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Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav addressed the Ministerial Dialogue on 'Accelerating Drought Resilience' at the 17th Conference of Parties (CoP17) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
He argued that drought must be managed as a predictable, preventable risk rather than as a recurring disaster demanding emergency response, and described it as 'no longer an occasional event, but a defining development challenge' affecting water security, food systems, biodiversity and economic stability.
India's approach, as he described it, integrates rainfall monitoring and satellite-based drought assessment to trigger inter-ministerial and state-level preparedness, with catchment and riverscape forestry summed up in the phrase 'restore the forest, before the flow'.
The measures he cited span community-led spring and recharge-zone restoration in the hills, a pan-India watershed programme using a ridge-to-valley approach on degraded rainfed land, drinking water programmes with assured service levels, and crop insurance with subsidised premiums and technology-driven claim assessment.
His closing formulation — 'preparedness over response, prevention over crisis management, resilience over recovery' — came with an offer to share India's knowledge and capacities, including on early warning.
The international agreement addressing desertification, land degradation and drought. It is the only one of the three Rio Conventions that deals specifically with land, and it links environment and development to sustainable land management.
The Convention's supreme decision-making body, where Parties negotiate and adopt decisions. CoP17 is being held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from 17 to 28 August 2026.
India's nodal ministry for the UNCCD and for the country's land restoration and desertification commitments.
Produces the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, the satellite-based assessment that quantifies how much of the country's land is degrading — the evidence base behind India's UNCCD reporting.
Land Degradation Neutrality is the state in which the amount and quality of land resources needed to support ecosystem functions remains stable or increases within a specified period. It does not mean that no land degrades; it means that any degradation is balanced by restoration elsewhere, so the net position does not worsen. LDN is the operational target of the UNCCD and corresponds to Sustainable Development Goal target 15.3. At CoP14 in New Delhi in 2019, country Parties agreed to make achieving land degradation neutrality by 2030 a national target for action, and the Delhi Declaration recorded India's commitment to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land.
Simple Analogy: LDN works like a no-net-loss rule on a balance sheet. Land can still be lost on one page, but only if an equivalent area is restored on another, so the closing balance never falls below where it started.
| Convention | Subject | Opened / established | Secretariat |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNCCD | Desertification, land degradation and drought | 1994; 197 Parties | Bonn, Germany |
| UNFCCC | Climate change | Opened for signature at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit | Bonn, Germany |
| CBD | Biological diversity | Opened for signature at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit | Montreal, Canada |
Create a continuous green belt along the Aravalli range to act as a natural barrier against desertification spreading eastwards and to aid groundwater recharge.
Key: Launched in 2023 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; a buffer roughly 5 km wide and about 1,400 km long across Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi.
Map the extent and change in land degradation across India using satellite data, providing the evidence base for UNCCD reporting.
Key: Published by the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, under ISRO; the June 2021 edition assessed 97.85 million hectares — 29.7 per cent of the country — as degraded in 2018-19, up from 28.76 per cent in 2003-05.
Treat degraded rainfed land by working from the ridge downwards so that runoff is intercepted, soil is retained and groundwater is recharged.
Key: Described by the Minister as a pan-India programme supported by community institutions and convergence with rural employment programmes.
Protect farmers against drought and other non-preventable losses across the crop cycle.
Key: Combines subsidised premiums with technology-driven assessment for faster and more transparent claim settlement, as cited in India's CoP17 intervention.
India's argument is essentially that drought should move from the relief column to the preparedness column. That is the same logic that governs disaster management doctrine generally — mitigation and preparedness ahead of response and recovery.
The phrase 'restore the forest, before the flow' compresses the catchment argument: vegetation on the upper catchment slows runoff, cuts erosion and lets water percolate. It is why afforestation, watershed treatment and groundwater recharge appear together in India's prevention list.
UNCCD, UNFCCC and the Convention on Biological Diversity all trace to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Land degradation sits at the intersection: it releases soil carbon, destroys habitat, and worsens the drought exposure that climate change intensifies.
India hosted CoP14 at Greater Noida in September 2019, which produced the Delhi Declaration and the commitment to restore 26 million hectares — the benchmark against which India's subsequent interventions, including at Ulaanbaatar, are read.
GS Paper 3 > Environment > Conservation and International Conventions; GS Paper 3 > Disaster Management
General Awareness > Environment and International Organisations
General Awareness > Current Affairs
What is/are the importance/importances of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification? 1. It aims to promote effective action through innovative national programmes and supportive international partnerships. 2. It has a special/particular focus on South Asia and North Africa regions, and its Secretariat facilitates the allocation of major portion of financial resources to these regions. 3. It is committed to bottom-up approach, encouraging the participation of local people in combating the desertification. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer: 1 and 3 only
Which of the following has/have shrunk immensely/dried up in the recent past due to human activities? 1. Aral Sea 2. Black Sea 3. Lake Baikal Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer: 1 only
Which one of the following lakes of West Africa has become dry and turned into a desert?
Answer: Lake Faguibine
High — the UNCCD, desertification data and India's restoration pledges appear repeatedly in UPSC Prelims environment questions.
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification — established 1994, 197 Parties, secretariat in Bonn; the only Rio Convention dealing specifically with land.
A state in which land resources needed for ecosystem function remain stable or increase; corresponds to SDG target 15.3 and is to be achieved by 2030.
Treating a watershed from its highest point downwards so that runoff is intercepted and soil and moisture are retained at every stage.
The satellite-based assessment of India's degraded land, published by the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, under ISRO.
The outcome document of UNCCD CoP14 held at Greater Noida in 2019, which recorded commitments including India's restoration of 26 million hectares of degraded land.