Uneven progress towards global land degradation neutrality

Land degradation threatens climate stability, biodiversity and food systems, making land degradation neutrality (LDN) a central international policy target for sustainable land governance. Yet no globally comparable assessment has evaluated national progress towards LDN and its drivers, leaving the magnitude and causes of cross-country divergence unclear. Here, we assess national LDN progress and its climatic and anthropogenic drivers from 2000 to 2023. Global progress towards LDN was fragile and uneven, with gains concentrated in large Eurasian countries where extensive restoration has occurred. Losses were more pronounced in high-income countries and across Latin America and Central Asia. Although land status gains still exceeded losses globally, net gains narrowed over time, especially in grasslands and croplands. Climate stress, especially shifts in aridity and moisture, was the dominant constraint, whereas human activities shaped regional divergence. These findings support pathway-based policies to avoid new degradation, reduce ongoing losses, restore degraded land, and protect existing gains.