Economic potential of land restoration for climate change mitigation

Between 2001 and 2020, the loss of ecosystems worldwide due to land degradation resulted in an economic loss of nearly USD 2 trillion. Restoring degraded lands is essential for mitigating climate change and maintaining biodiversity. Here, we evaluate the potential costs and benefits of restoring degraded lands. We provide unprecedented spatially granular estimates of the carbon removal and broader economic potential of land restoration at a global level and find that restoration of degraded ecosystems such as forests and grasslands can be economically profitable and has considerable carbon sequestration potential, with an average global cost of USD 50 per ton of carbon. The cost of restoring ecosystems degraded between 2001 and 2020 amounts to USD 6.9 trillion. However, each dollar invested is estimated to return USD 2.39 over a 30-year period, and a total of 138 gigatons of carbon would be sequestered.