Governments, development banks, funds and businesses at UNCCD COP17 in Mongolia have announced $1.3 billion in new and pipeline financing for land restoration and drought resilience across 23 countries, with rangelands emerging as a major investment priority.
Governments, development banks, investment funds and businesses attending the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) have announced $1.3 billion in new and pipeline financing for land restoration and drought resilience across 23 countries on five continents.
Of the $1.3 billion announced, $644.5 million has been identified as new finance, while $216.4 million has already been confirmed and is moving towards implementation, the UNCCD noted.
The announcement came against the backdrop of perceived huge financing gaps for meeting global land restoration commitments.
The Convention estimates that $355 billion will be required annually through 2030, compared with the current investment of about $77 billion, resulting in an annual shortfall of $278 billion.
Nigeria, alongside other African countries, seeks to advance a legally binding instrument on drought management. The proposed instrument would essentially establish a protocol for managing drought. Other areas include finance, which the Nigerian focal point person to the UNCCD said is crucial for securing more financial support to meet national needs and fund the country’s National Adaptation Plans.
According to the UNCCD Data Dashboard, approximately 11.96 per cent of Africa’s total land area was recorded as degraded in baseline reporting, while Nigeria reports roughly 23.41 per cent, or 21.07 million hectares, of its total land area as degraded.
In Nigeria, authorities have said more than 50 per cent of the country’s rangelands and grazing routes have been degraded, a development that has contributed to farmer-herder conflicts affecting communities across the country for decades.
On Monday, the UNCCD disclosed that a major component of the new financing is the Rangelands Flagship Initiative, currently valued at $1.2 billion across 45 named projects.
Launched in Ulaanbaatar during the United Nations International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, the initiative represents the largest single mobilisation for rangelands in the history of the UNCCD.
Rangelands cover more than half of the world’s land surface and support the livelihoods of about two billion people, including an estimated 500 million pastoralists.
However, the UNCCD explained that up to half of the world’s rangelands are degraded or at risk, threatening food production, livelihoods, biodiversity and resilience to drought.
The economic value of rangelands is estimated at between $21 trillion and $47 trillion annually through food production, water provision, carbon storage and biodiversity.
According to the UNCCD, restoring rangelands typically generates between $4 and $6 in benefits for every dollar invested. When broader public benefits, such as water supply, are included, the return can rise to as much as $36 per dollar invested.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is supporting coordination of the initiative through a $3.3 million investment in the UNCCD COP17 Legacy Project.
Over the past four years, GEF has also approved more than 50 projects worth over $300 million to support sustainable rangeland management, restoration and pastoralist livelihoods.
The Asian Development Bank has committed $113 million to the Green Inclusive Regional Agribusiness Fund, while the Green Climate Fund is supporting three projects, including $40 million for Resilient Rangelands in Northwestern Zimbabwe with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), as well as the TWENDE initiative in Kenya with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The Adaptation Fund has committed $9.1 million to locally led adaptation involving Indigenous Peoples and local communities across Africa.
Germany’s development agency, GIZ, and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development are supporting Forests4Future with $76 million, alongside three other programmes in Southern Africa.
Other projects include the $35 million Herding for Health initiative by Peace Parks Foundation and Conservation International, and the $22 million STELARR Investment Hub brought by the International Livestock Research Institute.
Twelve projects under the initiative are being delivered with the United Nations Development Programme, six with the United Nations Environment Programme and three with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
UNCCD Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad said the new commitments show a shift from identifying the financing gap to developing mechanisms to move investments into actual restoration projects.
“Land is not simply an environmental issue — it is economic infrastructure. It underpins food, water, jobs and stability, and when land fails, the costs are felt across economies and communities,” Ms Fouad said.
“What we are seeing in Ulaanbaatar is a shift from talking about the financing gap to building the pathways that can move investment into implementation.”
Chizuru Aoki, Head of the Multilateral Environmental Conventions and Funds Division of GEF, said rangelands had historically been underfunded despite their importance.
“Through the new UNCCD COP17 Legacy Project and other projects that are joining the Rangeland Flagship Initiative, the GEF is supporting the implementation of successful rangelands management and restoration at scale by combining our investments with strong partnerships,” she said.
Mongolia has also unveiled measures to increase domestic financing for land restoration, including sector-wide sustainable finance principles, a national green taxonomy, and a target to allocate 10 per cent of lending to green activities by 2030.
The country also launched a national Business 4 Land (B4L) Hub, bringing the UNCCD’s private-sector platform to the national level for the first time.
Russia subsequently launched its own B4L Hub, while Luxembourg announced plans to establish a Business 4 Land Foundation, and Germany provided funding for the B4L Finance Expert Group.
The initiatives aim to connect governments, businesses, financial institutions, and investment opportunities while addressing barriers that have historically discouraged private investment in land restoration.
