– Global investment needed for land restoration and drought resilience
– Africa’s Great Green Wall highlights restoration potential and challenges
– UN calls for public-private collaboration on land degradation neutrality goals
Ahead of Desertification and Drought Day on June 17, 2025, the UN is urging accelerated global efforts to restore degraded land. With a target to restore 1.5 billion hectares by 2030, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) warns that land degradation threatens food security, water quality, and economic stability.
UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw stressed that restoring land can reverse environmental decline and support communities. Every dollar invested in restoration can return up to $30, but global investments remain far below what’s needed—currently $66 billion annually, while $1 billion daily is required.
The UN has called for a $2.6 trillion investment by 2030, urging stronger private sector involvement, which now contributes only six percent of funding. The upcoming meeting in Riyadh will focus on drought resilience and financing restoration efforts.
Initiatives like Africa’s Great Green Wall—which aims to restore 247 million acres across the Sahel—highlight large-scale restoration potential. However, only 18% of this target has been achieved by 2023, emphasizing the need for more support and innovation.
As the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration reaches its midpoint, global leaders are being called upon to step up funding and action to meet land degradation neutrality goals and ensure environmental and economic resilience.
