Land restoration can put world on path to green recovery: Bhupender Yadav

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday said land restoration was one of the proven strategies that can put the world on the path to green recovery. Delivering a 'National Statement' at the 15th session of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) at Abidjan, Ivory Coast, he said it was critical to ensure the flow of public finance into natural resource management to halt environment deterioration.

"Land restoration is one of the proven strategies that can put us on a pathway to green recovery. It can create jobs, uplift rural communities and deliver significant co-benefits for human health, biodiversity, and adaptation to climate change," a statement quoted the minister saying.

Yadav said land plays a fundamental role in achieving several sustainable development goals (SDGs).


Meeting SDGs can help accelerate tree cover, soil conservation and transition towards sustainable agriculture production.

"We will need to appropriately align our policies and institutions in such a way that they contribute towards the restoration of landscapes.

"It is critical to ensure the flow of public finance into natural resource management to halt the deteriorating state of the environment. Our programmes and initiatives will not see fruition without the means of implementation necessary to support them," the minister said.

The conventions on climate change, biodiversity and combating desertification are all linked to the high-consumption lifestyle of a global minority among countries, he said.

Reducing their profligate emissions urgently is the key to the success of all the three conventions, Yadav added.