New Delhi: Believing that "every climate action has a cost", the Union Minister of Environment, Prakash Javadekar urged the world that pledges should be converted into commitments, "then only finance flows will be there and developing countries can take actions."
While announcing that the Delhi Declaration of 14th session of Conference of Parties (COP-14) for United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), will be released on Tuesday, the Union Minister said that the entire action plan and debate revolves in three layers, including historical responsibility, respective capabilities and common but differentiated responsibilities.
Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, said, "We are far short of the resources which are needed today for land degradation are not sufficient. Many countries are investing their own funds. We need public funding as much as we need private investments."
He also concurred the role of the private sector in ramping up the land restoration particularly for vulnerable, rural and smallholder farmers, and clarified that the engagement with the private sector is not the same as privatising land. Thiaw had said earlier as well that this declaration will issue a global message of investing massively in land restoration.
While speaking on the topic of land degradation, Javadekar said that the target of restoring 26 million hectares deserted land will inspire every country to target for more.
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