Attention to land degradation and environmental pollution has increased significantly in the
past 25 years, largely due to greater levels of international cooperation and recognition that
local changes in land resources have global impacts. As the world's focus on climate
change increases, so, too, does the attention being paid to drought and its rise in frequency
and severity. Despite this heightened global awareness, action to prevent or mitigate land
degradation and drought at national or international levels has been limited, primarily …

Land degradation has not been comprehensively addressed at the global level or in
developing countries. A suitable economic framework that could guide investments and
institutional action is lacking. This study aims to overcome this deficiency and to provide a
framework for a global assessment based on a consideration of the costs of action versus
inaction regarding desertification, land degradation, and drought (DLDD). Most of the
studies on the costs of land degradation (mainly limited to soil erosion) give cost estimates of …