LAND RESTORATION AND DROUGHT RESILIENCE: INDIA’S CALL FOR SUSTAINED INTERNATIONAL FINANCE

Why in the News?

India has called for diversified, adequate, predictable and sustained international finance for land restoration and drought resilience at COP17 of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. India also highlighted its domestic financing mechanisms, including Green Credit Programme, Sovereign Green Bonds and compensatory afforestation funds.

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE FOR LAND RESTORATION

●     Finance Gap: Combating desertification, land degradation and drought at scale requires resources beyond domestic public budgets, particularly for developing countries.

●     Predictable Funding: India stressed that international finance should be adequate, predictable and sustained, rather than fragmented short-term funding dependent on individual projects.

●     Diversified Sources: Financing should combine public finance, private investment, blended finance, green bonds and partnerships to expand the resource base for restoration.

●     Global Responsibility: India emphasised that domestic efforts cannot substitute for additional international finance, particularly when developing countries face disproportionate climate and ecological vulnerabilities.

●     Community Focus: Financial flows must remain continuous, verifiable and connected to local communities so that restoration produces livelihood, ecological and resilience benefits.

INDIA’S FINANCING ARCHITECTURE FOR RESILIENCE

●     Green Finance: India’s blended green-finance framework supports climate adaptation, sustainable agriculture, forestry, afforestation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable land management.

●     Green Bonds: Sovereign Green Bonds provide an avenue for mobilising capital towards environmental priorities, including land restoration and drought resilience.

●     Green Credits: The Green Credit Programme incentivises public and private entities to undertake restoration of degraded forest land, linking ecological outcomes with tradable environmental credits.

●     Compensatory Funding: India’s compensatory afforestation framework channels payments arising from forest diversion towards afforestation and ecosystem restoration activities.

●     Convergent Approach: Bringing together government finance, private capital, CSR resources and citizen participation reflects India’s proposed Whole-of-Government and Whole-of-Society approach.

 UNCCD, DESERTIFICATION AND LAND DEGRADATION

●     UNCCD Framework: The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is a legally binding international agreement focused on combating desertification, land degradation and drought, particularly in vulnerable regions.

●     Land Degradation: Land degradation refers to the decline in the biological or economic productivity and ecological functions of land caused by natural processes or human activities.

●     Desertification Meaning: Desertification is land degradation occurring in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas due to climatic variations and human activities.

●     India’s Commitment: India has committed to restoring 26 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030, contributing to global land-restoration objectives.

●     SDG Linkage: Land restoration directly supports SDG 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) while also strengthening food security, water security, biodiversity and rural livelihoods..