UN Warns $2.6 Trillion Needed to Restore Degraded Lands by 2030

A UN official in charge of international negotiations said the cost of restoring the degraded land and preserving the desserts would be at least $2.6 trillion by the end of the decade.

There is an urgent need to take measures to change how food is grown and how land is used to prevent permanently damaging the Earth’s ability to support human and environmental well-being.  

Land is the foundation of Earth’s stability. It controls climate, protects biodiversity, and provides life-giving resources like food, water, and raw materials.  

However, deforestation, urbanization, and unsustainable farming have led to global land degradation, endangering both different parts of the Earth and human survival. Therefore, it will affect the future generations.

Plus, forest and soil degradation prevents the Earth from overcoming climate and biodiversity problems. It leads to increased degradation and a vicious downward cycle of consequences.

For the first time, a UN official in charge of international negotiations said the cost of restoring the degraded land and preserving the desserts would be at least $2.6 trillion by the end of the decade.

Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), stated that civilians are more vulnerable unless action is taken regarding the frequent severe droughts due to climate change and the growing need for food.

The planetary boundaries have nine thresholds necessary to maintain the stability of the Earth. How humans use or abuse the land affects seven of them. They are climate change, species extinction, freshwater systems, and the flow of naturally occurring components like nitrogen and phosphorus.

Sadly, six boundaries have already been breached, and two more are close to their threshold: ocean acidification and atmospheric aerosol concentrations. The only thing in a safe operating space is stratospheric ozone, which is the focus of a 1989 pact to minimize ozone-depleting chemicals.

The two-week summit aims to strengthen the world’s resilience to droughts by securing funds and strengthening the legal commitments made by the states.

Thiaw states that the private sector will provide a significant portion of the needed $1 billion.

Most of the funds needed to restore the land come from public money. He does not agree since the main source of land degradation is food production, controlled by the private sector. The private sector only provides around 6% of the funds needed to restore damaged land.

The government should establish good land use policies and regulations since it is unfair that private organizations destroy the land, but the public is responsible for restoration and repair.

The private sector needs to invest since the population is growing, and the world would need to produce twice as much food on the same piece of land.

There was a discussion in Saudi Arabia after the UN gathered to discuss biodiversity, climate change, and plastic, and that lack of money was the main issue.

The world needs an additional $278 billion to close the gap to achieve $2.6 trillion when only $66 billion is invested in 2022.

Over 15 million square kilometers of land, larger than Antarctica, are degraded, growing about 1 million square kilometers every year.

The most challenging deal is to enter an agreement to strengthen the state’s legal responsibilities. Some countries are not ready for another legally binding instrument, while others feel it is crucial.

Countries should set a more ambitious goal of protecting 1.5 billion hectares and increase the pace, even though they had previously committed to protecting around 900 million hectares of land.

According to Thiaw, agriculture is responsible for 70% of freshwater use, 80% of deforestation, and 23% of greenhouse gas emissions, so they should agree on measures to restore land degradation.

Failure to do so will harm UN-led efforts to protect biodiversity and reduce greenhouse emissions causing climate change.