Desertification evaluates how a company identifies, prevents and remediates the long-term loss of soil fertility, vegetation cover and ecosystem productivity in drylands - where climatic variability and human activities (over-grazing, monoculture, deforestation, groundwater depletion, inappropriate irrigation) drive land toward arid, desert-like conditions. It covers:

• mapping of operations and supply-chain sites in UNCCD-defined drylands and assessment of land-condition trends (vegetation indices, soil-organic-carbon loss, wind/water erosion, salinity);
• risk analysis of business activities (agriculture, forestry, mining, infrastructure) that accelerate desertification, with baselines aligned to Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) indicators;
• preventive practices - conservation agriculture, rotational grazing, agro-forestry, drought-resilient crops, efficient irrigation, shelterbelts - to maintain soil moisture and structure;
• restoration measures - revegetation, soil-carbon rebuild, contour bunding, rainwater harvesting, assisted natural regeneration - and long-term monitoring of recovery;
• target-setting and disclosure of affected hectares, avoided degradation and restored land, in line with frameworks such as UNCCD LDN, SDG 15.3, GRI 304/306 and EU ESRS E4.