Commitment (noun) : the obligation or a pledge to do something or to carry out some action or policy
One of the most visible ways that the world is working to protect the landscapes still intact, restore the ones that aren’t, and improve the livelihoods of the poor and marginalized is through commitments. These range from quantifiable goals for trees to plant and hectares to restore to sweeping reforms like ending poverty and redressing the food system.
Climate, landscape restoration and development commitments come at individual, community, business, organization, country and global levels. Some are singular; many more overlap with or support one another. Some can be achieved in a month or a year; some anticipate decades to grasp their goals.
One thing all commitments have in common, however, is the small amount of attention – or even awareness of their existence – they receive from the general public. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are collectively considered an umbrella commitment under which all other development commitments fall, was found to be well understood by only 1 in 100 citizens in a survey held across 24 countries. Only 1 in 10 Europeans were found to know what the SDGs are.
In an effort to shed light on the scattered and innumerable commitments all working to create a more sustainable and equitable world, the Landscape News Commitment Index is a living, growing resource that will be regularly updated to inform readers on the basic facts and progress of different commitments, beginning with the most prevalent and growing to include a broad array of efforts happening at all scales around the world.
The Sustainable Development Goals
Ending poverty and achieving sustainable development by 2030
Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement
Limiting global warming and adapting to climate change
The New York Declaration on Forests
Ending natural forest loss by 2030
The Bonn Challenge
350 million hectares under restoration by 2030
Initiative 20×20
20 million hectares in Latin America and the Caribbean under restoration by 2020
The African Forest Landscape Initiative
100 million hectares in Africa under restoration by 2030
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