RIYADH: Drought costs the world more than $300 billion each year, the United Nations warned Tuesday in a report published on the second day of international talks on desertification in Saudi Arabia.
\nFuelled by \u201chuman destruction of the environment,\u201d drought is projected to affect 75 percent of the world\u2019s population by 2050, the report cautioned.
\nIt said the crisis has already exceeded $307 billion in costs annually around the globe.
\nThe warning coincides with a 12-day meeting in Riyadh for the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), seeking to protect and restore land and respond to drought amid ongoing climate change.
\nThe UN urged investment in \u201cnature-based solutions\u201d such as \u201creforestation, grazing management, and the management, restoration and conservation of watersheds\u201d to cut the price of dessication and benefit the environment.
\nMarked by devastating droughts in Ecuador, Brazil, Namibia, Malawi and nations bordering the Mediterranean, which sparked fires and produced water and food shortages, 2024 is on course to be the hottest year since records began.
\n\u201cThe economic cost of drought extends beyond immediate agricultural losses. It affects entire supply chains, reduces GDP, impacts livelihoods, and leads to hunger, unemployment, migration, and long-term human security challenges,\u201d Kaveh Madani, a co-author of the UN report, said.
\n\u201cManaging our land and water resources in a sustainable way is essential to stimulate economic growth and strengthen the resilience of communities trapped in cycles of drought,\u201d Andrea Meza Murillo, a senior UNCCD official, said.
\n\u201cAs talks for a landmark COP decision on drought are underway, the report calls on world leaders to recognize the outsized, and preventable, costs of drought, and to leverage proactive and nature-based solutions to secure human development within planetary boundaries,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIYADH: Drought costs the world more than $300 billion each year, the United Nations warned Tuesday in a report published on the second day of international talks on desertification in Saudi Arabia. Fuelled by \u201chuman destruction of the environment,\u201d drought is projected to affect 75 percent of the world\u2019s population by 2050, the report cautioned. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-447109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n