Funding institutions

To achieve the target of a land degradation-neutral world by 2030, large amounts of financial resources must be mobilized. Public and philanthropic resources alone will not suffice. In addition to ongoing engagement within the United Nations system and through multilateral financial institutions, new public and private investments are needed to attain the Convention’s objectives.

Through our development and funding partnerships, the UNCCD aims to implement sustainable land management worldwide and to reach its targets. Investments in the UNCCD help to facilitate policy reform, leverage larger investments and initiate change at the national level. Better soil management has flow-on benefits to other sectors, such as producing social equality and reinforcing national economies. UNCCD’s efforts, with the support of our development partners, have had tangible, highly successful results in the drylands and worldwide. Examples include:

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) became a financial mechanism of the UNCCD in 2003. The GEF has recently approved USD 2 million funding to help UNCCD Parties complete the next reporting cycle in 2021-2022.

Cooperation between the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and UNCCD goes back to 1999. It received a major boost in 2021 with the AfDB commitment to assist in mobilizing up to USD 6.5 billion over five years, to advance the Great Green Wall initiative.

Officially launched at UNCCD COP 13 in Ordos, China, the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund is the first-of-its-kind investment vehicle leveraging public money to raise private capital for sustainable land projects. It has since mobilized over USD 100 million in investments.