The UN Land Conference of 2024 has concluded without any major outcome. This became a common outing of all Conference of Parties meeting this year as Biodiversity COP in Colombia and UNFCCC Climate Change Summit in Baku also faced similar conclusions.
The 16th meeting of Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) or simply the desertification summit, hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 2nd December 2024, concluded without a binding agreement on addressing drought.
According to International Drought Resilience Alliance, in 2022-2023, one in four people globally were affected by drought, with 85% of them living in low- and middle-income countries. Since the year 2000, droughts have increased by 29%.
This year’s land summit, themed “Our Land. Our Future” involved nearly 200 countries, civil society, and Indigenous groups.
Talks ran late, ending early Saturday morning, originally scheduled to end on Friday, as nations failed to reach consensus.
Discussions which happen every two year will resume at COP17 in Mongolia in 2026.
Poorer nations, particularly the African nations which are among the most affected by dry and drought conditions, sought a legally binding drought protocol. Wealthier nations, led by the U.S. and European Union, preferred a less costly, operational framework.
UNCCD executive secretary Ibrahim Thiaw spoke at COP16 stating, “Parties need more time to agree on the best way forward as to how to address the critical issue of drought.”
“With political will, the solutions are within our grasp. The actions we took today will shape not only the future of our planet but also the lives, livelihoods, and opportunities of those that we know: land is the only asset there is.”
says Ibrahim Thiaw
As disagreements over climate and drought-related commitments dominated discussions, in a positive move, over $12 billion was pledged for land restoration and drought preparedness under the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership by Saudi Arabia.
Some other key outcomes of the summit include;
- Indigenous Peoples Caucus and a Local Communities Caucus created for better representation.
- Science-Policy Interface continues to support science-based decisions.
- Business4Land initiative engages the private sector in sustainable land management.
- Goal to achieve zero land degradation by 2030 in an agreement called Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).
Saudi Arabia is both a host of global environmental events but at the same time a major oil producer. Fossil fuel emissions are a leading cause of rising average global temperatures.
Saudi Arabia with their Green Middle East Initiative flexed to the world that they aim to cut regional hydrocarbon emissions by 60% and plant 50 billion trees. However, the kingdom has faced criticism for blocking stronger climate commitments at COP28 and COP29.
Critics allege the kingdom blocks progress on reducing fossil fuel use. During COP16, Saudi officials have reportedly opposed references to climate change in the final agreement.
Osama Faqeeha, Saudi Deputy Environment Minister, defended the country’s stance talking to the Financial Times, “… oil is not the devil. Oil is the raw material . . . It is the emissions you have to try to [address].”
The UN warns that droughts, intensified by human activities, cost over $300 billion annually and could affect 75% of the global population by 2050.
- 77.6%: Proportion of Earth’s land that experienced drier climates from 1990–2020 compared to the previous 30 years.
- 40.6%: Global land mass (excluding Antarctica) classified as drylands, up from 37.5% over the last 30 years.
- 4.3 million km²: Humid lands transformed into drylands in the last three decades, an area one-third larger than India
- 40%: Global arable land affected by aridity—the leading driver of agricultural degradation.
- 30.9%: Global population living in drylands in 2020, up from 22.5% in 1990
- 2.3 billion: People living in drylands in 2020, a doubling from 1990, projected to more than double again by 2100 under a worst-case climate change scenario.
Data Source: The Global Threat of Drying Lands: Regional and global aridity trends and future projections
The drought debate will continue at COP17 next in 2026.
