The UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly and officially launched on World Environment Day in June 2021. The aim is to more effectively address the urgent need to restore important ecosystems and habitats. This shall be supported through numerous centralised and decentralised actions worldwide. The Decade thus contributes significantly to the implementation of the three Rio Conventions (UFCCC, CBD and UNCCD) and to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The UN Decade offers the opportunity to link thematic areas that were previously treated rather separately, as well as to clarify their interdependencies and to create synergies. This includes, for example, linking the topic of ecosystem restoration with different topics in the areas of biodiversity and climate. To illustrate these linkages, Ecologic Institute is preparing a total of 10 policy papers for the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). These papers are intended to support key German actors in implementing the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration as part of the overarching GIZ project "Supporting the Design and Implementation of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration" (DEER).

The policy papers link ecosystem restoration with topics such as Nature-based Solutions (NBS), deforestation-free supply chains, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as part of the UN Climate Agreement of Paris, or adaptation to the consequences of climate change.