Riyadh: Saudi Arabia has issued a call to the international community to take decisive action on drought resilience and land restoration as it prepares to host the sixteenth session of the Conference of Parties (COP16) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Riyadh. The country, set to assume the UNCCD Presidency, emphasized the urgent need for robust measures with less than a month remaining before the conference begins.
According to Saudi Press Agency, the appeal underscores the critical nature of the current crisis, as data indicates that over 71,000 square kilometers of land, an area larger than the Republic of Ireland, is projected to suffer degradation globally before the conference’s commencement on December 2. Dr. Osama Faqeeha, Deputy Minister for Environment at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture and Advisor to the COP16 Presidency, stated that COP16 represents a pivotal opportunity for the international community to address land degradation. He highlighted the nece
ssity of meeting the UNCCD target of restoring 1.5 billion hectares of land by 2030.
Dr. Faqeeha called upon all parties to arrive in Riyadh with a commitment to increase their ambitions by bolstering land restoration targets, enhancing drought resilience efforts, and improving land tenure rights. Since 2015, countries have been adopting voluntary Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets as part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Over 130 countries have participated in the LDN Target Setting Programme, with more than 100 having already established their targets.
As the incoming UNCCD Presidency, Saudi Arabia aims to encourage more countries to commit to LDN targets and to enhance both ambition and implementation. The UNCCD estimates that $44 trillion of economic output, representing more than half of the global annual GDP, is moderately or highly dependent on natural capital. Furthermore, every dollar invested in restoration could yield up to $30 in economic returns, potentially unlocking a trillion-
dollar restoration economy.
To address these challenges, COP16 in Riyadh will introduce a Green Zone, marking the first time a UNCCD COP has featured such a platform. The Green Zone will facilitate collaboration among businesses, scientists, financial institutions, NGOs, the public, and affected communities to devise sustainable solutions. The conference will host seven thematic days to focus discussions and outcomes on topics such as land restoration, governance, agri-food systems, resilience, finance, and science, technology, and innovation.
