India has given direction to world by raising target for restoring degraded land: Javadekar

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday said India has given a direction to the world by raising its target for restoring degraded land from 21 million hectare to 26 million hectare by 2030.

In a press conference after presiding over the high-level segment of the UN's Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the delegates, Javadekar said, "It is an important direction for the world that every country can target more because if we restore land faster, our mitigation is also helped. It is a landmark achievement."

India's earlier commitment to restore degraded land at the time of the Bonn Challenge in 2013 was 13 million hectare. It was raised by 8 million hectares in the 2015 Paris Agreement, and now the prime minister has increased the target by aiming to restore 26 million hectare of degraded land in the country by 2030, he said on the eighth day of the COP 14 being held in Greater Noida since September 2.

 

The minister also said after various deliberations at the high-level meeting, the draft of the New Delhi Declaration is almost ready and is likely to be released on Tuesday.

The declaration will be a document adopted to combat land desertification by all the participating countries.

"The draft of the New Delhi Declaration is almost ready and we may release it tomorrow. Discussions throughout the last week were very productive. This is one area where there is more unanimity than divergence of views," Javadekar said.

The conference was also addressed by United Nations Deputy Secretary General Amina J Mohammad and UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw, who said it was a time of "crisis" and the countries were short of funds to combat desertification.

"We are in crisis and have to address that. We can find a solution. The challenge is how to get it done," Mohammad said, adding that restoring land would also help reinstate jobs and fight hunger.

Thiaw said it was very important to mobilise funds from private sectors on land restoration.

"We don't have enough funds to combat desertification. We need more resources and private investments on land to restore it. It is very important to mobilize funds from private sectors on land restoration. It will be helpful," he said.