Ecologic Institute provides a legal assessment of whether German law is suitable to achieve the sustainable development goal "land degradation neutral word" (LDN) by 2030, and recommends options for improvement.
The project also compiles key insights and lessons learned, in English, as a contribution to the international discussion on implementing LDN. The project results are discussed in an international workshop.

The LDN goal is part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN in 2015. Germany has politically committed to implementing them. The LDN "neutrality" in SDG 15.3 means that the total of all land degradation is balanced against the total of all land improvements through compensatory or restoration menasures. Germany therefore has to strive for achieving that the overall amount and quality of land resources in 2030 is at least not worse than in 2015.

The project defines the conceptual elements of LDN and applies them as criteria to assess German law. The study focuses on erosion, sealing by human settlement, and pollution by industry.