Engaging the Private Sector in UNCCD Implementation

The setting

The 6th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 6) requested that the GM expand the supply side of the UNCCD financing equation, particularly through the mobilization of “new sources of financing such as private capital, foreign direct investment, funding from multilateral institutions, and grants from private foundations” (Decision 5/COP.6).

Subsequently COP 7 requested the GM ”to intensify its interactions with international financial institutions such as[…] the private sector with the aim of increasing financial resources for UNCCD implementation” (Decision 5/5 COP.7).

In response, the GM is exploring new funding opportunities for UNCCD implementation through private corporations and foundations with a view to developing a private sector programme to engage the private sector in UNCCD implementation.

The Programme will explore how the private sector could become more actively engaged in activities that contribute to UNCCD implementation through, inter alia:

• channelling investments into NAP implementation and activities with a positive bearing on sustainable land management (SLM);
• increasing corporate social and environmental responsibility; and
• raising global awareness of desertification and SLM issues.
  
  

Expected outcomes

The GM anticipates that private sector engagement will contribute to the UNCCD’s objectives, inter alia, by: 

• creating a more favourable business environment in drylands, by promoting public-private partnerships and the involvement of national governments and international financial institutions in the establishment of more effective policies and legal frameworks to support sustainable dryland development; 
• informing developing country Parties of private sector investments - particularly those of domestic companies, but also foreign ones - as a potentially powerful instrument for boosting sustainable economic growth; 
• identifying opportunities for drylands to support economically-competitive activities that will help prevent desertification and/or rehabilitate degraded land including, inter alia, renewable sources of energy, local markets and trade opportunities and ecotourism; 
• promoting the involvement of the local private sector in local development and local income generation with a view to establishing solid foundations for the sustainable growth of the drylands ,thereby improving dryland livelihoods; and 
• ensuring that private sector partner investments in developing countries serve the objectives of the developing host countries and support UNCCD implementation. This is particularly important for the dryland regions in developing countries, given the widespread poverty and vulnerability of the ecosystems in such areas.
  

   

  Activities

  The activities foreseen under the Programme include: 

  • research and analysis on how to engage the domestic and international private sector in UNCCD implementation;
  • evaluation of the modalities for private sector support for country-specific programmes such as National Action Programmes (NAPs) and through exploring local, regional, national and international mechanisms, networks and associations aimed at facilitating mobilisation of resources; 
  • exploring new capital markets related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements, through the promotion of innovative initiatives as “Earth markets and credits” and/or a Dryland Endowment Fund, for the opportunities they potentially offer for mobilizing resources for UNCCD implementation;
  • working closely with bilateral and multilateral institutions, research institutes, academia and NGOs, to identify successful private sector involvement in sustainable land management to be highlighted as potential showcases for further engaging the private sector in UNCCD implementation;
  • promoting public-private partnerships, capacity-building; the development of markets and trade opportunities and the identification of carbon financing opportunities and renewable energy projects, in close collaboration with GM’s regional and strategic programmes; and
  • exploring the potential of ecotourism for sustainable land management.

Related Links

Read about the GM's public-private partnership experiences in East & Southern Africa