Desertification, where fertile soil undergoes land degradation into barren deserts, threatens humanity’s survival as productive lands are lost to both climate change and human activity.

A new report by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research found that at least 1.2 billion people and an area of approximately 1.5 billion hectares, larger than Antarctica, are affected by land degradation, with the latter increasing annually by an estimated 100 million ha.

The report comes as 197 member states convene in the 16th United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP16) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Running until Dec. 13 with the theme of “Our Land. Our Future.”, it is the largest UN land conference to date, and the first UNCCD COP to be held in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Osama Ibrahim Faqeeha, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Environment and advisor to the COP16 presidency, told The Jakarta Post that the significance of hosting UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh represents a crucial moment in global environmental leadership, coming after COP27 in Egypt and COP28 in the UAE.

“This sequence of three Rio conventions in the Arab world signals our region's accelerating response to global environmental challenges,” he said, adding that the conference aims to accelerate global land restoration efforts and enhance drought resilience.

At the same time, Faqeeha emphasized that “the stakes could not be higher”. Approximately 40 percent of lands in forests, rangelands, agriculture lands and other types of lands are degraded to varying degrees.

“The scale of land degradation is staggering. According to the UNCCD, roughly US$44 trillion of economic output, more than half the global annual GDP, is moderately or highly reliant on natural capital. Yet we are depleting this capital at an alarming rate, with one-third of humanity affected by land degradation.”

In the short term, desertification threatens food security and forces displacement. In the long term, the UNCCD projects that three out of four people will face water scarcity by 2050, and the UN forecasts desertification could lead to the displacement of 135 million people.

“This creates what I would call a devastating feedback loop, desertification and land degradation worsens climate impacts, which in turn accelerates land degradation,” he explained.

With most of Saudi Arabia characterized by a desert climate, the country has also taken steps to combat the ever-encroaching sands.

During the conference, Saudi Arabia will launch the Riyadh Drought Resilience partnership to bolster global monitoring of drought and strengthen international resilience to it. 

Under its Saudi Green Initiative, the kingdom is also committed to restore 40 million ha through tree planting and other nature-based solutions. To date, it has planted over 100 million trees and rehabilitated more than 243,000 ha of degraded land.

Concurrently, Saudi Arabia is also leading the Middle East Green Initiative, where stakeholders work toward growing 50 billion trees across the Middle East, equivalent to restoring 200 million ha of degraded land.

“These initiatives demonstrate how national and regional environmental programs can catalyse broader action,” says Faqeeha. “At COP16 in Riyadh, we will encourage similar ambitious commitments globally to help meet the UNCCD's target of restoring 1.5 billion ha by 2030.”

According to Faqeeha, stopping land degradation, drought and desertification is one of the best tools we have at our disposal to prevent many of the issues impacting people around the world. 

To that end, a priority at COP16 in Riyadh will be encouraging more countries to adopt Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets, which is an essential mechanism to slow land degradation and accelerate restoration.

“The simple truth, however, is too few countries have signed up to have a global impact. Given their voluntary nature, we also need to improve the monitoring of LDN targets and increase accountability for their delivery,” he said.

In addition, COP16 will also focus on enriching the Action Agenda to help mobilize non-state financing and support for lasting solutions to land degradation, desertification and drought. This will in turn strengthen efforts to achieve the convention objectives and create a legacy of action that lives on long after December.

Indonesia, a member state of the UNCCD, faces its own challenges in land degradation. The World Resources Institute found that the archipelago showed a 27 percent increase in primary forest loss in 2023, though it noted that the figure is still below that in the mid-2010s.

Faqeeha underlined that success requires an integrated approach combining technological innovation and traditional knowledge. Saudi Arabia for example is actively developing technologies for sustainable land and resource management, including smart agriculture practices and water-efficient irrigation systems.

These solutions, he continued, could be particularly relevant for Indonesia as it works to balance economic development with environmental protection. The UNCCD’s data showed that each dollar invested in restoration can yield between $7 and $30 in economic benefits, making it imperative to translate the economic rationale into concrete action.

“Crucially however, land degradation, desertification and drought are urgent global crises that require pressing international solutions. At COP16 in Riyadh we will mobilize the private and public sector to deliver lasting change,” he said, adding that the conference will establish stronger mechanisms for implementation, monitoring and accountability.

“We believe economic growth and environmental sustainability are mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive. Through COP16, we hope to catalyze a new era of environmental action characterised by solid commitments, innovative solutions and meaningful collaboration,” Faqeeha concluded.

Source: UNCCD COP 16