As heat waves become more and more deadly, fires and disasters ravage cities, and rising waters wipe out territories, one environmental crisis continues to be dangerously overlooked: soil degradation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As heat waves become increasingly deadly, fires and disasters ravage cities, and rising waters wipe out territories, one environmental crisis remains dangerously overlooked: soil degradation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Desertification, the process by which fertile land becomes unproductive and barren, is spreading at an alarming rate around the world due to rising temperatures, droughts, and deforestation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A worrying sword of Damocles<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The land is our most vital infrastructure \u2013 it is the foundation of food security, access to water, livelihoods, and stability,” emphasized Yasmine Fouad, executive director of the UN, ahead of COP17, an important United Nations conference on desertification taking place this week in Mongolia.In this vast landlocked country, dominated by the Gobi Desert and semi-arid grasslands, land degradation is seriously threatening livelihoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About a third of Mongols make a living from herding, yet nearly 77% of their country’s territory\u2014sandwiched between Russia and China\u2014is degraded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2023 and 2024, Mongolian herders lost more than seven million head of livestock due to severe summer droughts followed by extremely cold dzud winters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“For Mongolia, the land is inseparable from our people, our livelihoods, and our future. We know that the health of our land has direct consequences on people’s lives,” emphasized Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh at the opening of the conference.3.2 billion livelihoods at risk<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this phenomenon goes far beyond Mongolia’s borders. 40% of the world’s land is currently facing soil degradation and drought, threatening the livelihoods of 3.2 billion people worldwide.A construction worker in Mongolia is laying bricks, with snow-capped mountains in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pastures are a particularly serious concern. They are vast natural areas unsuitable for farming, but they provide essential food for nearly 70% of the world’s livestock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although rarely mentioned, two billion people rely on these pastures for food and are directly affected by soil degradation and drought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[These issues] are no longer distant environmental concerns,\u201d emphasized Ms. Fouad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese changes are already impacting our food production, the water we rely on, the resilience of our economies, and communities\u2019 ability to build a secure future,\u201d she continued.The financial cost of these environmental changes is also measurable. Soil degradation and drought currently cost the global economy nearly $900 billion a year. Droughts, in particular, which have increased by almost a third since 2000, are estimated to cause losses of around $300 billion annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From Words to Action<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monday, August 17, marked the opening of COP17, a two-week conference organized by Mongolia in its capital, Ulaanbaatar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building on the progress made at COP16 in Riyadh, the parties will discuss measures to strengthen resilience to drought, promote sustainable agriculture, and protect soils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These measures include early warning systems, vulnerability assessments, and international cooperation.”The major change we want to see following COP17 is moving from words to action, from goals to implementation, and from commitments to measurable results,” emphasized Mongolian Prime Minister Nyam-Osoryn Uchral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A multi-billion dollar funding gap<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the conference’s key priorities is to attract more private sector investment for land restoration and strengthening drought resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The funding gap is currently estimated at $278 billion. It’s estimated that $355 billion a year is needed to restore land and boost resilience, yet current investments only amount to $77 billion.Public resources alone will probably not be enough to cover this gap, and although heavily dependent on reliable land and water resources, private companies provide only about 6% of global funding for land restoration and drought resilience building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The organizers of COP17 hope to strengthen collaboration between governments, development banks, businesses, and investors through initiatives such as the Business4Land Forum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I am convinced that COP17 will mark an important step towards stronger international cooperation and faster global action,” said Sandag-Ochir Tsend, Mongolian Minister of Environment and Climate Change and President of COP17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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