How can countries transform Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets into concrete investments and lasting benefits for communities? This question occupied the participants of an event that took place on the sidelines of seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17).
Organised by the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), the session brought together governments, development partners and financial institutions to showcase how the LDN Target Setting Programme 2.0 (LDN TSP 2.0) is helping countries move beyond setting targets towards integrated land-use planning, investment-ready programmes and stronger national ownership. OSS is a regional execution partner of the African Development Bank, and the United Nations including FAO. It specialises in environmental monitoring, gathering satellite data, and mapping out ecosystem change for the Sahel and Sahara regions
Speakers stressed that restoring land is not only an environmental priority but also a pathway to improving livelihoods, strengthening food security and building resilience to climate change. Representatives from Tunisia highlighted the need for better institutional coordination and stronger data systems, while participants from Egypt emphasised that restoration efforts must generate tangible local benefits and move from isolated projects to landscape-scale action.
The discussion also underscored the importance of political leadership. Pedro Lara Almuedo, Land Use and Climate Change Officer and Team Lead of the LDN Target Setting Programme at the UNCCD Global Mechanism, noted that without strong political will, technical efforts alone cannot deliver lasting change.
Arona Soumare, Chief Climate Change Officer, represented the African Development Bank. He emphasised the need for an integrated, investment-driven approach to tackling land degradation."Scale matters. We need to scale up grassroots projects through integrated landscape approaches that break down silos," Soumare said. "Knowledge, data and capacity building are critical, but they must be linked to investment programmes and supported by strong policy alignment. We cannot continue doing business as usual. "He reaffirmed the Bank Group's strong commitment to helping countries translate sustainable land management ambitions into tangible results through transformative programmes across the Sahel, East Africa and Southern Africa. He stressed the need for multilateral development banks to go beyond their traditional financing role to act as catalysts for capital mobilisation, de-risking investments and driving both ecological and economic transformation.
Abdoulkarim Bello of the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) reinforced the importance of connecting information to action. "The objective is not more data; it is a continuous data-to-impact chain."
Bello noted that LDN targets become truly actionable only when they are spatially explicit, measurable and connected to investment, enabling countries to translate scientific evidence into integrated territorial planning and bankable programmes.
Throughout the session, speakers highlighted the need to strengthen links between science, policy and finance. Integrated Land Use Planning (ILUP), geospatial tools and national monitoring systems were presented as essential instruments for preparing investment-ready projects and mobilising financing from international climate and environmental funds as well as multilateral development banks.
The event concluded with a call for stronger collaboration among governments, development partners, financial institutions, civil society and the private sector to accelerate implementation of LDN targets beyond COP17. Participants agreed that restoring land ultimately means restoring livelihoods, resilience and economic opportunity for the communities that depend on healthy and productive landscapes.
The 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UNCCD took place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from August 17 to 28, 2026, under the theme "Restoring Land. Restoring Hope.
