The 4th of December is Land Day at UNCCD COP16. Humanity is only as healthy as our lands are. Yet over 40% of the global population are negatively impacted by land degradation. Over 2 billion hectares of land worldwide are degraded, with experts warning that without action, this could grow to 6 billion hectares. The Land Restoration Moonshot: Scaling Finance is the first part of the double-session Scaling Finance, Empowering People, taking place within the main programme of Land Day, at the Action Dome.
A recent State of Finance for Nature: Restoration Finance Report by the UN Environment Programme outlines how annual investments in restoration needs to quadruple by 2030 to achieve global restoration goals. The report also finds that sources of finance need to diversify: At 72%, public finance is still the biggest source of investments in ecosystem restoration. 81% of this goes into sustainable agriculture. With US$ 19 billion, private finance is still relatively modest. Agroforestry and restorative reforestation require higher levels of finance. Regionally speaking, Asia and the Middle East need the highest investments (US$ 102 billion and US$ 39 billion respectively).
SPEAKERS
- Valerie Hickey, Global Director for Environment, World Bank
- Marcos Neto, ASG and Director of Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP
- Issa Faye, Director General Global Practices & Partnerships, Islamic Development Bank
- Fadi Alshihabi, Head of ESG & Decarbonization, KPMG Saudi Arabia
- Gelsomina Vigliotti, Vice President, European Investment Bank
- Philippe Zaouati, CEO, Mirova
- Moderator: Chetan Kumar, Global Head Forests & Grasslands, IUCN