Saudi Arabia is hosting the United Nations Cop16 conference on desertification this week, with the world's top oil exporter positioning itself as an environmental defender despite criticism of its role at previous climate talks.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called the meeting, which gets under way in Riyadh on Monday, a "moonshot moment" for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to protect and restore land, and respond to drought.
Activists accused Saudi Arabia – the world's biggest oil exporter – of trying to water down calls to phase out fossil fuels at last month's Cop29 climate talks in Azerbaijan.
However, the subject of desertification is close to home for the Gulf kingdom, which is home to one of the largest deserts on the planet.
"We are a desert country. We are exposed to the harshest mode of land degradation, which is desertification," said Saudi Arabia's Deputy Environment Minister Osama Faqeeha. "Our land is arid. Our rainfall is very little. And this is the reality. And we have been dealing with this for centuries."
Degradation of land disrupts ecosystems and makes it less productive for agriculture, leading to food shortages and driving migration. Land is considered degraded when its productivity has been harmed by human activities such as pollution or deforestation, with desertification an extreme form.
1.5bn hectares by 2030
The last gathering of parties to the UNCCD, in Côte d'Ivoire in 2022, produced a commitment to "accelerating the restoration of 1 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030".
But the desertification conference – which brings together 196 countries and the European Union – now says 1.5 billion hectares must be restored by the decade's end to combat crises including escalating droughts.
Saudi Arabia is aiming to restore some 40 million hectares of degraded land, without specifying a timeline, although Riyadh is reportedly anticipated restoring "several million hectares" by 2030.
'Global security is at stake'
So far 240,000 hectares have been recovered in Saudi Arabia, using measures including banning illegal logging and expanding the number of the country's national parks from 19 in 2016 to more than 500.
Other ways to restore land include planting trees, crop rotation, managing grazing and restoring wetlands.
The Cop29 climate talks yielded a hard-won $300 billion climate finance deal, although poorer nations most at risk of worsening climate disasters dismissed this as an insultingly low figure.
UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw says he hopes Cop16 will result in an agreement to accelerate land restoration and develop a "proactive" approach to droughts. "We have already lost 40 percent of our land and our soils," he said. "Global security is really at stake, and you see it all over the world. Not only in Africa, not only in the Middle East."
Repression and reform
Thousands of delegates have registered to attend the Riyadh talks, which run until 13 December, including "close to 100" government ministers.
French President Emmanuel Macron is due to attend the One Water Summit, taking place on the sidelines of Cop16 on 3 December.
Saudi Arabia's high oil production, resulting in eye-watering profits for state oil giant Aramco, routinely draws the ire of climate activists. But its exposure to desertification could give it more credibility during the Riyadh talks.
The country's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been criticised for mounting repression, even as the kingdom pursues social reforms intended to lure tourists and investors.
As Cop16 is a UN-organised event, civil society players including campaigners will be able to take part, although it was not clear if protests – a rarity in the kingdom – would be allowed.
