As the world grapples with escalating water scarcity and land degradation, the upcoming UNCCD COP16 provides a rare opportunity to unite global leaders to secure the future of our planet.
The challenges posed by land degradation are mounting. Nearly 40% of the world’s land is now degraded – meaning the land is losing its health, fertility, and productivity due to overuse, poor management and climate change – affecting 3.2 billion people and threatening half of global GDP.
Each year, 100 million hectares of healthy land – an area equivalent to the size of Egypt – is degraded, with devastating consequences for food security, biodiversity, climate resilience, and the lives of communities globally.
As national priorities splinter, global collaboration remains the most effective path forward. And The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), with membership of 196 countries plus the European Union, has emerged as the primary vehicle for finding a common path to tackle land degradation and drought.
This year’s UNCCD COP16 (Conference of Parties), in Riyadh, comes as the future of our planet sits on a knife edge. As the main decision-making body in the fight against land degradation, this annual event has become one of the few remaining avenues to accelerate land restoration and reforestation.
“COP16 in Riyadh is critical for the international community to address land degradation, drought, and desertification,” says Dr. Osama Faqeeha, Saudi Deputy Minister for Environment, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture and Advisor to the COP16 Presidency.
Negotiation and action
From December 2nd to 13th, UNCCD COP16 will bring together the world’s largest gathering of nations in the fight against desertification.
Under the theme Our Land. Our Future, the conference will employ a dual-track approach. The Negotiation Track will focus on high-level decisions and political declarations to shape policies, build consensus, and develop frameworks for international action. It aims to produce concrete political declarations that will reinforce global targets, such as restoring 1.5 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030.
The Action Agenda, meanwhile, will feature panels and debates, highlighting the voluntary moves by governments, businesses, NGOs, and communities to pave a brighter future.
By amplifying the voices of those most vulnerable to desertification, delegates will witness first-hand the impact of indecision on health, governance, agriculture, industry and particularly women and children. And as the first UNCCD COP held in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, it is hoped that COP16 will send a powerful message to arid countries about the pressing need to act.
Tackling the global drought crisis
Drought frequency and intensity has risen nearly 30% since 2000, overwhelming communities and economies. In 2024 alone, drought affected 18% of the United States, triggered critical water shortages in Europe and North Africa, and devastated parts of Latin America.
The consequences of standing by extend far beyond the parameters of water scarcity. Degraded land releases billions of tons of CO₂ annually, exacerbating wider climate change trends, while declining agricultural productivity threatens food supplies and livelihoods.
This is why UNCCD COP16 is prioritizing critical solutions to the global drought crisis. During the conference, Saudi Arabia will call upon governments, international organizations, and financial institutions to join the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, which aims to shift the dial from reactive crisis management to proactive resilience-building before drought hits.
By improving financing, capacity building, and strengthening early warning systems and water infrastructure, the partnership program hopes to build a collective responsibility that will alleviate the future threat posed by severe drought.
The Green Zone
Building on the success of initiatives like the Great Green Wall – which reconditioned swathes of arable land in the Sahel – and The Bonn Challenge – a global drive to restore 350 million hectares of deforested land by 2030 – UNCCD COP16 will seek to find similar common ground through shared commitments.
The potential of public-private partnership will be most keenly felt in the new COP Green Zone, which will display the latest innovative technologies, share global best practice, and invite delegates to forge partnerships of their own.
“As hosts, we are presiding over the first-ever Green Zone at a UNCCD COP to mobilize the scientific community, businesses, financial institutions, NGOs, and the public to deliver lasting change,” says Dr. Faqeeha. “All the while engaging policymakers worldwide in high-profile discussions to drive decisive multilateral action.”
The challenges of land degradation, drought, and desertification are formidable, but UNCCD COP16 offers a chance to chart a new course. By uniting leaders from every corner of society, the international community has a rare opportunity to secure the health of our land, before it is too late.
COP16 will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2-13 December 2024. Learn more.
