United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

UNCCD is one of the three major UN treaties known as the Rio Conventions, alongside climate and biodiversity. COP16, which started on December 2, is the 30th anniversary of UNCCD, and is the largest land conference to date.  

The final in a packed two months of COPs, it addresses desertification, land degradation, and drought.  It has been referred to as a game-changer, marking a renewed global commitment to accelerate investment and action to restore land and boost drought resilience for the benefit of people and planet. 

The importance of protecting Earth’s land systems 

Land regulates climate, preserves biodiversity, maintains freshwater systems and provides life-giving resources including food, water and raw materials.     

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research’s (PIK) new report, Stepping back from the precipice: Transforming land management to stay within planetary boundaries, carried out in collaboration with UNCCD, emphasises that deforestation, urbanisation and unsustainable farming are causing global land degradation at an unprecedented scale, threatening not only different Earth system components but human survival itself. 

The planetary boundaries define nine critical thresholds essential for maintaining Earth’s stability. Human activities that use and exploit land directly impacts seven of these, including climate change, species loss and ecosystem viability, freshwater systems, and the circulation of naturally occurring elements nitrogen and phosphorus. Change in land use is also a planetary boundary. 

Further, UN scientists warn in new analysis that more than three-quarters (77.6%) of Earth’s land became permanently drier in recent decades.  

Desertification is land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas, collectively known as drylands. Excluding Antarctica, drylands now cover 40.6% of all land on Earth, expanding 4.3 million km² since 1990.  

In high greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, expanding drylands are forecast across the Midwestern United States, central Mexico, northern Venezuela, north-eastern Brazil, south-eastern Argentina, the entire Mediterranean Region, the Black Sea coast, large parts of southern Africa, and southern Australia. 

“This analysis finally dispels an uncertainty that has long surrounded global drying trends,” says Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary. “For the first time, the aridity crisis has been documented with scientific clarity, revealing an existential threat affecting billions around the globe.”   

The effects of rising aridity are cascading and multifaceted, touching nearly every aspect of life and society, the report says, just a few of which are outlined below.  

The report warns that one fifth of all land could experience abrupt ecosystem transformations from rising aridity by the end of the century, causing dramatic shifts (such as forests becoming grasslands and other changes) and leading to extinctions among many of the world’s plants, animals and other life. 

Aridity is considered the world’s largest single driver behind the degradation of agricultural systems, affecting 40% of Earth’s arable lands. 

Rising aridity has been blamed for a 12% decline in gross domestic product (GDP) recorded for African countries between 1990–2015. 

More than two thirds of all land on the planet (excluding Greenland and Antarctica) is projected to store less water by the end of the century, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise even modestly. 

Increasing aridity is expected to play a role in larger and more intense wildfires in the climate-altered future—not least because of its impacts on tree deaths in semi-arid forests and the consequent growing availability of dry biomass for burning. 

The report, The Global Threat of Drying Lands: Regional and global aridity trends and future projections, was launched at COP16.  

UNCCD COP16  

In his opening remarks to COP16, UNCCD Executive Secretary, Ibrahim Thiaw, stated that land restoration is “one of the most effective tools to address some of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change, food insecurity, economic inequality, forced migration and even global instability.” 

COP16’s theme “Our Land. Our Future,” hosts representatives of governments, civil society and leading experts to advance global efforts to combat land degradation, desertification and drought while promoting sustainable development. 

The agenda consists of thematic days including land; agri-food; governance; science, technology and innovation; people; resilience; and finance. Within this programme, the Gender Caucus, which took place on December 4, promoted the dialogue to advance gender equality, driving collaborative solutions to address desertification, land degradation and drought.  The Indigenous Peoples Forum on December 7 showcased Indigenous Peoples' role in land conservation, blending ancestral knowledge with global efforts to combat desertification. 

As was the case at the Biodiversity COP16 in Cali and Baku’s COP29, finance is a central focus of the conversations ongoing in Riyadh. A UNCCD report that was launched on the second day of the conference finds that at least $2.6 trillion in total investments are needed by 2030 to restore over one billion hectares of degraded land and build resilience to drought.  

Investing in Land’s Future is the first-ever financial needs assessment for the UNCCD. It shows that total investment required equals annual spending on environmentally harmful subsidies. However, these losses outstrip investments needed: desertification, land degradation, and drought already cost the global economy $878 billion every year. These costs include reduced agricultural productivity and ecosystem services, the social costs of carbon losses, and damages caused by drought. 

Further, the report highlights that investing in land restoration delivers significant benefits, generating an estimated $1.8tn in annual returns. This represents a return on investment of up to $8 in social, environmental, and economic gains for every dollar invested. 

The assessment also notes that the private sector currently contributes only 6% of necessary funding towards land restoration and drought resilience. Public-private partnerships, blended finance models, and green bonds are key strategies to mobilise capital. COP16’s finance day, which occurred yesterday (December 11), focused on these partnerships and innovative finance models, showcasing successful case studies.

Africa faces the largest financing gap, needing $191bn annually to restore 600mn hectares of degraded land. This reflects not only significant challenges but also the continent’s unmatched land restoration ambition. African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) is a country-led effort, committed to by 34 African countries, to bring 100 million hectares of land in Africa into restoration by 2030. 

To find out more about UNCCD COP16: COP16 Riyadh 

Sustainable Investment Forum Europe 2025 

Nature finance will be a key focus of the Sustainable Investment Forum Europe, returning for its 8th annual edition in partnership with UNEP FI. 

Taking place on April 29th at the Pullman Montparnasse, Paris, the forum will explore the dual role of nature in climate mitigation and resilience, focusing on enhancing carbon markets and advancing Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Experts will discuss the potential of nature-based solutions, the challenges of scaling voluntary and compliance carbon markets, and strategies for embedding natural assets into financial systems. 

Save up to £400 through the early bird discount and register now.