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The Ministry of Environment Water and Agriculture announced that the Kingdom hosted the largest session in the UNCCD’s history during COP16 in Riyadh in December 2024 marking the first time a Middle Eastern country held the presidency of the global conference on land degradation. The event brought together 197 parties which included 196 countries and the European Union and resulted in the adoption of 39 landmark decisions. According to the ministry the conference also succeeded in securing more than $12 billion to support land restoration and drought resilience efforts worldwide including $10 billion from the Arab Coordination Group.
During its presidency Saudi Arabia launched the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership which has already drawn more than $2 billion in commitments the ministry’s statement detailed. The Riyadh Action Agenda grew from an initial 35 initiatives to more than 100 projects focused on restoring degraded lands while additional programs introduced an international early warning system for sand and dust storms along with the Land4Business framework to engage the private sector. UNCCD data shows that land degradation currently affects nearly 40 percent of the planet’s land surface and impacts the livelihoods of more than 2 billion people providing broader context for the scale of these efforts.
The ministry noted that COP16 featured record private sector participation highlighted by the first Business for Land Forum and introduced a dedicated Green Zone alongside the traditional Blue Zone for the first time in UNCCD history. These elements helped expand engagement beyond government negotiators to include businesses civil society and youth groups from dozens of countries. Such expansions built on the outcomes of previous conferences where COP14 and COP15 had drawn significantly smaller attendance the ministry assessment found.
Saudi Arabia will maintain an active role at COP17 in Mongolia by operating a national pavilion that hosts more than 40 side events along with a separate pavilion dedicated to the Middle East Green Initiative the ministry reported. Officials plan to chair the final meeting of the COP Bureau and convene both the steering committee and partners assembly for the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership during the gathering which runs through August 28. The Kingdom’s continued involvement aligns with its commitments under Saudi Vision 2030 which targets the restoration of 40 million hectares of degraded land and the planting of 10 billion trees.
The handover to Mongolia represents a transition rather than an end to Saudi contributions the ministry emphasized in its announcement. Saudi Arabia will continue supporting multilateral actions on sustainable development land restoration and drought resilience through ongoing partnerships established during its presidency. UNCCD records indicate that effective implementation of such initiatives could help reverse trends in which drylands continue to expand due to climate change and unsustainable practices across multiple regions.
