Media Briefing on Finance Day - Press Conference, UNCCD COP17

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to this Cop 17 press conference on financing and restoration and drought resilience.
Today is the start of Cop 17 high level segment, and it is Finance Day.
As we heard from the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations today, finance equals means of implementation.
My name is Yazan Neme and I will be modulating today's press conference.
We will hear about the finance being mobilized at Cop 17, the growing role of the private sector, a major new investment pipeline for range lands, and the support being provided by the Global Environment facility for dry lands and drought resilience.
Let me begin by introducing our speakers.
First, we have Pablo Anis for the global mechanism of your NCCT who will outline the scale of the financing challenge and how public development and private finance can work together to close the gap.
We are also joined by Sarah Toy, also from the global mechanism of UNCCD who will speak about business for land, private sector engagement, and the range Lands flagship Initiative.
Our third speaker is Erlik Apple, land degradation lead at the Global Environment Facility Secretariat, who will explain the Jeff's role as a financial mechanism of the UNCCD introduce the new y lines and drought management to management integrated program.
Let me now give the floor to Pablo for his opening remarks.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Thank you for joining today in the poco briefing.
I'd like to start by introducing some of the trends related to financing for the implementation of the convention.
The country parties set the ambition to restore 1 billion hectares are reflected in their DLDD related plans.
This includes policies of governance as well as restorations.
$1 billion a day requires approximately 355 billion a year from now to 2030.
This is about 3.5 times current financial levels, and that is the scale of the challenge that we are talking about.
It is acknowledged the importance of grants and concessional finance, but the scale might require to think in a different way.
We saw in the financing dialogue this morning, how we develop and build a new architecture that can support countries to implement their plans.
This is in a context where we see many challenges at the country level with tight fiscal space and their budgets.
And rising level of sovereign debt.
What can we do about that? That's the key question, perhaps, which solutions we can propose that are at the scale of the challenge? I'd like to provide highlights around four pathways that could shed some light in that direction.
The first one is how we can use public resources to the risk investment and bring the private sector in to unlock further resources.
Also, how we can provide the right signals in terms of incentives so the private sector can transition towards sustainable land management.
Second is about multilateral partners.
How we can create a taxonomy and track financial flows within their portfolio of investment that support countries.
The third is about how we can continue developing bankable business model that can mainstream many benefits that deliver land into their business model.
The fourth is about ensuring agriculture and range land value change become regenerative, which is the work of our Business for land initiative.
Last but not least, I'd like to reference to the Ranchland flagship Initiative in the International Ranchland and pastoralist where $1.2 billion of pipeline pledged with a vision for more investment over the coming decades.
Ranch lands cover more than half of the world's land surface and support the livelihood of hundreds of millions of pastoralists.
They have been chronically underfunded for as long as anyone has been counting.
I will stop here but I'll be pleased to further elaborate on any of your question.
Thank you.
Okay.
Thank you so much, Bab.
I will give the floor now to Sarah.
Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, everyone.
I'm Sarah Tomi.
I'm in charge of the Business Finland Initiative at the Global Mechanism.
I'm here to tell you more about the Business Finland Initiative.
First of all, to tell you that this Finance day for VisCaP is not just about pledges, it's about architecture and how we bring in the private sector to complement the action of public sector and scale investments.
We have four announcements today.
We have four announcements today.
The first one is the Business Finland Champions Council.
We have 13 business leaders from four continents, SM in Egypt, LVMH, Bayer Ola magri, Susano, Mirova, II and Nix era and they are not here to sponsor.
They are here to showcase that in any sector in the business, now the business has to transition into sustainable land, soil and water management because it's about business survival.
And those business champions, you will meet them tonight at 6:00 P.M.
In the action dome, you're all welcome for the reception of the closing of the Finance day and they will express what are their commitments for land, soil and water.
Secondly, I would like to also inform you that we have launched now a network of business on land hubs.
Parties have asked us to work more with businesses at national level.
The Secretariat has launched a call for proposal.
We have now launched a hub in France.
In China and tomorrow we launch a hub in Russia and after tomorrow in Mongolia.
Those hubs are very important because they are led by business associations and they are gathering their business members to think about how they can take into account land, soil and water in their business operations and value chains, how they can scale investments in solutions that can transition to sustainable land management, and then how they can advocate and have peer to peer exchanges on what are the better solutions to implement.
Thirdly, I would like also to say that on the finance pillar of the Business Finance Initiative, we are launching today's Business Finance expert group on finance.
We launched several months ago the expert group on corporate target setting and disclosure, but this time on finance, we are gathering experts and leaders from investment funds, from multilateral development banks, from DFIs.
The goal from this CP to next COP is to develop this financial architecture that we need to bring in the private investments and the capital into the goals of the convention.
We also have published a report with the Global Reporting Initiative, which is the most adopted framework for disclosure by more than 70% of companies in the world.
You will find it on our website and you can learn more on how we have worked with Ola Mari and Riotinto on how they can use their disclosure systems to report to UN CCD and to actually disclose on what is their real impact on land and how they can support national priorities on this matter on target setting as well.
Countries, as you know here, are all setting targets for LGN, but what about businesses? We need science based credible targets.
To do so, we are working with the science based targets for nature, and we also actually presented just now at the Business F Forum in the action dome two study cases, one for Pakistan and one for Mongolia with companies explaining how they are supporting national priorities on land degradation neutrality.
Finally, I would like to say that we launched just yesterday as a stellar Range Restoration Investment Hub to bring more investments into range lands, especially from the private sector because as you can see here, in the Range you have fashion, you have agriculture, you have so many sectors depending on the land and ranch land and they are actors who can also contribute to making a positive change.
We also heard that the Business Ft Forum, entreprise Pond, which is a French business network of all the companies in the stock exchange.
They all presented their study on how they are taking into account land use.
To finish, I would like to say that at 2:00 P.M.
At 2:30 P.M.
In the action dome, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development mandated by the global mechanism is handing over its recommendations for Germany and Côte D'ivoire.
It's also very interesting to see this shift because parties asked us at cop 16 to work on mobilizing more of the private sector.
To do so, we have worked with this organization together some recommendations that are now discussed by parties in the negotiations scheme.
I will finish here and if you have any questions, don't hesitate.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, Sarah.
Old let me turn to you now.
Good afternoon and thank you for joining us for this press conference.
My name is Urich Appel.
I coordinate the land degradation focal area at the Global Environment facility.
The Global Environment facility is a financial mechanism of the UN CCD since 2003.
In the past two decades, the GEF has provided $5.7 billion to 742 projects and programs addressing desertification, land degradation, and drought in 144 countries.
First of all, we are honored to be part of the Range Llands flagship Initiative led by Mongolia and the UNCCD.
The JeF supports the development and coordination of the initiative through a $3.3 million grant to the UCCD Cop 17 legacy project that will leverage another $8 million in co financing from Mongolia and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
In addition, during the Jef eight cycle, which ran 2022-26, the Jef has approved 50 projects across its family of funds that support sustainable rangelands management and restoration and pastoralists livelihoods with a total investment of more than $300.
Million US.
The Jef is also announcing here at the cop 17, the development of a new dryland and drought management integrated program with a tentative envelope of $140 million.
And this program responds to calls from parties to the UN CCD for stronger action on drought resilience.
It will help countries to move from crisis response to preparedness with better monitoring, stronger national drought planning, nature based solutions, and investments that build resilience before drought becomes a disaster.
The program is part of an initial 3.9 billion JeF replenishment package that will support the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements through 2030.
And during the next four years, drought resilience will become more central, more targeted, and measurable for the EF.
In addition to the new integrated program on drought, we will have a dedicated focal area objective to support the implementation of national drought plans, a drought vulnerability index in the formula to calculate the allocation to the countries, and new indicators to track improved drought resilience.
So our message today is simple.
Investing in healthy land and healthy people means investing in food security, and climate resilience, biodiversity, water, jobs, and peace.
We will look forward to work together with countries and partners to turn this ambition into action on the ground.
Thank you, and I would be happy to take your questions.
Thank you very much our panelists.
I'll remind everybody that you should have two press releases in your inboxes, one from the UCCD and one from the Jeff.
If you don't, please come speak to us afterwards.
I will open now the floor for any questions.
Please raise your hand.
Mic will be handed to you and then please mention which meeting you are from and also who the question is for.
I might have a quick follow up for you Erlik, if you don't mind until we have questions.
Can you tell us a little bit what will the new dry lands and drought management integrated program do differently and how and when will affected country be able to access its support? Yeah.
Thank you for the question.
First of all, it is for the very first time that we have a dedicated integrated program.
The series of integrated programs in the Jef started in F seven, eight years ago, and now for the first time we have a dedicated integrated program.
The new thing is that it can really provide targeted support for countries that want to prioritize the implementation of their their national drought plans and can really coordinate action among the participating countries so that they can learn from each other, share knowledge, and help to contribute to the global agenda on drought.
And the funding so we are developing this program now.
We are in the process of identifying the lead agency, and we expect that we will have about a council approval in next June 2027, after which then the funding can be disbursed.
Thank you very much.
Sarah, very interesting opening remarks, very exciting names and really a lot of advances since Cp 16.
But also, I would like to ask you, how can we encourage more private capital to enter land restoration? How can business for land help companies in their interest? When you speak to them, how do you convince them that this is a good investment? It's it's a smart opportunity to take into account land, soil and water management now in the value chains.
The agriculture sector, the fashion sector, they all know it perfectly because the biggest companies are now obliged to do all the necessary extra financial reporting.
Like I was talking about the global reporting initiative we are working.
We are working actually with more than 20 frameworks on disclosure with corporates who are working.
This is our entry point.
We work with those frameworks, telling them that they should combines their companies to disclose on their land impact because this is a strategic asset for them.
If they know what is the status of the land degradation in their value chain at the moment, then they will be able to do a strategy on how to improve it.
When they improve it, it's business transformation, which is pillar one of business plan.
Automatically they will have to find more finance and they will have to finance it somehow because this is about business survival.
And this is why and we think now businesses have a role to play in this convention because most of them have understood from the corporate disclosure and target setting angle that they need to change their practices to survive from an economic perspective, I mean, because now drought and land degradation are a an economic risk, not just environmental risk.
From there, how they invest in their value chains, but not just in the value chain at the landscape level.
That's where our collaborations comes in with the global mechanism, which is leading on the project Preparation Partnership Program, founded by Germany where we are supporting governments to develop project pipelines.
From now to the next cop, when I was talking about architecture, I was talking about also including those private sector into this pipeline development so they can co invest in these governments.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Sorry, can we handle the mark, gentlemen, third row? Hello.
Thank you.
I'm Peter Care with AFP.
I'm not sure who is best placed maybe to answer this.
Maybe you can help me direct it.
First of all, I'd like to ask about the funding.
The amount that you've announced today, how does it compare to the overall scale of funding that's actually needed that's urgent right now? Then secondly, what will be the priorities, maybe the countries or the recipients in terms of when it comes time to disbursing these funds, what will the priorities be? Where will they go initially? Thank you.
I think Pablo would start with you and then if our panelists would like to add, please do.
Sure.
Thank you for the question.
As I mentioned, the gap that we see is about 280 billion year every year from now to 2030.
Today, we have a flagship that is in the range of 1.2 billion as a pledge.
Now, the gap is a gap that consider all developing countries and the scale is considerable.
That's why we are talking about a structural problem, how we can solve it that go beyond business as usual, or a flagship initiative of a COP.
That's what maybe you heard in the ministerial dialogue about what reforms can be done by finance ministers in terms of structural changes.
And the way we finance land.
Regarding priorities, this is an aggregated figure across countries.
It will be up to every country to set up strategies, how they will take the leadership to close the gap with the support of international partners all sources of funding.
So it's not that there is a list of priorities country by country.
At the global mechanism, we are supporting the setting up of a fund that will support least developed countries to fund their plans.
That's the global region partnership on drug resilience, for example.
We can provide more information if you're interested in.
But that's a little bit the landscape.
Thank you.
Today, during the finance ministerial segment, there were several announcements of financial contributions and ours.
All these financial contributions together, they can make a significant contribution in closing this financing gap.
We all recognize that the financing gap is huge.
But the working in partnership, for example, the GEF also works in close partnership with the Ri Global Drought Resilience Partnership on our program and with the newly announced and drought resilience Investment facility that Luxembourg just announced.
The funding can then also catalyze and mobilize more investment in the future, bringing in private sector sources and from other partners.
Thank you.
Okay.
I have? Oh, sorry, please.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I am Shagun from India.
I have two questions.
One is to Mr.
Ulrich.
You explained the Jeff eight cycle and the projects under it.
How much has actually reached the countries and what are some of the projects that are being executed from this funding, if you can shed some light on that.
My second question is to the UN CCD Secretariat.
In the migration last week.
Some parties wanted financing obligations to fall on all countries and not just on developed countries.
They suggested that this is the language that should be used.
That's a shift from the traditional CBDR framing that we use.
If the language shifts from developed to all countries providing finance, does that risk letting traditional donor countries reduce their commitment and it can also set a precedent.
Just wanted to know what's the UN CCD's position on it.
O, would you like to start.
Here at the CP 17, the JeF has presented its report to the Crop and the reports on the Jef eight funds that have benefited 245 projects in 134 countries.
It was a total Jef investment of 1.97 billion close to $2 billion.
These projects are now in various stages of development.
Some have started implementation where disbursement to the countries have started.
Some are in the project preparation phase, but they will be all implemented over the course of the next five to six years.
You know these 245 projects, but maybe just to give you an example.
We had in GF eight, a large program to support the Great Green Wall Initiative in the Sahara and the Sahel.
We have also supported the Southern African Great Green Wall Initiative, just to give you some examples.
These projects are usually integrated projects that generate global environmental benefits working on sustainable land management and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and pastoralists.
On your question, maybe I will give you a brief answer and then we might follow up to confirm.
But the global region partnership is targeted in principle, 73 least developed countries or 74 as per world Bank definition of least developed countries.
We heard some parties that I asking how we can make wider the scope of countries eligible to apply to resources from this financing vehicle.
We understand that there is nothing confirmed, but I would prefer to follow up with a respective colleague in charge of this flagship and give you a confirm my answer if that's okay.
Thank you.
Gentlemen, second row.
Thank you so much for the opportunity.
My name is Abdu Khalil Majid.
I'm a journalist with Premium Times from Nigeria.
I just want to ask the Jeff official, you spoke about funding and from the region I come from Africa and even Nigeria, for instance.
I know interacting with some of the officials around environmental issues, the complaint has always been lack of funding, finance, and all of that to address this issue.
Many of them also talk about your inability to assess funding for maybe like Jeff.
What do you think, looking at the C now, and all the conversation going on around finance, what should African countries do differently to be able to access some of this finance to do projects that could help restore degraded lands across the respective countries? Thank you.
Thank Thank you for the question.
First of all, the GF always programs all the funding that is available.
We have in Je eight programmed all of our available funding, and in fact, the African region is the largest beneficiary of our funding, they have received 30% of the funds followed by Asia with 18% and Latin America and the Caribbean with 15%.
So the African countries, because they are also a focus of this convention, are actually our largest beneficiary in the Jeff.
I think it's not the problem of accessibility of the funds because we program our entire funding that we have available.
All.
Okay.
If there's no further questions, I want to really thank our panelists for their time and the information they gave us here.
Please for anything related to your NCCD approach me, my colleagues China Fraisk and we can get you more detailed stuff and put you in contact with the right people.
This is quite a wide subject that we would like to always provide the most accurate confirmation with GF as well.
We can also be in touch with my colleague Alexander Pino.
I will also be able to help you if you have any follow ups.
And with that, thank you very much for attending today and we will see you at the next press conference.
Thank you.