New financing solutions are required to close the “massive gap” in funding to address farming land around the world turning to dust, the head of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has warned. Speaking to The Independent , Yasmine Fouad, the former Egyptian environment minister who has served as UNCCD executive secretary since 2025, added that failing to tackle the world’s escalating degradation problem would see food crises get worse, while increasing the risk of conflict. “Today, there is a massive gap between the finance available and the finance required, but closing that gap cannot rely on public budgets alone,” Ms Fouad said. “We need the financial sector, development banks, insurance systems, and private capital to treat healthy land as foundational infrastructure for our economies and societies.” The latest UNCCD assessment has found that some $355bn (£261bn) is required annually to tackle land degradation around the world, with only $77bn currently mobilised each year.…