Can the UN COP16 summit help stop Earth's land drying out?

The drying out and degradation of Earth's land is an "existential crisis" that could affect 5 billion people by the end of the century, according to a UN reportreleased this week.

Faced with depleted soils that no longer sustain farming, diminished water resources and collapsing ecosystems, increasing numbers will be forced to leave behind their homes and livelihoods.

UN scientists say climate change, which is warming the planet and disrupting rainfall patterns, is the primary cause. Deforestation, unsustainable agricultural practices and increasingly severe and frequent droughts are also degrading Earth's land.

The question of just how the world can tackle these challenges brought 196 countries plus the European Union to Riyadh, a city in Saudi Arabia fittingly surrounded by desert, for COP16.

Over two weeks, the countries, party to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) signed 30 years ago, discussed ramping up action on drought resilience and land restoration. Ahead of the summit, the UNCCD said 1.5 billion hectares (3.7 billion acres) of desertified land needs to be restored by 2030.

It has been hyped as a "moonshot moment" for what experts say is an often overlooked crisis.

"The land degradation crisis receives far less attention than climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, despite the fact that over 100 million hectares of land are degraded each year," said David Goodman, policy officer with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, an international NGO.

Drought takes center stage

A major focus of COP16 is creating a global framework for fighting drought.

"This phenomenon is sparing no country, no biome," said UNCCD chief Ibrahim Thiaw. "The Philippines were hit by droughts for the first time this year. So, it is no longer only happening in dry areas. It is happening in boreal forest."

In a report published on the second day of talks, the UN warned that drought fueled by human destruction of the environment costs $300 billion per year.

Droughts, which have increased by 29% since 2000, are the world's deadliest natural disasters on a global scale and are projected to impact 75% of the world's population by 2050.

There is a broad recognition of the need to shift from a crisis-driven drought response to a more proactive approach that emphasizes resilience and risk management, said Goodman.

"Despite the broad agreement on the need for greatly enhanced action on drought, the question of how best to get there remains contentious among the parties," said Goodman.

Some countries, like those in Africa, want a drought management protocol that would be legally binding. But others would prefer a framework to guide and accelerate action.

Parties, including the EU, don't appear ready for binding action, said Emmanuel Seck, negotiator for Senegal at COP16. 

"We may hope that within the coming COP, at least we come to an agreement and say that, 'yes, it is time for us to have this protocol," added Seck.

African countries are hit particularly hard by drought and its consequences, such as an inability to produce enough food to eat.

Increased forced migration and instability

Discussions at COP16 this year have also highlighted that worsening drought, desertification and land degradation are already forcing millions to migrate, threatening global security.

Millions of people across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia have already been forced to move as once fertile land turns to dust and water becomes scarcer, a trend experts say will intensify in coming decades.

Loss of livelihoods in the area surrounding Lake Chad, which has shrunk by around 90% since the 1960s, has led to local tensions, said Chadian activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim.

"With resource scarcity, communities move to concentrate around these lakes, especially on the Chadian side. This causes intercommunal conflicts," Ibrahim said.

Financial commitments, but gaps remain

Achieving UN goals on restoring 1.5 billion hectares of degraded land requires at least $2.6 trillion in total investments by the end of the decade — the equivalent of $1 billion per day, according to a UN financial needs assessment published at the beginning of COP16.

On the conference's second day, $12 billion was pledged for land restoration and drought resilience from donors including the Arab Coordination Group — an alliance of development finance institutions — and the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership. The latter was launched by COP16 hosts Saudi Arabia to leverage public and private finance for 80 of the world's most vulnerable and drought-hit countries.

In the second week of the conference, smaller contributions of $11 million from Italy and $3.6 million from Austria were announced to support the implementation of the Great Green Wall initiative, a land restoration project stretching across Africa.

"And as we have seen in the other COPs this year, resource mobilization and finance remain significant challenges," said Goodman, referring to the UN climate and biodiversity conferences. He said an annual financing gap of $278 billion remains. "There is a lot to be done."

The private sector, which currently contributes 6% of financing for land restoration and drought resilience, needs to play a greater role, said Thiaw.

"We are not talking about charity. We are talking about investments, so that the private sector that is producing food or cotton or doing mining, actually invest in their own land."

It is estimated that restoring over a billion hectares of land could generate up to $1.8 trillion annually through benefits such as increased agricultural productivity.

Hopes for more ambitious action

Goodman hopes in the final days of negotiations parties will significantly raise ambitions while also recognizing the critical role healthy lands and ecosystems play in achieving goals on climate change and biodiversity loss.

When land is degraded it not only struggles to support plant and animal life but also releases carbon, stored in the soil, into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.

Since the UNCCD was created, more than 50 countries have set targets to revive and protect their land.

Planting trees, rotating crops, improving water retention and applying organic manure or mineral fertilizers are all strategies to help restore land, according to the UNCCD. 

They have outlined a goal of achieving zero net losses in healthy land — known as land degradation neutrality — by 2030.

"We also hope to see a process launched to develop an ambitious target, or set of targets, for restoration after 2030 as part of the Convention's next strategy," said Goodman. 

With additional reporting from Kossivi Tiassou in Riyadh

Edited by: Jennifer Collins