Why healthy land is our greatest economic asset

Why healthy land is our greatest economic asset

Why healthy land is our greatest economic asset
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The signs are becoming harder to ignore. Crops are failing more often. Wells are yielding less water. Dust settles where food once grew. In many parts of the world, the land is growing tired — less able to support the people who depend on it. And as the soil weakens, so too do the livelihoods, economies and communities built upon it.

While land degradation is a global concern, its impact is especially pronounced in the Arab region. Stretching from North Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, this part of the world is among the most vulnerable. Nearly 90 percent of land is already degraded and a combination of rising temperatures, water scarcity and stressed agricultural systems is placing an increasing strain on people and ecosystems alike.

Here, land degradation is not just about the environment — it affects the fundamentals of daily life. It shapes whether families can grow enough to eat, whether young people envision a future at home and whether communities can remain self-reliant. In some areas, it has already contributed to displacement and tension over dwindling natural resources.

While agriculture still employs 38 percent of the workforce across the Arab region, half of all calories consumed are imported. With droughts intensifying and arable land diminishing, pressure is mounting on food production and rural livelihoods across the region. Without meaningful investment in sustainable land use, the divide between those with access to fertile land and food and those without will only deepen.

Still, this is not just a problem to solve; it is a chance to rethink how we value and manage land. Not as something to be used up, but as a foundation to be protected and solidified.

We now know that land restoration delivers real returns. For every dollar invested, studies show a return of $7 to $30 in benefits. Globally, restoring 1 billion hectares of degraded land could generate up to $1.8 trillion in value annually. These are not distant ambitions — they are within reach.

Healthy land is not just an environmental priority, but a cornerstone of long-term resilience and prosperity.

Ibrahim Thiaw

Yet the financing gap remains stark. To meet global restoration targets by 2030, investments to the tune of $1 billion dollars per day are needed. The private sector currently contributes 6 percent of total investment. Scaling up both public and private finance and redirecting harmful subsidies toward sustainable land use will be necessary to keep our economic models sustainable.

Encouragingly, the Arab region is taking meaningful steps. The Arab Coordination Group has pledged $10 billion by 2030 to address land degradation and strengthen drought resilience. It is a significant move, but far more is needed. Globally, $7 trillion continues to support land-harmful subsidies and unsustainable practices, underlining the urgency of shifting resources toward land restoration.

To shift direction, we need smarter tools for investment. One of these is the Sustainable Return on Investment — a way of measuring success that includes not only financial returns, but also climate stability, biodiversity, food security and human well-being. This approach can guide both public and private capital toward lasting impact.

As we marked World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on June 17, our message was clear: Healthy land is not just an environmental priority, but a cornerstone of long-term resilience and prosperity.

Because when we restore land, we restore choices. We restore hope and dignity. And we rebuild the foundation of a more secure, equitable, and livable world for all.

Ibrahim Thiaw is under-secretary-general of the UN and executive secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

 

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

Gaza ceasefire talks held up by Israel withdrawal plans: Palestinian sources

Gaza ceasefire talks held up by Israel withdrawal plans: Palestinian sources
Updated 6 min 46 sec ago
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Gaza ceasefire talks held up by Israel withdrawal plans: Palestinian sources

Gaza ceasefire talks held up by Israel withdrawal plans: Palestinian sources
  • ‘The negotiations in Doha are facing a setback and complex difficulties due to Israel’s insistence on presenting a map of withdrawal, which is actually a map of redeployment’
  • A second accused Israel of ‘stalling and obstructing the agreement in order to continue the war of extermination’

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza are being held up by Israel’s proposals to keep troops in the territory, two Palestinian sources with knowledge of the discussions said on Saturday.

“The negotiations in Doha are facing a setback and complex difficulties due to Israel’s insistence, as of Friday, on presenting a map of withdrawal, which is actually a map of redeployment and repositioning of the Israeli army rather than a genuine withdrawal,” one source said.

A second accused Israel of “stalling and obstructing the agreement in order to continue the war of extermination.”


Russia’s drones and missile barrage targets Ukraine’s west, kills two

Russia’s drones and missile barrage targets Ukraine’s west, kills two
Updated 13 min 31 sec ago
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Russia’s drones and missile barrage targets Ukraine’s west, kills two

Russia’s drones and missile barrage targets Ukraine’s west, kills two
  • Western Ukrainian cities of Lviv, Lutsk, and Chernivtsi suffered the most due to the Russian attacks

KYIV: Russia launched a new barrage of drones and missiles in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Saturday, targeting the west of the country and killing at least two people in the city of Chernivtsi on the border with Romania.

Western Ukrainian cities of Lviv, Lutsk, and Chernivtsi suffered the most due to the Russian attacks, and other Ukrainian regions were also hit, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said.

“Russia continues to escalate its terror, launching another barrage of hundreds of drones and missiles, damaging residential areas, killing and injuring civilians,” Sybiha said in a post on X, reiterating the call for stronger sanctions against Moscow.

“Russia’s war machine produces hundreds of means of terror per day.

Its scale poses a threat not only to Ukraine, but to the entire transatlantic community.” Ruslan Zaparaniuk, the governor of the Chernivetskyi region, said that two people were killed and 14 others wounded as Russian drones and a missile struck the city, located about 40 kilometers from Ukraine’s border with Romania.

Several fires broke out across the city, and residential houses and administrative buildings were damaged, regional officials said.

In the city of Lviv, on Ukraine’s border with Poland, 46 residential houses, a university building, the city’s courts, and about 20 buildings housing small and medium-sized businesses were damaged in the attack, mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.


Pakistan plans to launch transshipment operations between Gwadar and Gulf region

Pakistan plans to launch transshipment operations between Gwadar and Gulf region
Updated 24 min 20 sec ago
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Pakistan plans to launch transshipment operations between Gwadar and Gulf region

Pakistan plans to launch transshipment operations between Gwadar and Gulf region
  • The country has been looking to capitalize on its geostrategic location to boost transit trade and foreign investment
  • Islamabad also seeks to cut container dwell time at ports by up to 70 percent to improve trade competitiveness, ease congestion

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government is actively engaging private shipping liners to commence transshipment operations between Gwadar and the Gulf region, Pakistani state media reported on Friday. 

The statement came from officials at a high-level meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Gwadar Port operationalization, which was presided over by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

Maritime officials informed the participants that initial cargo categories will include minerals, dates, seafood, and cement, targeting sectors such as mining, fisheries, and processing industries.

Iqbal said Gwadar’s geostrategic position as the shortest trade route to the Gulf and Central Asia highlighted the port’s potential as a regional transshipment hub, the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.

“Iqbal emphasized the need to showcase Gwadar Port in international road-shows as a strategic trade hub linking the Gulf and Central Asia,” the report read. “He directed stakeholders to promote the port’s cost-effective trade routes and available incentives for international businesses.”

Gwadar, situated along the Arabian Sea, lies at the heart of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), under which Beijing has funneled tens of billions of dollars into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan.

Pakistan, slowly recovering from a macroeconomic crisis under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal, has been looking to capitalize on its geostrategic location to boost transit trade and foreign investment for a sustainable economic recovery.

The country plans to cut container dwell time at its seaports by up to 70 percent to improve trade competitiveness and ease congestion, while it last month reduced port charges for exporters by 50 percent at the country’s second biggest Port Qasim.


Taiwan deploys advanced US HIMARS rockets in annual drills

Taiwan deploys advanced US HIMARS rockets in annual drills
Updated 39 min 44 sec ago
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Taiwan deploys advanced US HIMARS rockets in annual drills

Taiwan deploys advanced US HIMARS rockets in annual drills
  • Two armored trucks with HIMARS were seen maneuvering around the city of Taichung
  • Deployment of weapons on fourth of 10 days of Taiwan’s most comprehensive annual exercises yet

TAICHUNG, Taiwan: Taiwan’s military began deploying one of its newest and most precise strike weapons on Saturday, ahead of live-fire drills meant to showcase the island’s determination to resist any Chinese invasion.

Two armored trucks with HIMARS – High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems – were seen maneuvering around the city of Taichung near Taiwan’s central coast on the fourth of 10 days of its most comprehensive annual exercises yet.

The live-fire portion of the Han Kuang drills is expected next week.

In wartime, said Col. Chen Lian-jia, a military spokesperson, it would be vital to conceal HIMARS from enemy aerial reconnaissance, satellites “or even enemy operatives behind our lines” until the order to fire was given.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own and has intensified military pressure around the island over the last five years, staging a string of intense war games and daily naval and air force patrols around the territory.

Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims, with President Lai Ching-te saying only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.

China’s defense ministry said this week the Han Kuang drills were “nothing but a bluff” while its foreign ministry said its opposition to US-Taiwan military ties was “consistent and very firm.”

Regional military attaches say the HIMARS deployment in a warlike exercise will be closely watched, given that they have been used extensively by Ukraine against Russian forces. Australia has also purchased the Lockheed Martin systems. Taiwan took delivery last year of the first 11 of 29 HIMARS units, testing them for the first time in May. With a range of about 300 kilometers, the weapons could strike coastal targets in China’s southern province of Fujian on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwanese military analysts say the weapon would be used with its locally developed Thunderbolt 2000 launchers so Chinese forces could be targeted as they left port or attempted to land on Taiwan’s coast. A Thunderbolt unit was also seen in a park near the HIMARS units.

Senior Taiwanese military officials say the Han Kuang drills are unscripted and designed to replicate full combat conditions, starting with simulated enemy attacks on communications and command systems, leading to a full-blown invasion scenario.

The drills aim to show China and the international community, including Taiwan’s key weapons supplier the US, that Taiwan is determined to defend itself against any Chinese attack or invasion, the officials say.


Moveable feast: Danish chef serves up gastronomic journey by bike

Moveable feast: Danish chef serves up gastronomic journey by bike
Updated 12 July 2025
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Moveable feast: Danish chef serves up gastronomic journey by bike

Moveable feast: Danish chef serves up gastronomic journey by bike
  • Morten Kryger Wulff got the idea more than two decades ago to take his cooking to the great outdoors
  • This lead customers on a gastronomic bike ride through Copenhagen – with delectable food served at every stop

COPENHAGEN: Hopping off his custom-built bicycle-turned-portable kitchen, Danish chef Morten Kryger Wulff started whipping up a feast of tantalizing, original dishes – served with a generous side of nature.

The 56-year-old chef, a veteran of prestigious kitchens across Europe, got the idea more than two decades ago to take his cooking to the great outdoors, leading customers on a gastronomic bike ride through Copenhagen – with delectable food served at every stop.

On a sunny weekday in July, grilled seaweed, dill cream, bean fricassee, Nordic pizza, and blackcurrant ice cream were on the menu for the ride from the Danish capital’s harbor to the Amager Nature Park.

“This is as close as I can come to nature, cooking-wise, in a chef way,” said Wulff.

The tour lasts about four hours total, covering three to five kilometers (around two to three miles).

It is broken into bike rides of about 15 minutes each, in between which the chef gets off his bike, unfolds his table and starts cooking.

“You take away the walls of a traditional restaurant and you expose yourself to the city and to the elements you’re in,” he said.

In his cargo bike – a contraption he designed himself, measuring over two meters (six feet seven inches) long and weighing 130 kilograms (287 pounds) – he brings everything he needs: a foldable work surface, a refrigerator, a gas burner and all his ingredients.

“It is impressive to watch him cook from that small kitchen, to see how compressed everything is,” said Pernille Martensson, a Copenhagen local who joined the tour with her husband to celebrate his birthday.

The route is “part of the menu,” said Wulff.

“For example, the dish with fish or shellfish or seaweed are typically served by the channels,” he said.

On the docks, he sautes shrimp before serving them in shells.

As Wulff and his group gradually move away from Copenhagen’s city center, the chef – who has worked at The Savoy hotel in London and Geneva’s InterContinental – shares stories about the city and the project.

It all began in 2002, when he was kicked out of a municipal park for trying to have a barbecue with friends, and decided to start cooking outdoors legally.

Wulff takes an ecologically gentle approach.

“The food we get for these tours is, of course, all harvested and bought locally,” he said, adding that even the wines come from around Copenhagen.

“Bicycle, it’s the most sensible vehicle, the smartest vehicle. It does not use any energy. You can have a battery, but it’s pedal-powered,” he said.

The mobile approach to dining means he and his customers “meet the city, we meet the locals,” he said.

The self-proclaimed “bicycle chef” said he is “very passionate about cargo bikes and what they can do.”

He frequently participates in the Danish cargo bike championships, an unconventional competition held annually in Copenhagen.

In 2016, he was named courier of the year.

The award committee said he had “demonstrated the many possibilities of the cargo bike with his mobile kitchen project.”

Bicycle-loving Copenhagen has over 385 kilometers (239 miles) of bike lanes, the oldest dating back to 1892.