The Deputy Minister for Environment Dr. Osama Faqeeha took part in a panel titled "Land Degradation: A Call for Collective Action to Restore Land and Hope" at the World Economic Forum in Davos Klosters, Switzerland.
During the panel, Dr.Faqeeha said that finding solutions to land degradation and drought resilience is a collective responsibility that involves policy-makers, the private sector, and civil society organizations.
Dr.Faqeeha emphasized that Saudi Arabia will host COP 16 this year, with the participation of 196 countries, to support its goals of enhancing international cooperation and finding solutions to addressing the challenges of rehabilitating degraded agricultural lands and combating drought.
"We know that 99% of our food comes from the land, 75% of the freshwater resources are captured by vegetative land, as well as 90% of terrestrial biodiversity is found in forest and pasture areas. With land degradation, the world loses this diversity," added Dr.Faqeeha.
He further emphasized that finding effective solutions to land degradation and drought is a global responsibility that involves policy-makers, the private sector, financial institutions, and non-profit organizations. Currently, private sector investments in nature-based solutions account for only 5%, while 50% of the average global income comes from natural capital. Contrastingly, there is insufficient attention given to land preservation.