Why in news
The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification met in Mongolia in August 2026, with drought at the centre. India presented its second Bonn Challenge progress report and launched its first guide to grasslands and other open natural ecosystems.
- 26 million hectaresIndia's pledge to restore degraded land by 2030
- 21.76 million hectaresbrought under restoration in 2011 to 2020
- 29.77 per centof India's land under degradation
Background
- Desertification is land degradation in dry areas, caused by human activity and climate variation; it does not mean the spread of existing deserts.
- The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was adopted in 1994 and has 197 parties.
- It is one of the three Rio Conventions, with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
- Its central goal is land degradation neutrality: restoring as much land as is degraded, so that there is no net loss.
- India hosted COP14 in New Delhi in 2019, where it raised its restoration pledge to 26 million hectares.
What COP17 was about
- The theme was "Restoring Land. Restoring Hope", and the focus was resilience to drought.
- India asked that drought be planned for as a predictable risk and not met each time as a disaster.
- It called for restoring catchment forests, so that a landscape holds its water for longer.
- Land degradation affects up to 40 per cent of the world's land.
India's report card
- The Bonn Challenge is a global pledge to restore degraded and deforested land, and India's commitment under it is 26 million hectares by 2030.
- The second progress report puts 21.76 million hectares under restoration between 2011 and 2020.
- The Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas still shows 29.77 per cent of the country as degraded.
- India named the Green Credit Programme and sovereign green bonds as ways to pay for restoration, and pointed to about 25,000 community sacred groves, such as the orans of Rajasthan.
Grasslands are not wastelands
- Open natural ecosystems are grasslands, savannas, scrub, ravines and deserts.
- Many are still recorded as wastelands, so they are handed over for plantations, solar parks and other projects.
- A grassland is not an unfinished forest: species such as the great Indian bustard live only on open ground, so planting trees there destroys habitat.
- India's first Guide to Grasslands and Other Open Natural Ecosystems, launched at COP17, is meant to change how these lands are classified and managed.
The way forward
- Reclassify open natural ecosystems in land records, so that restoration targets are not met by planting trees on grasslands.
- Move drought policy from relief to preparedness: early warning, water budgeting and crop planning before the season fails.
- Count restoration by what survives, not by the area planted.
Prelims facts
- UNCCD: adopted 1994, 197 parties, the only Rio Convention on land.
- COP17 was in Mongolia; COP14 was in New Delhi in 2019.
- India's Bonn Challenge pledge is 26 million hectares by 2030.
- Orans are community sacred groves of Rajasthan.
See also: Bonn Challenge · Open natural ecosystems
Sources: The Hindu, 26 Aug 2026: UNCCD COP17 in Mongolia focuses on drought resilience (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 17 Aug 2026: UNCCD COP17: grasslands guide, Bonn Challenge progress, drought resilience (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 24 Aug 2026: UNCCD COP17: grasslands guide, Bonn Challenge progress, drought resilience (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 24 Aug 2026: UNCCD COP17: grasslands guide, Bonn Challenge progress, drought resilience (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 25 Aug 2026: UNCCD COP17: grasslands guide, Bonn Challenge progress, drought resilience (opens in a new tab) · PIB, 26 Aug 2026: UNCCD COP17: grasslands guide, Bonn Challenge progress, drought resilience (opens in a new tab)
Earlier coverage: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification · The monthly magazine, August 2026