Saudi Arabia Leads Int’l Efforts to Combat Climate Change, Land Degradation

The presidencies of the next three upcoming Conferences of the Parties (COP) — Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, and Colombia — held a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to outline their ambitions regarding the three Rio Conventions.

Additional meetings are scheduled for the last quarter of this year to address the pressing challenges of climate change, desertification, and biodiversity loss.

The Rio Initiative takes its name from the historic agreements made at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It aims to foster cooperation in tackling land degradation, climate change, and biodiversity loss, while boosting international efforts under the United Nations' environmental agreements.

On Sunday, world governments gathered in New York to establish a framework for addressing the threats posed by climate change, desertification, and biodiversity loss. The meeting focused on enhancing cooperation between the upcoming COP presidencies.

The participants included Saudi Arabia, set to lead the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP16); Azerbaijan, which will chair the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29); and Colombia, which will head the 16th Conference of the Parties on Biological Diversity (COP16).

Saudi Arabia's presidency of COP16 highlighted the crucial importance of land restoration for the well-being of both people and the planet. It also underscored the devastating economic, social, and environmental impacts of land degradation and drought, which threaten biodiversity and increase greenhouse gas emissions, worsening food and water security challenges.

Dr. Osama Faqeeha, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, and advisor to the COP16 presidency, stated: "Climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation are interconnected aspects of the same crisis facing the planet, and they must be addressed in a more integrated and effective manner."

"This year presents a unique opportunity to unite efforts with Azerbaijan and Colombia and rally global support to address these interlinked environmental challenges, which have a destructive impact on the planet and its people," he added.

Colombian Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Susana Muhamad emphasized the need for a unified agenda to be implemented on the ground. She expressed her readiness to establish a working group to bolster coordination and cooperation.

"The just transition in climate change must reflect interconnected efforts to protect natural ecosystems from degradation and harm," she said, adding: "We have a valuable opportunity to plan land use through a more integrated approach: decarbonization, environmental restoration, and improving human living conditions. COP16 for Biological Diversity is the ideal platform to deepen understanding and action on these efforts."

Mukhtar Babayev, president of COP29 for Climate Change, stressed the importance of "fostering cooperation, enhancing action efficiency, and achieving tangible results that benefit people and the planet by strengthening collaboration across the three Rio agreements."

He continued: "It’s essential to recognize that the goals of these agreements are fundamentally interconnected, and progress in one area can drive advancements in others."

Saudi Arabia called on governments attending the UN General Assembly to take decisive actions during COP16 for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which will be held in Riyadh in early December.

The UN Convention to Combat Desertification has set a target of restoring 1.5 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's COP16 presidency will push for further concrete commitments to help achieve this goal.

The upcoming COP16 will be the largest and most comprehensive conference in the history of the convention, providing a global platform for collaboration. It will also offer opportunities for the private sector, civil society, and the scientific community to exchange solutions for combating land degradation, desertification, and drought.

Japan's incoming prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, said on Sunday the country's monetary policy must remain accommodative as a trend, signaling the need to keep borrowing costs low to underpin a fragile economic recovery.
It was not immediately clear whether Ishiba, who had been a vocal critic of the Bank of Japan's past aggressive monetary easing, was taking a more dovish line with his remarks.
“It's something the Bank of Japan, which is mandated to achieve price stability, will decide while working closely with the government,” Ishiba told public broadcaster NHK, when asked about further interest rate increases by the central bank.
“From the government's standpoint, monetary policy must remain accommodative as a trend given current economic conditions,” he said.
On fiscal policy, Ishiba said he will aim to compile a package of measures at an early date to cushion the economic blow from rising living costs, with a focus on helping low-income households.
Ishiba, a former defense minister, is set to become prime minister on Tuesday after winning the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Friday.
After his victory, Ishiba said monetary policy would broadly remain loose but suggested he would not push back against further increases in still near-zero interest rates.
The BOJ ended negative interest rates in March and raised short-term borrowing costs to 0.25% in July in a landmark shift away from a decade-long, radical stimulus program.
BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has signaled a readiness to raise rates further if Japan makes progress towards durably achieving the bank's inflation 2% target, as the board projects it will.
Ishiba told Reuters in August that the BOJ was on the “right policy track” by ending negative rates and endorsed further normalization of monetary policy, saying it could boost industrial competitiveness.
But in an interview this month, he said Japan must prioritize making a full exit from deflation and warned of weak signs in consumption.
The yen, which fell on Friday on news that a dovish rival would join Ishiba in a run-off for the LDP leadership, rebounded on his victory.

Saudi Arabia Leads Int’l Efforts to Combat Climate Change, Land Degradation