Chapter 3: Land

This chapter from the Global Environment Outlook 5 (GEO-5) report analyzes the increasing pressures on global land resources driven by population growth, economic development, and globalization, while discussing the necessity of improved governance and capacity building for sustainable land management.

• Economic growth and the pursuit of perpetual growth often ignore biophysical limits and non-economic ecosystem functions, leading to resource depletion and ecosystem degradation. The economic cost of deforestation and forest degradation is projected to exceed the losses from the 2008 financial crises.
• Land resources are under intensifying pressure from competing demands for food, feed, fuel, fibre, and raw materials, which is exacerbated by population growth, changing diets, and biofuel-friendly policies. This results in land conversion, degradation, and increased tension between production and conservation goals, with climate change adding further stress.
• Globalization and urbanization increase the distance between production and consumption, which obscures the drivers of degradation, raises environmental costs from transport, and complicates sustainable management. This trend is both a cause and result of large-scale international land deals.
• Sustainable land management requires improved governance and capacity building that engages local communities and recognizes local values. Current strategies include market-based approaches like the UN's Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), centralized certification, and decentralized community-based resource management.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2012). Chapter 3: Land. https://www.sei.org/publications/geo-5-chapter-3-land/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Chapter 3: Land. 2012. https://www.sei.org/publications/geo-5-chapter-3-land/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Chapter 3: Land |date=6 June 2012 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/geo-5-chapter-3-land/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2012chapter, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Chapter 3: Land}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2012}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/geo-5-chapter-3-land/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }