Riyadh: Today marked the launch of Land Day by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s presidency of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The event launches the first of seven scheduled Thematic Days aimed at sparking discussions and advancing negotiations on critical issues surrounding land degradation, desertification, and drought. A key topic of conversation highlighted the urgent need to mobilize private-sector investment to gather international resources for land restoration efforts.
According to Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Arabia’s UNCCD presidency urged the private sector to significantly increase funding, especially after a UNCCD report revealed that only 6% of financial commitments for land resilience and drought recovery have come from private sources. The report further underscored the high cost of inaction, warning that the global economy could face a staggering loss of $23 trillion by 2050 due to continued land degradation, desertification, and drought.
Land Day featured a serie
s of pivotal events designed to raise awareness and drive action. The Business for Land forum convened top decision-makers from business, government, and civil society to explore the crucial intersections of business, finance, and policy, promoting private-sector involvement to combat land degradation.
“Through our presidency of COP16, we aim to make this conference a launchpad for reinforcing public and private partnerships, paving the way to rehabilitate 1.5 billion hectares of land by 2030,” said president of the Conference of the Parties to the 16th session of the UNCCD and Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Alfadley.
World Economic Forum managing director Neo Gim Huay addressed attendees, emphasizing the need to unlock new investment avenues. “We must consider the full spectrum of available capital-from philanthropic and corporate social responsibility contributions to development finance, blended approaches, subsidies, and private equity-if we are to explore new growth op
portunities,” she said.
Additionally, Land Day included the “Rio Convention Synergies” dialogue, which highlighted updates from the 2024 Rio Trio events following discussions at the United Nations General Assembly; the CBD COP16 in Cali, Colombia; and COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event brought attention to the interconnected challenges of land degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change, and sought common solutions to these pressing issues.
“For the international community to achieve land restoration on the required scale, the private sector must increase its investment. The latest UNCCD findings indicate a concerning gap in the funds necessary to address land degradation, desertification, and drought,” said Deputy Minister for Environment and advisor to the UNCCD COP16 presidency Dr. Osama Faqeeha.
“For far too long, businesses have reaped profits from land; now is the moment to embrace restoration and invest in sustaining the foundations of businesses, industries, and entire economies. At COP16
in Riyadh, we are committed to mobilizing both public and private sectors, incentivizing investment, and ultimately unlocking a potential trillion-dollar restoration economy,” Dr. Faqeeha said.
The discussions of the day also addressed the unique challenges faced by various types of land globally and explored potential solutions to prevent their degradation. Focus was placed on rangelands-natural grasslands that support livestock and wildlife grazing. According to UNCCD, rangelands encompass about 54% of the world’s land cover, including savannas, shrublands, wetlands, tundra, and deserts. Sessions on “Protecting and Restoring Rangelands” aimed to generate investment for their preservation and restoration, providing attendees with science-based solutions to combat land degradation and drought while highlighting the significance of finance in a circular economy.
Dr. Faqeeha emphasized the importance of rangeland. “They are a crucial ecosystem for millions globally, supporting lives and livelihoods. However,
with over 50% of rangelands already degraded, we face significant risks, including the potential loss of one-sixth of humanity’s food supply and one-third of the planet’s carbon reserve. The ongoing depletion of these vital lands is driving food insecurity, climate change, biodiversity loss, and forced migration,” he said.