Highlights and images for 3 December 2024

Participants highlighted that the High-level Ministerial Segment "had delivered" for the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 16). As the Segment came to a close, UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw announced that, following the launch of the Riyadh Drought Resilience Partnership on Monday, more than USD 3 billion has been pledged to support efforts to address desertification, land degradation, and drought (DLDD).

Want to dig deeper into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

Finance was the theme of the morning ministerial dialogue, which focused on unlocking private and public finance for land restoration and drought resilience. Keynote speakers and ministers addressed the critical need for increased investments to combat DLDD, which costs the global economy USD 10 trillion each year.

While public finance supports long-term restoration projects, private finance can introduce innovative tools like green bonds and impact investing. The need for more public and private finance is crucial. As Achim Steiner, Administrator, UN Development Programme (UNDP), said in his keynote address, addressing DLDD requires USD 23 trillion by 2050.

The final ministerial dialogue examined how sustainable land management (SLM) and drought resilience can address the interconnected challenges of land degradation, forced migration, and conflict. With 3.2 billion people globally affected by land degradation and over 120 million forcibly displaced, these issues undermine stability, security, and livelihoods.

Ministers highlighted the challenge of increased climate change, DLDD, and water scarcity that have led to forced internal and international migration. Several also mentioned how armed conflict can increase the risk of land degradation, undermine agricultural capacity, and lead to forced migration. They also offered examples of how efforts to support vulnerable people at risk of DLDD have helped build community resilience and avoid the threat of forced migration.

The Convention’s two subsidiary bodies, the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) and the Committee on Science and Technology (CST), also held their first meetings.

In the CRIC, parties provided inputs on: the report prepared by the intergovernmental working group on the mid-term evaluation of the Strategic Framework (2018-2030); the procedure for communication and evaluation; and ensuring data consistency and making harmonized recommendations to the COP.

In the CST, parties addressed: items resulting from the work programme of the Science-Policy Interface (2022–2024); evidence on sustainable land use systems and their potential to address DLDD; and evidence on historical global and regional aridity trends and future projections that may contribute to expanding drylands.