Environment ยท GS3
Financing land restoration and drought resilience
One line
At UNCCD COP17, India called for diversified, predictable, and sustained finance for land restoration and drought resilience beyond public budgets.
Summary
Land degradation affects food, water, biodiversity, livelihoods, and climate resilience. The release discussed blended finance, sovereign green bonds, Green Credits, and compensatory conservation, but each instrument needs credible baselines, additionality, monitoring, and safeguards.
PYQ pattern
UPSC environment questions often test desertification, drought, land degradation, and climate finance through definitions and mechanisms. Use the official UPSC archive.
Core notes
- Land Degradation Neutrality aims to avoid, reduce, or reverse degradation so that land-based natural capital does not decline overall.
- Drought is not only low rainfall. It is shaped by duration, demand, soil moisture, water management, and exposure.
- Blended finance combines public or concessional funds with private capital to reduce risk or support projects.
- A Green Credit or carbon-related claim requires clear measurement. A financial label alone does not prove ecological recovery.
Prelims lens
- UNCCD focuses on desertification, land degradation, and drought.
- Land restoration is wider than tree planting and may involve grasslands, soils, wetlands, and sustainable farming.
- Finance, mitigation, adaptation, and restoration are related but distinct policy concepts.
MCQ 1
Consider the following statements:
- Desertification is limited to the geographical spread of deserts.
- Drought resilience can involve water management, soils, livelihoods, and finance.
- A. 1 only
- B. 2 only
- C. Both 1 and 2
- D. Neither 1 nor 2
Reveal answerHide answer
B
Desertification includes land degradation in dry areas and is not simply desert expansion. Drought resilience has ecological, social, and financial dimensions.
MCQ 2
Blended finance generally means:
- A. combining public or concessional funds with private capital to support investment
- B. mixing two unrelated weather forecasts
- C. replacing all public budgets with carbon taxes
- D. counting every plantation twice
Reveal answerHide answer
A
Blended finance uses public or concessional resources to help mobilise private investment, subject to safeguards and clear outcomes.
Mains
Question, 10 marks, 150 words: Why does land restoration need predictable finance and community-centred implementation?
Approach:
- Define land degradation, drought resilience, and Land Degradation Neutrality.
- Explain links with food, water, biodiversity, and livelihoods.
- Discuss public finance limits, private incentives, measurement, land rights, and local capacity.
- Recommend blended finance with safeguards, local planning, native ecosystem restoration, and outcome monitoring.