

The proclamation emerged from negotiations involving the United Nations Environment Assembly, delegations from Brazil, Kenya, Germany, and Indonesia, and inputs from stakeholders including the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Primary goals link to targets in the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the Sustainable Development Goals, and national commitments under the Nationally Determined Contributions to deliver biodiversity gains, climate mitigation via carbon sequestration, and resilience for communities such as those in Bangladesh, Philippines, and Madagascar. The decade emphasizes ecosystem restoration as a means to implement obligations under the Ramsar Convention, the UNFCCC, and the Nagoya Protocol.

Scope and thematic priorities

The initiative’s scope covers restoration of forests, peatlands, savannas, wetlands, river basins, coral reefs, and urban green infrastructure across continents including Amazon rainforest, Congo Basin, Great Barrier Reef, Mekong River, and the Sahel. Thematic priorities were set with input from the Convention on Wetlands, the International Coral Reef Initiative, the Global Landscapes Forum, and academic partners such as Wageningen University, University of California, Davis, and Australian National University. Priority approaches include reforestation in regions like Indonesia and Brazil, mangrove rehabilitation in Bangladesh and Mozambique, peatland restoration in Indonesia and Finland, and river connectivity projects in basins such as the Yangtze and Danube.

Implementation and partners

Operationalizing the decade involves multilateral organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and World Wildlife Fund, alongside national agencies like Ministry of Environment (Brazil), provincial authorities in Andhra Pradesh, city administrations including Nairobi City County, and indigenous and local communities represented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Indigenous Peoples' group and the Forest Peoples Programme. Partnerships include research consortia with Smithsonian Institution, CERN-style data initiatives influenced by Group on Earth Observations, and private alliances with corporations engaged in supply chain restoration such as those aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative. Implementation modalities link to flagship programs like the Bonn Challenge, the Trillion Trees campaign, and initiatives under the Green Climate Fund.

Funding and resources

Financing draws on multilateral funding mechanisms including the Global Environment Facility, the Green Climate Fund, bilateral donors such as Germany (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), United States Agency for International Development, and philanthropic foundations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Private finance is mobilized through instruments developed by institutions like the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation and market mechanisms promoted by the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets. Capacity-building resources invoke training partnerships with FAO, UNESCO, and universities such as Oxford University and Imperial College London.

Monitoring, reporting, and impact

Monitoring frameworks integrate satellite and remote-sensing platforms including Landsat, Copernicus Programme, and analyses from the European Space Agency, alongside biodiversity monitoring by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and socioeconomic indicators tracked by UNDP. Reporting aligns with national reporting under the Convention on Biological Diversity and climate reporting to the UNFCCC's transparency framework, and is supplemented by civil-society led assessments from groups like Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy. Impact evaluation uses methodologies from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to quantify carbon sequestration, species recovery, and ecosystem service flows in landscapes such as the Atlantic Forest and the Yellow River basin.

Criticism and challenges

Critics from advocacy networks including Friends of the Earth, researchers at University of Cambridge, and community organizations in regions like Peru and Sumatra warn about risks of greenwashing, land-grabbing, and biodiversity trade-offs tied to monoculture afforestation promoted by some financial models. Implementation faces governance challenges tied to conflicting mandates among institutions like the World Bank, national ministries in Russia and China, and customary rights of indigenous groups represented by the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, as well as scientific uncertainties highlighted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change regarding permanence, leakage, and measurement of restoration outcomes.

Category:United Nations initiatives