A COP16 delegate walks past a giant poster of a Saudi archaeological site at the start of the UNCCD negotiations (Fayez Nureldine). PHOTO
By AFP - Agence France Presse
World falls short of drought deal at Saudi-hosted talks
Robbie Corey-Boulet
Negotiators failed to reach an agreement on how to respond to drought at UN talks based in Saudi Arabia, participants said on Saturday, falling short of a hoped-for binding protocol to deal with the scourge.
The 12-day meeting of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), known as COP16, concluded on Saturday morning, a day later than planned, as the parties tried to finalize an agreement.
Ahead of the talks, UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw said the world hoped negotiators would “adopt a bold decision that could help turn the tide on the most widespread and disruptive environmental disaster: drought.”
But speaking at the plenary session before dawn, Thiaw acknowledged that “the parties need more time to agree on the best way forward.”
A press release on Saturday said that the parties - 196 countries and the European Union - had “made significant progress in laying the foundations for a future global drought regime, which they aim to conclude at COP17 in Mongolia in 2026”.
The negotiations in Riyadh followed the partial failure of the biodiversity talks in Colombia, the failure to reach a UN agreement on plastic pollution in South Korea, and a climate finance deal that disappointed developing nations at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The results “highlighted the challenges facing global negotiations,” said Tom Mitchell, executive director of the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development.
“More than ever, the fragmented geopolitical landscape is proving to be an obstacle to the COP process, and some voices are being excluded.
“These issues come at a time when the crises these summits are meant to address are becoming increasingly urgent.”
- Growing threat -
Droughts “fueled by human destruction of the environment” cost the world more than $300 billion a year, the UN said in a report published on December 3, the second day of the negotiations in Riyadh.
Droughts are projected to affect 75% of the world's population by 2050, according to the report.
A delegate at COP16 from an African country, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, told AFP that African nations hoped the talks would produce a binding protocol on drought.
This would ensure that “all governments would be held accountable” for drawing up stronger preparedness and response plans, the delegate said.
“It's the first time I've seen Africa so united, with a strong united front, on the drought protocol.”
Two other COP16 participants, who also requested anonymity, told AFP that developed countries did not want a binding protocol and were instead pushing for a “framework,” which African countries considered inadequate.
Indigenous groups also wanted a protocol, said Praveena Sridhar, technical director of Save Soil, a global campaign supported by UN agencies.
This would allow for better monitoring, early warning systems, and response plans, she said.
However, the absence of a protocol at COP16 “should not delay progress,” as national governments can still allocate “budgets and subsidies to financially support farmers in adopting sustainable soil and land management.”
- Funding needs
Ahead of the talks in Riyadh, the UNCCD said that 1.5 billion hectares (3.7 billion acres) of land must be restored by the end of the decade and that at least US$2.6 trillion in global investment is needed.
The first week saw pledges of more than $12 billion from bodies such as the Arab Coordination Group, a collection of national and regional institutions, and the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, which aims to mobilize public and private money to help countries at risk.
The activists accused Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, of trying to weaken calls to phase out fossil fuels at the UN COP29 climate talks held last month in Baku.
However, desertification is an important issue for the Gulf kingdom.
Along with the drought resilience partnership, Saudi Arabia has launched initiatives to promote early warning for sand and dust storms and to involve the private sector in land preservation, Saudi Environment Minister Abdulrahman AlFadley said in his closing speech.
Saudi Arabia is committed “to working with all parties to preserve ecosystems, enhance international cooperation to combat desertification and land degradation and deal with drought,” he said.
Sridhar, from Save Soil, said that Saudi Arabia had succeeded in raising the profile of land-related issues, which she described as more “unifying” than the climate talks in Baku.
“The focus on land, agricultural land, farmers, livestock - it's not a contested issue. Nobody is going to say 'I don't want food',” she said.
“Whether or not to use fossil fuels is a very polarized issue. This isn't.”
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