Policymakers, international organizations, companies, NGOs and key stakeholders gathered in Riyadh on Monday to address global challenges like land degradation, drought, and desertification at the 16th United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP16).
Saudi Arabia was elected president of COP16 during the opening session, beginning a two-year term to lead efforts in land restoration and fighting desertification.
The COP16 summit in Riyadh came as an opportunity to highlight the vital link between land, oceans, and climate, noting that 75% of freshwater comes from cultivated land, while plants protect 80% of global soil.
Saudi Arabia’s Environment Minister Abdulrahman Al-Fadli said hosting the event reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to environmental efforts. He warned that over 100 million hectares of land degrade each year, affecting 3 billion people and costing the global economy more than $6 trillion annually.
Environmental challenges
Saudi Arabia is ramping up efforts under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification to address major environmental challenges and strengthen synergies with other global agreements, including the Rio Conventions on climate change and biodiversity, Al-Fadli stressed.
He highlighted that the Middle East is one of the regions most affected by land degradation, drought, and desertification. Saudi Arabia, he said, is working closely with international partners to tackle these issues.
To achieve its goals, the government has adopted a National Environmental Strategy, created a dedicated fund and five specialized centers, updated regulations to align with global standards, and launched initiatives to curb pollution, boost vegetation cover and improve waste management and climate research.
The minister also pointed to the Saudi Green Initiative, which aims to rehabilitate 40 million hectares of degraded land and expand protected areas to cover 30% of the Kingdom by 2030. This ambitious target was announced in 2021, more than a year before the global goal was set in Montreal in late 2022.
Renewable energy
Saudi Arabia is also working to generate 50% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and cut carbon dioxide emissions, Al-Fadli said. The Kingdom has adopted a National Water Strategy to preserve resources and launched recycling projects to promote sustainability.
Al-Fadli noted that Saudi Arabia has also introduced a National Agricultural Strategy to improve production efficiency and sustainably manage farmland, along with a National Food Security Strategy aimed at reducing food loss and waste.
He warned that biodiversity loss and the worsening effects of climate change threaten basic life necessities such as air, water, and food, impacting over 1.8 billion people globally and driving higher migration rates. He emphasized the need for unified international efforts to confront these global challenges.
He added that the UN Convention to Combat Desertification provides a framework for collective action and global collaboration.
Saudi Arabia, he said, is committed to restoring degraded land, expanding green spaces and fostering innovation for sustainable solutions.
The Kingdom also aims to strengthen partnerships among governments, the private sector, local communities, and NGOs, while adopting binding tools to bolster international cooperation.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia unveiled three major initiatives at COP16 to address drought, backed by over $150 million to boost global preparedness.
The Kingdom also introduced an observatory and an atlas, aiming to improve monitoring, prevention, and awareness of drought worldwide.
A UN report released ahead of the summit highlighted the growing crisis of land degradation, linking unsustainable farming to 80% of deforestation, 70% of freshwater use, and nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. It also classified 46% of global land as dry, stressing the need for urgent action.
