2020 Desertification and Drought Day

Reprint | | Print |

Jun 17 2020 -  

“If we keep producing and consuming as usual, we will eat into the planet’s capacity to sustain life…

…until there is nothing left but scraps.”

                     — Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification

 

As populations become larger, wealthier, and more urban, there is far greater demand for land.

Today, more than two billion hectares of previously productive land is degraded.

Over 70 per cent of natural ecosystems have been transformed.

By 2050, this could hit 90 per cent.

By 2030, food production will require an additional 300 million hectares of land

The fashion industry is the world’s second largest polluter after the oil industry.

By 2030, the fashion industry alone is predicted to use 35 per cent more land…

…over 115 million hectares, equivalent to the size of Colombia.

In the West Java Province of Indonesia, garment companies use 2500 liters of water…

…to produce just a single T-Shirt.

85% of India’s daily water needs would be covered…

…by the water used to grow cotton in the country.

100 million people in India do not have access to drinking water.

2020 Desertification and Drought Day will focus on links between consumption and land.

#FoodFeedFibre