Union Minister Bhupender Yadav. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
There ought to be a fundamental shift in the global approach to droughts from reactive relief to proactive, technology-enabled resilience, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) conference in Mongolia on Tuesday (August 25, 2026).Addressing international delegates at the Ministerial Dialogue on “Accelerating Drought Resilience”, held in Ulaanbaatar during the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the UNCCD, Mr. Yadav warned that dry spells are rapidly escalating. Drought is “no longer an occasional event, but a defining development challenge”, he said, citing its compounding disruptions to global water security, agricultural food systems, biodiversity, and economic stability.‘Restore the forest’He highlighted India’s coordinated, multi-institutional approach integrating early warning, mitigation, relief and community resilience. Rainfall monitoring and satellite-based drought assessments trigger preparedness at the inter-ministerial and State levels, ensuring that a dry spell does not escalate into a crisis. Emphasising the critical link between land and water, he stated, “restore the forest, before the flow”, underscoring India’s focus on catchment and riverscape forestry to reduce erosion, improve water retention and recharge groundwater.The Minister advocated for integrating predictive technologies, localised early-warning monitoring, and proactive land management policies. The goal, he noted, is to equip vulnerable communities to anticipate and absorb environmental shocks rather than relying primarily on post-disaster relief.Summit context, objectivesThe ministerial talks form a central component of UNCCD COP17, hosted by Mongolia under the theme “Restoring Land. Restoring Hope”. Adopted in 1994 following the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the UNCCD is one of the three major Rio Conventions — alongside the framework conventions on climate change (UNFCCC) and biological diversity (CBD). It stands as the sole legally-binding international agreement linking environmental management directly to sustainable land stewardship.The 17th conference serves as a pivotal negotiation platform as land degradation currently impacts up to 40% of the planet’s land surface, undermining the livelihoods of billions of people worldwide. During these biennial sessions, delegates from 197 member parties — alongside civil society leaders, scientists, and international financial institutions — convene to negotiate binding frameworks and policy guidance.Key discussions at UNCCD COPs focus on setting national targets for land degradation neutrality (LDN), restoring degraded rangelands and dryland ecosystems, expanding green finance mechanisms, and improving global cross-border data sharing for drought forecasting. The agreements negotiated at COP17 aim to translate high-level environmental commitments into measurable, investable solutions for water and food security over the next decade. Published - August 25, 2026 08:32 pm IST
