India Will Restore 26 Million Hectares of Degraded Land by 2030

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, inaugurated the High-Level Segment Meeting of the 14^th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) at New Delhi on September 9, 2019

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister reaffirmed India’s commitment to addressing all the three main concerns of the Rio Conventions. He also stated that India has hosted global gatherings through the CoP’s for all the three Conventions. “Going forward, India would be happy to propose initiatives for greater South-South cooperation in addressing issues of climate change, biodiversity and land degradation”, said the Prime Minister.

During his address, the Prime Minister announced that India would raise its ambition of the total area that would be restored from its land degradation status, from twenty-one million hectares to twenty-six million hectares between now and 2030. This will be focused on restoring land productivity and ecosystem services of 26 million hectares of most degraded and vulnerable land, with emphasis on the degraded agricultural, forest and other wastelands by adopting a landscape restoration approach.

Shri Narendra Modi also announced India’s proposal to setup a global technical support institute for the member countries of the UNCCD for their capacity building and support regarding the Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Program. “India would be happy to help other friendly countries develop land restoration strategies through cost effective satellite and space technology”, said the Prime Minister.

Acknowledging the importance of the role of water, Shri Narendra Modi called upon the leadership of UNCCD to conceive a global water action agenda which is central to the Land Degradation Neutrality strategy. “When we address degraded lands, we also address water scarcity. Augmenting water supply, enhancing water recharge, slowing down water run-off and retaining moisture in the soil are all parts of a holistic land and water strategy”, said the Prime Minister.  

The Prime Minister also advocated on the need to eradicate the menace of single use plastic, he stated “My Government has announced that India will put an end to single use plastic in the coming years.  I believe the time has come for even the world to say good-bye to single use plastic”.