Land cover change and conversions : methodology and results for OECD and G20 countries

Changes in the biophysical characteristics of natural habitats – that can be measured with data on land cover – are the best proxy to monitor pressures on ecosystems and biodiversity. This paper presents a suite of indicators that track land cover change over time in a globally consistent manner. The indicators, including an OECD Green Growth headline indicator, represent the Organisation's most recent effort to monitor pressures on ecosystems and biodiversity, using state-of-the-art data and techniques. Results are presented for OECD and G20 countries over 1992-2015 using global multi-period datasets.