The 12-day meeting of parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), known as COP16, has ended in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh without an agreement on responding to drought.
The talks follow a stream of failed talks on climate change issues, including biodiversity talks in Colombia and plastics pollution talks in South Korea, as well as a climate finance deal that disappointed developing countries at COP29 in Azerbaijan.
Droughts are projected to affect 75% of the world’s population by 2050.