$2.6 Trillion of Investment Needed to Address Land Degradation Problem, UN Executive Says
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The 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is taking place on December 2-13 in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. According to the press service of the UNCCD, the event is aimed at accelerating investment to restore land and boost drought resilience.
At least $2.6 trillion of investment is needed to address land degradation problem in the world, the UN executive Ibrahim Thiaw told a Western news outlet ahead of the 16th session of the COP16 of the UNCCD.
The Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UNCCD reportedly noted that most of the money comes from the public sector, while the private sector provides only 6% of all investments to combat climate change that contributes to desertification. Thiaw added that about $1 billion is necessary from private companies.
"The bulk of the investments on land restoration in the world is coming from public money. And that is not right. Because essentially the main driver of land degradation in the world is food production... which is in the hands of the private sector," Thiaw told the media.
The UN executive underscored that the problem of droughts and land degradation worsened amid growing world population and increasing demand in food production. According to him, contribution of the private sector is crucial to start producing twice as much food on the same amount of land.
