A Broken Earth, Broken Lives: World Environment Day Calls for Action on Land Degradation

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia– In a global show of solidarity for our planet’s land, this year’s World Environment Day smashed participation records, with over 3,500 events held across the globe tackling the pressing issues of desertification, drought resilience, and land restoration. Government officials, civil society representatives, university professors, and business owners were well represented in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking during the meeting in Riyadh, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen stressed the need for urgent action to make the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration goals a reality by 2030.

Andersen said, “Billions across the world are facing food insecurity, crippling droughts, and livelihoods are under threat. That is why on World Environment Day we’re asking the world to join the global movement to restore our lands, increase drought resilience, and combat desertification.”

She also emphasized that “Restoration is the natural solution to help address the triple planetary crisis, deliver new jobs, lower poverty, and build resilience to extreme weather. Land is life – and we must protect it.”

With the same tone, Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley, Saudi Minister for Environment, Water and Agriculture said, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has invested immensely in restoring lands to limit degradation.”

Al-Fadley also noted that Saudi Arabia’s efforts to improve vegetation cover and combat desertification are now part of the national strategy. He also emphasized that his country will reach its land degradation neutrality goal by 2030.

Notably, Saudi Arabia has partnered with the Group of 20 nations and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on the G20 Global Land Initiative, which aims to cut degradation by 50 percent by 2040. In December, the country will hold the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). This will be the first time the region has hosted this meeting, which is widely seen as a pivotal moment in the global effort to end land degradation.

It is worth noting that the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will be a few weeks after the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference dabbed COP 29 set to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan.