Saudi Arabia Hosts UNCCD COP16 to Tackle Desertification Crisis

The UNCCD COP16 conference on desertification is being hosted in Riyadh starting December 2nd, with the global community coming together to address the escalating crisis of land degradation.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called the conference a “moonshot moment” for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), emphasising the urgent need to restore and protect degraded land to prevent further environmental and humanitarian crises. Desertification exacerbates droughts, food shortages and migration, threatening global security.

The conference builds on commitments made at the 2022 UNCCD summit in Côte d'Ivoire, where countries pledged to restore 1 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030. Now, the goal has been increased to 1.5 billion hectares. Saudi Arabia, which is aiming to restore 40 million hectares of land, has already made strides, with 240,000 hectares recovered through measures like banning illegal logging and expanding national parks.

The summit, running until December 13th, brings together 196 countries, with key global figures like French President Emmanuel Macron attending related events, such as the One Water Summit on December 3rd.