15. Life on land

SDG 15. Life on land

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Targets*,***

15.1 Ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services
15.2 Promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally
15.3 Combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil
15.4 Ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems
15.5 Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species
15.6 Promote fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources and promote appropriate access to such resources
15.7 Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products

Key insights

• Less than half of important sites for both terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity are covered by protected areas in the majority of Southeast Asian countries, with the exception of Brunei, Malaysia, and Thailand.¹

Business actions**

1. Implement policies and practices to protect natural ecosystems that are affected by business and supply chain activities
2. Research, develop, and deploy products, services, and business models to help decouple economic activity from the degradation of natural ecosystems
3. Galvanise finance to create awareness, protect, and further develop natural
   ecosystems
4. Design and implement solutions to accurately value and respect natural capital, and drive wider adoption of these solutions

Example

• One of the largest pulp and paper companies in the world, based in Indonesia, is addressing deforestation through multiple activities. Among others, the company places emphasis on supply chain certification and monitoring using satellite technology. In addition, it organises community-based training programmes regarding sustainable agroforestry practices and collects baseline data to improve its reporting of progress.²

Thought Leadership

From dirt to data

Find out about the coming full-scale green revolution and the challenges that this new revolution could solve.

Seek and you may find

Find out how sustainability risk affects business and how sustainability can sometimes outweigh short-term profits.

* All targets for SDG 1 to 17 have been derived from the United Nations Statistics Division (2018), from: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/indicators-list/
** All business actions for SDG 1 to 17 have been derived from the United Nations Global Compact (2017), from: https://www.unglobalcompact.org/library/5461
*** Most relevant selected.
1 Asian Development Bank (2018), from: https://www.adb.org/publications/key-indicators-asia-and-pacific-2018
2 Edienet (2019), from: https://www.edie.net/library/In-Action--How-Asia-Pulp---Paper-is-achieving-SDG-15-Life-On-Land/6869