By Milliam Murigi
The global fight against land degradation and drought has received a US$1.3 billion boost, with funding committed across 23 countries to restore degraded land, strengthen drought resilience and support locally led adaptation.
The announcement was made after countries concluded two weeks of negotiations at the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Of the total, US$644.5 million is identified as new finance, with US$216.4 million already confirmed and moving towards implementation.
“We came to Ulaanbaatar saying that COP17 must be a COP of implementation. We leave with more of the architecture needed to make that possible. Political decisions, stronger science, innovative financing mechanisms, investment pipelines and partnerships that can move solutions to scale,” said Yasmine Fouad, UNCCD Executive Secretary.
The commitments come as countries face growing pressure to restore degraded land and strengthen resilience to increasingly severe droughts. Up to 40 per cent of the world’s land is currently degraded, while countries have committed to restoring more than one billion hectares by 2030.
The meeting also highlighted the growing importance of rangelands, which cover about 54 per cent of the Earth’s land surface, support around two billion people and provide livelihoods for some 500 million pastoralists.
Held during the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, COP17 launched the Rangelands Flagship Initiative, bringing together US$1.2 billion across 45 projects to support sustainable rangeland management, restoration and pastoralist livelihoods. The initiative represents the largest mobilisation for rangelands in the history of the UNCCD.
“Mongolia has demonstrated to the world that pastures form a strategically important ecosystem which connects food, environment, economy, biodiversity and herdcers’ livelihoods,” said H.E. Battsetseg Batmunkh, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mongolia and UNCCD COP17 President.
New economic analysis presented at the summit estimated that rangelands generate between US$21 trillion and US$47 trillion in ecosystem services annually, through food production, water provision, carbon storage and biodiversity.
Yet despite their importance, rangelands remain largely overlooked in climate and development financing. They contain about one-third of the world’s key biodiversity areas but are included in the national climate plans of only 24 countries, compared with 181 countries for forests.
The economic case for investment is also significant. According to the evidence presented at COP17, restoring rangelands can generate between US$4 and US$6 for every dollar invested, with returns rising to as much as US$36 when wider public benefits such as water supply are included.
Drought resilience was another major focus of the negotiations, particularly for African countries that remain highly vulnerable to drought and land degradation.
Parties agreed to continue negotiations towards a decision on proactive drought management at COP18, with drought remaining a stand-alone agenda item at future ordinary sessions.
The Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, established at COP16, also moved towards implementation. Its first Assembly of Partners advanced plans for a proposed pooled fund targeting around 70 low- and lower-middle-income countries through capacity building, investment-ready programmes and drought-resilience financing.
COP17 also launched the Drought Resilience Investment Facility (DRIF), a global financing platform that aims to mobilise up to US$400 million in public and private capital for water security, sustainable agriculture, nature-based solutions and land restoration.
A new Drought Resilience Index was also introduced to help countries assess their ability to anticipate, prepare for and adapt to drought and use the information to better target investments and policies.
Despite the new commitments, the scale of financing required remains far greater. An estimated US$355 billion is needed every year through 2030 to meet global land restoration commitments, compared with approximately US$77 billion currently invested annually. This leaves an estimated US$278 billion annual financing gap.
Private finance accounts for only about six per cent of global investment in land restoration. COP17 therefore placed greater emphasis on making restoration projects more attractive to investors through mechanisms such as guarantees, first-loss capital, insurance and project-preparation facilities.
Mongolia also launched its first national Business 4 Land Hub, alongside sustainable finance principles, a national green taxonomy and a target for 10 per cent of lending to be green by 2030.
Indigenous Peoples, pastoralists and local communities called for stronger land and mobility rights, greater direct access to financing and meaningful participation in decisions affecting the lands they manage.
The summit also highlighted the role of women and young people in land restoration, with calls for greater investment in youth and stronger participation of women and local communities in drought resilience and land management.
For Mongolia, the host country, COP17 also delivered the Steppe Plan, under which it launched three international initiatives: the Rangelands Flagship Initiative, the Water-Land Nexus Initiative and the Nature-based Solutions for Sustainable Infrastructure Initiative.
Mongolia’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change Sandag-Ochir Tsend said the priority after the summit is to turn the decisions, partnerships and financial commitments into measurable results.
“Although COP17 concludes today, our work does not end here. Our next priority is to translate the decisions adopted, partnerships established, and investment commitments secured at the conference into tangible action and to ensure that the initiatives launched from Mongolia’s steppes deliver measurable results,” said Tsend.
The next UNCCD Conference of the Parties, COP18, is expected to take place in Egypt in 2028, where countries will assess progress and continue efforts to strengthen global action on land restoration and drought resilience.
