UNCCD, Background, Objectives, Articles, COPs, Reports

The UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) is a legally binding international environmental agreement addressing desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) through sustainable land management and ecosystem restoration. Adopted in 1994, the UNCCD is one of the three Rio Conventions, alongside the UNFCCC and UNCBD. It links land degradation with poverty, livelihoods, food and water security, and sustainable development.

The core objective of the UNCCD is to combat desertification and mitigate drought effects through action at all levels. Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) is a key implementation goal linked to SDG Target 15.3. The UNCCD follows a country-driven, bottom-up and participatory approach, emphasising National Action Programmes, international cooperation, drought resilience and restoration of degraded land.

UNCCD Background

The UNCCD provides a global framework for tackling desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) through sustainable land management, international cooperation and community participation. It seeks to protect land resources while strengthening the livelihoods and resilience of affected populations.

• Evolution: The UNCCD originated from the UN Conference on Desertification (UNCOD), 1977, which adopted the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification (PACD).
  • In 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit, the international community moved towards creating a dedicated legally binding convention on desertification.
  • The Convention was adopted in 1994 and entered into force on 26 December 1996; its first Conference of the Parties (COP1) was held in Rome, Italy, in 1997.
• Nature & scope: It is a legally binding international agreement dealing with desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD), with particular attention to affected drylands and vulnerable communities.
• Global membership: The UNCCD has 197 Parties, comprising 196 countries and the European Union, providing a near-universal framework for cooperation on land degradation and drought.
• Institutional framework: The Conference of the Parties (COP) serves as the supreme decision-making body, while the UNCCD Secretariat is headquartered in Bonn, Germany.
• National implementation: National Action Programmes (NAPs) serve as key instruments through which countries formulate and implement measures to combat desertification and land degradation.
• Core goal: Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) is a central objective, seeking to maintain or improve the quantity and quality of land resources necessary for ecosystems and human well-being.
  • The Convention is closely linked with SDG Target 15.3, which aims to achieve a land degradation-neutral world by 2030.
• Strategic framework: The UNCCD 2018–2030 Strategic Framework guides global action on sustainable land management, drought resilience and reducing land degradation.
• Global observance: 17 June is observed as the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, drawing attention to global efforts to address land degradation and drought.

UNCCD Objectives

The Convention seeks to move from merely responding to desertification towards prevention, restoration and resilience-building. Its objectives combine environmental sustainability with socioeconomic development.

• Combat desertification: Prevent and reduce desertification, particularly in drylands.
• Restore degraded land: Recover the ecological and productive capacity of degraded soils and landscapes.
• Build drought resilience: Strengthen preparedness and reduce vulnerability to drought.
• Achieve LDN: A contemporary goal to ensure that land degradation is avoided, reduced and balanced through restoration.
• Protect livelihoods: Reduce the adverse effects of land degradation on farmers, pastoralists and vulnerable communities.
• Promote sustainable land management: Encourage efficient and environmentally sustainable use of land and soil resources.
• Strengthen international cooperation: Mobilise finance, technology and capacity-building for affected countries.
• Promote community participation: Give affected populations a central role in planning and implementation.

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UNCCD Articles

The important UNCCD articles are listed below.

UNCCD COPs 

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the UNCCD. COPs periodically review implementation, adopt decisions and strengthen international cooperation.

• COP1 - 1997, Rome: The first COP was held in Rome, Italy, and established the institutional arrangements and implementation framework necessary for operationalising the Convention.
• COP13 - 2017, Ordos, China: COP13 adopted the UNCCD 2018–2030 Strategic Framework and strengthened efforts towards Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) target-setting by Parties.
• COP14 - 2019, Greater Noida, India: India hosted COP14 in Greater Noida, which adopted the Delhi Declaration and highlighted sustainable land management and land restoration; India also enhanced its restoration target from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares by 2030.
• COP15 - 2022, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire: COP15 focused on land restoration, drought resilience and the sustainable management of drylands under the theme “Land. Life. Legacy.”
• COP16 - 2024, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: COP16, held as the 30th-anniversary COP, strengthened global action on drought resilience and launched initiatives including the International Drought Resilience Observatory and the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership.
• COP17 - 2026, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: COP17 placed strong emphasis on rangelands, pastoralists, land restoration and drought resilience, and launched the Drought Resilience Investment Facility (DRIF).
• COP18 - 2028, Egypt: COP18 is scheduled to build on ongoing UNCCD work, including discussions concerning drought resilience, a potential global drought framework and greater participation of civil society.

COP 17 to the UNCCD Outcomes

UNCCD COP17 aimed to move the global approach from declarations towards finance, implementation and community-led restoration.

• The Ulaanbaatar Declaration on Local and Regional Governments was adopted on August 21, 2026, during the UNCCD COP17 Mayors’ Forum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
• Rangelands & pastoralists: Greater focus on sustainable rangeland management and community participation.
• Rangelands Flagship Initiative: US$1.2 billion across 45 projects for rangeland restoration and sustainable management.
• Drought Resilience Investment Facility (DRIF): launched to mobilise up to US$400 million in public and private capital.
• Drought resilience: Shift from reactive response to early warning, preparedness and resilience.
• Land restoration finance: Mobilisation of US$1.3 billion for restoration and drought resilience.
• Community-led restoration: Greater role for pastoralists, Indigenous peoples and local communities.
• India: Highlighted Open Natural Ecosystems, community-based rangeland restoration and technology-enabled drought resilience.

UNCCD and India

India is a major stakeholder in the UNCCD owing to the large extent of land affected by degradation and drought. Its approach combines land restoration, sustainable land management, carbon-sink creation and community-based employment, while also contributing to global capacity-building.

• Ratification: India signed the UNCCD in 1994 and ratified it in 1996, with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) serving as the nodal ministry for its implementation.
• National Action Plan: India prepared the National Action Programme to Combat Desertification (NAPCD) in 2001, which was subsequently revised in 2019 and 2023 to strengthen the country's response to desertification, land degradation and drought.
  • The programme emphasises convergence among government schemes, restoration of degraded land, sustainable land-use practices, community participation and improved monitoring of land degradation.
• COP14: India hosted UNCCD COP14 in Greater Noida in 2019, where the Delhi Declaration was adopted, reaffirming the importance of sustainable land management and land restoration.
  • Delhi Declaration (2019): It aimed to strengthen global cooperation for land restoration, Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), drought resilience, sustainable land management, resource mobilisation and community participation.
• Land restoration and LDN target: Under its Bonn Challenge pledge in 2015, India initially committed to restoring 21 million hectares by 2030; this target was enhanced to 26 million hectares by 2030 at COP14 in 2019, alongside the 2023 goal of creating an additional 2.5–3 billion tonnes of CO₂-equivalent carbon sink.
• Progress in land restoration: As of June 2026, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change stated that India had brought 21.76 million hectares under restoration, bringing the country closer to its 26-million-hectare target; these restoration activities have also generated approximately 1.22 billion person-days of employment.
  • According to the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India prepared by ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC), nearly 30% of India's geographical area is affected by land degradation, with some states recording degradation levels exceeding 50%.
• Domestic schemes and monitoring mechanisms: India advances LDN through programmes such as Green India Mission and MGNREGS, supported by monitoring through systems such as NAMS and assessments such as the ISFR and Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas.
• Contribution to COP17: At COP17, India launched its first-ever “Guide to Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems”, highlighting the ecological importance of grasslands and other open natural ecosystems and supporting their improved conservation and management.

UNCCD Mechanisms

The UNCCD implements its objectives through a range of institutional, scientific, financial and partnership mechanisms that support countries in combating desertification, restoring degraded land and building resilience to drought. 

• Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Framework: The LDN framework provides a voluntary national target-setting mechanism through which countries seek to ensure no net loss in land productivity and ecosystem quality while promoting the restoration of degraded land.
• Global Mechanism: The Global Mechanism of the UNCCD supports resource mobilisation by helping Parties access and coordinate financial resources and investment for implementing NAPs, LDN targets and land restoration programmes.
• Science-Policy Interface (SPI): The Science-Policy Interface provides scientific and technical evidence to support evidence-based decision-making by the COP and other UNCCD bodies.
• Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership: Launched at COP16 in 2024, this partnership seeks to strengthen international cooperation and shift drought management from a reactive crisis-response approach to proactive resilience-building.
• International Drought Resilience Observatory (IDRO): Launched at COP16, the observatory uses digital and AI-enabled tools and drought-resilience indicators to help governments assess, visualise and strengthen their preparedness for drought.
• Business for Land (B4L): Business for Land serves as a major private-sector engagement mechanism under the UNCCD, encouraging businesses to invest in land restoration and regenerative landscapes through its Action Agenda.
• Drought Resilience Investment Facility (DRIF): Launched at COP17 in 2026, the DRIF is designed as a catalytic financing mechanism for drought resilience, helping mobilise investment for proactive drought preparedness and resilience.

UNCCD Reports

The UNCCD periodically publishes flagship reports and scientific assessments that track the global status of land degradation, desertification and drought. These reports provide evidence for policymaking, monitoring progress towards Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) and assessing global restoration needs.

• Global Land Outlook 2 (GLO2): The UNCCD's flagship report, Global Land Outlook 2, states that up to 40% of the world's land is degraded, directly affecting nearly half of humanity and putting around $44 trillion (about half of global GDP) at risk.
  • It also warns that business-as-usual could degrade an area almost the size of South America by 2050.
• The Global Threat of Drying Lands (2024): Released during COP16 (2024), this report highlights that 77.6% of Earth's land has become drier since the 1990s, while drylands now cover more than 40% of the planet's land surface.
• Global Drought Impact Assessment (COP16): UNCCD data presented at COP16 show that droughts have increased by about 29–30% in frequency and intensity since 2000, affecting the livelihoods of nearly 1.8 billion people and causing annual economic losses of approximately US$300 billion.
• Global Land Restoration Finance Gap (COP17): At COP17 (2026), the UNCCD estimated that achieving global commitments on land restoration and drought resilience requires about US$355 billion annually, while current investments are only around US$77 billion, leaving an annual financing gap of nearly US$278 billion.
• Restoration Investment Estimate: The UNCCD estimates that around US$2.6 trillion in cumulative investment is required by 2030 to restore more than 1 billion hectares of degraded land and strengthen global drought resilience.
• People Affected by Land Degradation: According to UNCCD and UN estimates, approximately 3–3.2 billion people worldwide are already affected by land degradation and its associated impacts on livelihoods, biodiversity and food security.
• National Reports to CRIC: Every Party to the UNCCD submits periodic National Reports to the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) to monitor progress on NAPs, LDN targets and Convention commitments.
• "Unite for Land: 30 Years of UNCCD": This 30th-anniversary publication, released in 2024, reviews the Convention's achievements over three decades and outlines future priorities for land restoration, drought resilience and sustainable land management.

UNCCD Challenges

Despite three decades of international cooperation, the UNCCD faces challenges in translating global commitments into adequately financed, measurable and coordinated action. 

• Persistent finance gap: A major challenge is the shortage of financial resources, with the UNCCD's COP17 (2026) estimate indicating a gap of around US$278 billion annually between the approximately US$355 billion required and US$77 billion currently invested in land restoration and drought resilience.
• Absence of a binding global drought framework: Despite drought resilience becoming an increasingly important UNCCD priority, Parties have not reached agreement on a legally binding global drought framework, with the issue remaining on the agenda for further consideration at COP18 (2028).
• Weak compliance architecture: The UNCCD largely relies on voluntary national commitments, including LDN target-setting, and lacks a strong binding enforcement mechanism to ensure uniform implementation and compliance by Parties.
• Growing scale of the crisis: The scale of land degradation and drought is increasing rapidly, with UNCCD assessments reporting increased aridity across 77.6% of global land since the 1990s and drought frequency/intensity rising by around 30% since 2000, creating difficulties for restoration efforts to keep pace.
• Limited participation of IPLCs and civil society: The meaningful and institutionalised participation of Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities (IPLCs) and civil society remains an unresolved issue, with some participation-related matters deferred for further consideration and formal caucus engagement developing only recently.
• Neglect of rangelands and pastoralists: Rangelands cover more than half of the Earth's land surface and support hundreds of millions of people, yet their degradation, monitoring and governance have historically received comparatively limited attention within global land-management frameworks.
• Fragmentation across Rio Conventions: Overlapping responsibilities among the UNCCD, UNFCCC and UNCBD can create fragmented implementation and additional reporting burdens, despite their shared concerns regarding land-use change, climate change and biodiversity loss.
• Under-addressed migration and security linkages: Land degradation and drought can contribute to livelihood loss, displacement and migration, but the connection between land degradation, human mobility and security has not yet been sufficiently translated into concrete and operational policy mechanisms.
• India-specific challenge: India's progress of 21.76 million hectares restored by mid-2026 remains below its 26-million-hectare 2030 target, requiring sustained scaling-up of restoration efforts; meanwhile, ISRO's land-degradation assessments indicate that degradation remains a significant national challenge.

UNCCD Way Forward

Strengthening the UNCCD requires moving from commitment to implementation through predictable finance, stronger monitoring, inclusive governance and greater convergence with climate and biodiversity frameworks.

• Close the financing gap: Scale up the Drought Resilience Investment Facility (DRIF) and the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, while using blended finance, guarantees and private investment to mobilise resources for land restoration and drought resilience.
  • Increase annual land restoration and drought-resilience investment towards the estimated global requirement.
• Strengthen drought governance: Use the continued standalone consideration of drought at future COPs to build consensus on a stronger global drought framework, with greater emphasis on early warning, preparedness and resilience.
  • Increase the number of countries with national drought management and early-warning systems.
• Improve monitoring and accountability: Strengthen CRIC review, national reporting and LDN monitoring through standardised indicators and satellite-based assessment.
  • Regularly track changes in land productivity, land cover and carbon stocks against national LDN targets.
• Mainstream local participation: Institutionalise the participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, youth and civil society in national land-restoration planning and implementation.
  • Ensure their representation in national LDN and restoration planning mechanisms.
• Integrate the Rio Conventions: Promote greater coordination between UNCCD, UNFCCC and CBD so that land restoration simultaneously contributes to climate mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity conservation.
  • Increase the number of integrated national programmes addressing land, climate and biodiversity objectives.