Implementing Land Degradation Neutrality (SDG 15.3) at National Level: General Approach, Indicator Selection and Experiences from Germany

In September 2015, the UN General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including target 15.3, which aims to strive towards land degradation neutrality (LDN) by 2030. This has opened a ‘window of opportunity’ for many countries to strengthen policies for sustainable use of land and soils. This chapter first outlines the concept, the main elements and the current international framework for assessing the progress towards SDG target 15.3. It proposes a stepwise approach to further tailor national requirements with the overall goal of LDN implementation. Since both the concept of LDN and the internationally agreed implementation framework leave room for national interpretation, the example of Germany is used to illustrate how the implementation process can be set up at the national level and what experiences have been made.