From ambition to action: Why financing will shape the future of land restoration

从雄心到行动：为什么融资将塑造土地恢复的未来

Restoring land is no longer a question of knowing what to do. Countries across regions and income levels have identified interventions where land is degrading and how drought risks can be reduced.

恢复土地不再是知道该怎么做的问题。不同区域和收入水平的国家已经确定了土地退化的干预措施以及如何减少干旱风险。

What now determines whether these plans deliver real impact is their financing.

现在决定这些计划是否产生真正影响的是它们的融资。

Meeting global land restoration and drought resilience targets will require around USD 355 billion per year between 2025 and 2030 – far more than is currently being invested. As long as land is not considered a strategic asset, rather than treated as a secondary environmental concern, this gap will persist.

2025年至2030年间，实现全球土地恢复和抗旱目标每年需要约3550亿美元，远远超过目前的投资。只要土地不被视为战略资产，而不是被视为次要环境问题，这种差距就会持续存在。

Why existing financing approaches fall short

为什么现有的融资方法不足

Today’s financial systems are not designed for the scale, timeframes, or risk profiles that land restoration demands. Public budgets in many countries are under pressure, shaped by competing development priorities and raising sovereign debt levels that result in limited fiscal space. Responsibilities for land, water, agriculture and climate are often split across institutions, complicating coordinated investment.

当今的金融系统并非针对土地恢复所需的规模，时间表或风险状况而设计。许多国家的公共预算面临压力，原因是相互竞争的发展优先事项和主权债务水平的提高，导致财政空间有限。土地、水、农业和气候的责任往往分散在各个机构之间，使协调投资复杂化。

Private investment has so far played a limited role. While interest in sustainability is growing, land restoration often involves longer time horizons and higher perceived risks. Without mechanisms to share risk, capital continues to flow elsewhere – even as UNCCD works to mobilize companies and investors through its Business4Land (B4L) platform, including the launch of the B4L Champions’ Council in 2026.

迄今为止，私人投资发挥的作用有限。尽管人们对可持续性的兴趣日益浓厚，但土地恢复通常涉及更长的时间范围和更高的感知风险。如果没有分担风险的机制，资本将继续流向其他地方-即使《荒漠化公约》通过其Business4Land (B4L) 平台努力动员公司和投资者，包括启动B4L冠军理事会2026年。

The result is a persistent mismatch: the economic costs of land degradation continue to accumulate across food systems, water security and national economies, while investment remains far below what is required.

其结果是持续的不匹配: 土地退化的经济成本继续在粮食系统、水安全和国民经济中累积，而投资仍然远远低于所需的水平。

Closing this gap requires a shift in investment logic – recognizing land restoration as core economic activity, not a side project.

缩小这一差距需要投资逻辑的转变 -- 认识到土地修复是核心经济活动，而不是一个侧面项目。

For development banks and public financiers, this means positioning land restoration not as a niche environmental issue, but as a strategic asset class – one that underpins food security, climate resilience and long-term stability.

对于开发银行和公共金融机构而言，这意味着将土地恢复定位为战略资产类别，而不是一个小众的环境问题，它是粮食安全、气候适应力和长期稳定的基础。

Turning finance into delivery

将融资转化为交付

In many countries, fiscal policies continue to favour land-degrading activities, while restoration remains underfunded. Redirecting incentives – by reforming subsidies and aligning taxation and public spending with sustainable land management – can change the economics of land use, making restoration financially viable rather than marginal.

在许多国家，财政政策继续支持土地退化活动，而恢复工作仍然资金不足。通过改革补贴，使税收和公共支出与可持续土地管理保持一致，重新调整激励措施，可以改变土地使用的经济性，使恢复在财务上可行，而不是边缘化。

Aligning agriculture, water, climate and economic strategies is critical to making financing more effective and durable. When policies pull in different directions, investment fails to deliver lasting results.

协调农业、水、气候和经济战略对于提高融资效率和持久性至关重要。当政策朝着不同的方向拉动时，投资无法产生持久的效果。

Mobilizing private investment at scale will also depend on reducing risk. Strategic use of public and concessional finance can absorb early risks, unlocking private capital at a scale that public budgets alone cannot reach.

大规模动员私人投资也将取决于降低风险。战略性地使用公共和优惠资金可以吸收早期风险，以仅靠公共预算无法达到的规模释放私人资本。

International cooperation remains essential, particularly for countries facing the largest restoration and drought resilience needs. When used strategically, public finance can mobilize additional resources while delivering benefits that extend beyond national borders.

国际合作仍然至关重要，特别是对于面临最大恢复和抗旱需求的国家。如果战略性地使用，公共财政可以调动更多资源，同时提供超越国界的利益。

The cost of inaction

不作为的代价

The economic consequences of inaction are already visible. Land degradation, desertification and drought already cost the global economy close to USD 900 billion each year, through lost productivity, soil depletion, drought damage and carbon emissions.

不采取行动的经济后果已经显而易见。土地退化、荒漠化和干旱已经通过生产力损失、土壤枯竭、干旱破坏和碳排放，每年给全球经济造成近9000亿美元的损失。

By contrast, scaling up investment in land restoration and drought resilience could generate USD 1.8 trillion in annual benefits- an estimated eight-to-one return on investment. These gains go beyond economics, strengthening food security, reducing vulnerability and supporting more resilient societies.

相比之下，扩大对土地恢复和抗旱能力的投资可以产生1.8万亿美元的年度效益-估计投资回报率为8: 1。这些成果超越了经济层面，加强了粮食安全，降低了脆弱性，支持了更具复原力的社会。

Every year of delay increases the economic, social and environmental costs.

每一年的延误都会增加经济、社会和环境成本。

From COP16 momentum to COP17 delivery

从COP16势头到COP17交付

Financing was central to discussions at the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD (COP16), which mobilized political attention, launched new partnerships and secured more than USD 12 billion in pledges for drought resilience.

资金是《荒漠化公约》缔约方会议第十六届会议 (COP16) 讨论的核心，该会议动员了政治关注，启动了新的伙伴关系，并获得了超过120亿美元的抗旱认捐。

COP16 showed that political momentum exists. The challenge now is whether financing systems can convert that momentum into delivery.

COP16表明存在政治势头。现在的挑战是融资系统能否将这种势头转化为交付。

Attention is now shifting to COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. With the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists in 2026 approaching, the focus will increasingly turn to implementation.

注意力现在转移到蒙古乌兰巴托的COP17。随着国际牧场和牧民年的2026年临近，重点将越来越转向执行。

Rangelands alone cover more than half of the Earth’s land surface and support the livelihoods of over one billion people, yet remain among the most underfinanced ecosystems globally.

仅牧场就覆盖了地球一半以上的陆地表面，支持了10亿多人的生计，但仍然是全球资金最不足的生态系统之一。

For the UNCCD, the road to COP17 is about ensuring that financing frameworks are designed to deliver -capable of translating ambition into measurable impact on the ground.

对于《荒漠化公约》而言，通往COP17的道路是确保融资框架的设计能够实现-能够将雄心转化为可衡量的实地影响。

A defining moment

一个决定性的时刻

The plans are in place. The solutions are known. The ambition is clear. What will define the coming decade is whether financial systems evolve to match that ambition – recognizing land as a strategic investment and financing it accordingly.

计划已经到位。解决方案是已知的。野心是明确的。定义未来十年的是，金融体系是否会发展以适应这一雄心-将土地视为战略投资并相应地为其提供资金。