Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav outlined India's approach to land restoration, drought resilience and their financing at the 17th Conference of Parties (UNCCD CoP17) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He spoke at the Ministerial Dialogue on innovative financial mechanisms for healthy land and drought resilience, and at a side event organised by the IUCN.
Yadav said land restoration is a national priority, tied to sustainable land management, biodiversity conservation, climate action and rural development. India, he said, treats it as part of sustainable and resilient development, not a standalone intervention.
India is among the major pledgers to the Bonn Challenge. Its 2015 commitment to restore degraded and deforested land was later raised to 26 million hectares by 2030 (the 26 million hectare target).
India has released its Second Progress Report on the Bonn Challenge (2011–2020). It records 21.76 million hectares brought under restoration, supported by significant convergent financial flows, and about 1.22 billion person-days of employment. Yadav said the figures show restoration can deliver both environmental and socio-economic outcomes.
The assessment covers forests, agriculture, soil and water conservation and other land-use systems, because restoration has to respond to the ecological and socio-economic character of each landscape.
The reporting process also showed the need to strengthen systems for monitoring restoration outcomes, financial flows and livelihood impacts. The next cycle, for 2021–2025, is being prepared with the ICFRE Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Land Management and IUCN, and will focus on area restored, financial flows and employment generated.
Yadav said the credibility of a commitment rests on implementation, and that India follows a multi-sectoral, landscape-based approach. The Green India Mission is strengthening forest and tree cover, ecosystem services and climate resilience. The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) directs substantial resources to compensatory afforestation and allied restoration. The Nagar Van Yojana extends restoration to urban and peri-urban areas through urban forestry and green spaces. Watershed development, agroforestry, soil and water conservation and community-based restoration complement these.
No single programme or sector can deliver restoration, he said. It needs convergence across landscapes, sectors and levels of governance, from local communities and States to the Union Government.
On financing, Yadav said: "Land restoration is not a cost, but an investment in food, water, biodiversity, livelihoods and long-term resilience." He said tackling desertification, land degradation and drought at scale needs diversified, predictable and sustained finance beyond public budgets, along with stronger public-private partnerships. The instruments he listed were:
Bringing public and private finance together on the same landscape, through the Green Credit Programme and compensatory afforestation funds and alongside citizen participation, is a Whole-of-Government and Whole-of-Society approach, he said. "Finance must be continuous, verifiable and connected to local communities."
Yadav said India's experience shows what committed domestic resources can achieve, but they cannot substitute for additional, adequate and predictable international finance for restoration and drought resilience.
Looking beyond 2030, he said India's objective must be to restore more land, restore better, finance better and deliver measurable, lasting outcomes. That requires innovative financing to mobilise public and private investment, stronger regional and international partnerships to share knowledge and technologies, and sustained participation of local communities.
"Ultimately, innovative finance should be judged not by its design or resources mobilised, but by whether it reaches the land, ecosystems and communities that need it most and delivers lasting restoration and resilience," he said. He added that India would share its experience, safeguards, institutional arrangements, lessons learned and areas needing course correction with international partners.
With reference to the Second Progress Report on the Bonn Challenge released by India, consider the following statements:
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Consider the following statements about the Green Credit Programme as described at the UNCCD CoP17:
How many of the statements given above are correct?
Which one of the following best describes the compensatory conservation regime mentioned by the Union Environment Minister at the UNCCD CoP17?
