COP16 Riyadh: $12 Billion To Be Allocated To Address Drought And Land Degradation

COP16 Riyadh: $12 Billion To Be Allocated To Address Drought And Land Degradation

Thursday, 05 Dec 2024

A funding commitment of 12 billion US dollars, approximately equivalent to 191 trillion Indonesian rupiah, has been pledged to support various initiatives aimed at addressing drought, land restoration, and combating degradation. This commitment was made on the second day of the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. Of this total, the Arab Coordination Group emerged as the largest contributor, committing 10 billion US dollars.

The funding from the Arab Coordination Group is derived from the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, which was launched on the first day of COP16 in Riyadh, Monday, December 2, 2024. Additionally, oil-exporting countries, members of OPEC, along with the Islamic Development Bank, have each pledged 1 billion US dollars to the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership.

Osama Faqeeha, Deputy Minister of Environment at the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia, and Advisor to the UNCCD COP16 Presidency, stated that the magnitude of this funding commitment will enhance efforts to combat drought and land degradation. "I hope this is just the beginning, and in the coming days and weeks, we will see further contributions from international public and private sector partners, which will further strengthen the impact of these vital drought resilience and land restoration initiatives," Faqeeha remarked.

The speaker indicated that international funding to address drought and land degradation indeed requires urgent additional resources. "Redirecting more foreign aid, such as Official Development Assistance funds, to combat land degradation, drought, and desertification will be one of the financial mechanisms that the international community can promptly activate to provide the much-needed support in the most affected countries," stated Faqeeha.

On the second day of COP16 in Riyadh, the UNCCD also released a financial needs assessment report detailing the latest funding requirements to tackle land degradation, drought, and desertification. The findings revealed a significant funding gap for international land restoration efforts. According to UNCCD targets, the annual investment needed for the years 2025–2030 is estimated to reach 355 billion USD.

However, the projected investment for the same period amounts to only 77 billion USD per year. This indicates that there remains a need to mobilize 278 billion USD to meet UNCCD objectives in land restoration efforts. The report also highlighted the lack of investment in land restoration and drought resilience from the private sector.

It is estimated that the private sector contributes only 6% of global funding. Nevertheless, UNCCD anticipates that investments in the restoration of over one billion hectares of land could yield up to 1.8 trillion USD annually. (putri@insightinnews.com)

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