The private sector has been urged to make the sustainable management of land a key part of corporate and financial strategy going forward, as the world risks losing half of global GDP - estimated at $23 trillion - due to degradation.
This urgent appeal was made during the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Local and international business representatives and policy makers gathered to deliberate on how business can promote and support responsible use of land resources and its rehabilitation.
Soil erosion, which is estimated to have occurred on around 30-40% of the Earth’s land surface, threatens food production, water availability, bio-diversity and climate regulator capacity. According to UNCCD, this problem may cost the global economy half of its GDP if necessary measures are not taken. Nonetheless, only $4.6 trillion is needed to stop this trend, which constitutes an small part of the calculated losses.
According to Ibrahim Thiaw, the Executive Secretary of UNCCD, the challenge now is to mainstream sustainable land management into corporate and financial approaches. He stressed that moving to nature-positive operations, supply chains, and investments is no longer a nice-to-have environmental win but the strategic, economic need to unlock the inherent long-term financial success and stability of companies.
Business leaders are urged to act in three key areas: mainstreaming sustainable in their strategic plans, organization for funding on restoration of their lands, and developing partnership between business, governments and civil society. Mr. Philippe Zaouati CEO of the MIROVA sustainable investment fund also noted how companies can benefit by redesigning their value proposition to be sustainable. This approach also eliminates their effects on the natural environment as well as captures market benefits.
These initial wins have already been seen with $12 billion committed to the land restoration cause at the conference. The Arab Coordination Group offered $10 billion, the OPEC Fund, and the Islamic Development Bank, $1 billion each to the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership.
Therefore, for sustainable land management and to save the impacts of the economic losses due to land degradation, the private sector must be encouraged to play an active role. Thus, the inclusion of sustainability in their management plans, fundraising for restoration, engaging policy makers and civil society, and restoring the natural environments, businesses can enhance society’s future prospects for long term welfare.
United Nations Framework Convention to Combat Desertification (UNFCCD)
The UNCCD is a pertinent global agreement that aims to give solutions to issues of land desertification, degradation and drought. Having been adopted in 1994 but came into force in 1996, the UNCCD stands as a beacon for sustainable land management and environmental resilience, particularly in the world's most arid and vulnerable regions.
The Genesis and the Aims of UNCCD
The UNCCD was developed in response to explicit global acknowledgment of the devastating effects of both desertification and land degradation especially in the dry areas that are home to the poor rural populations. Desertification, or land degradation in areas with climatic conditions that are arid, semi-arid or dry sub-humid because of factors such as climatic changes and human activities, equally threatens food production, wildlife habitat and human health.
UNCCD principal aim is to prevent desertification and reduce the negative impact of drought around the world through coordination. This is achieved by putting into practice long term activities that aim at enhancing land utilization efficiency, rehabilitation, conservation and sustainable utilization of land and water resources.
Key Elements and Principles
The UNCCD is built upon several key principles that guide its implementation:
- Participatory Approach: The convention supports community participation when making decisions concerning the environment and its usage. Such involvement helps in adopting the measures in line with the local culture and strictly being locally embraced.
- Integrated Strategies: According to the UNCCD, it supports policies considering physical, biological, and social economy effectiveness in combating desertification and land degradation. The rationale of this program is to achieve both livelihood and land restoration for long term sustainable benefits.
- National Action Programs (NAPs): It is a legal obligation for the countries experiencing desertification to come up with the National Action Programmes. These programmes define steps and ways how desertification will be fought and how the management of land resources is going to be done.
- Scientific and Technical Cooperation: The convention promotes scientific research, exchange of information, and technology to improve the capability of the countries that is affected to cope up with the land degradation. This involves sharing of information or research between different organizations and presentation of best practices to the different partners.
Implementation and achievement
The UNCCD is administered through a series of Conference of the Parties (COP); at the COPs, member states discuss progress, share experiences, and develop decisions in relation to the implementation of the convention. The COP meetings give a forum for addressing new developments, establishing goals, and fundraising.
The UNCCD is credited with a major accomplishment, the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) concept that was launched in 2015. LDN aims to achieve no net loss of productive land through managing the level of land degradation to the level of land being regenerated. This process has received a lot of attention; many countries now having their LDN targets and has incorporated them into their policies.
It has also supported many projects and activities that have yielded practical outcomes on the field. The UNCCD has also launched several project and this have benefited the society. They comprise afforestation and reforestation, other land management activities, and building the capacity of the users. For example, In the Sahel region in Africa implementing community-based initiatives has managed to stop land degradation and increase fertility and agriculturally productivity.
Challenges and further development aspects
Nonetheless, the UNCCD has also its challenges. Desertification and drought are worsened by climate change and add other forms of stress to water-scarce ecosystems and communities. Possibilities of land degradation are intricate, and the issue naturally calls for broad and systematic approaches, which may be difficult to organize.
Furthermore, there has been a major challenge in sourcing for funds and support to fully finance and implement large scale land restoration endeavours. Ensuring that the benefits of sustainable land management reach the most marginalized and vulnerable populations is another critical challenge.
In the future the UNCCD seeks to develop and amplify its efforts in climate change adaptation, agriculture and food security, land and ecosystem restoration. Collaboration with other international frameworks, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change, will be essential for achieving these objectives.
Business 4 Land Forum of UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
The Business 4 Land Forum is a global platform the UNCCD holds every year or bi-annually to bring together business leaders, policymakers, and experts to deliberate on the issues of land degradation, desertification, and drought. The forum is to encourage practical actions of the private sector and bring together efforts to enhance sustainable use of land and increase resilience.
Objectives and Themes
The Business 4 Land Forum focuses on several key objectives and themes:
- Showcasing Leadership: Particularly for raising awareness on the private sector contribution and success stories in sustainable management of land resources. Businesses are encouraged to consider sustainability as part of its primary management goals by evaluating the firm’s relationship with land, soil, and water.
- Mobilizing Finance: Promoting private and philanthropic capital for the regeneration of landscapes and changing from negative to positive land use. They engage an imperative of rallying for resource funding towards reverse of land degradation and simultaneously discourage calls for funding feedback that supports degradation.
- Fostering Collaboration: Enhancing collaboration between government and private sectors and policy change and engagement for promoting responsible land and water use. This forum seeks to encourage cooperation between businesses, governments and civil societies to find better synergies.
Key Highlights
A Business 4 Land Forum took place on December 4, 2024, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; representation from different companies was witnessed. More than 40 companies from the agri-food, pharma, energy, textile, and financial sectors took part in the meeting. The forum thus offered an opportunity for chief executive officers and high level decision maker’s slot in enhancing sustainable land, soil and water management.
Factors that lead to Participation of Private Sector
The private sector's involvement in addressing land degradation and drought is crucial for several reasons:
- Risk Management: Issues such as land degradation and drought are real threats to business and investors. Companies should limit the risks of future loss and guarantee sustainable profits by participating in global commitment to healthy lands and drought stability.
- Economic Opportunities: Responsible land use can unlock new economic potential for enterprises. Nature-positive supply chains will enable corporations unlock economic value while at the same time preserving the environment.
- Corporate Responsibility: Management of natural resources is a responsibility that firms have accepted as part of their corporate social responsibility. The Business 4 Land Forum underscores the sound business practices that promote corporate responsibility to the society and challenge firms to mobilize their support to global initiatives aimed at restoring land.