China presents “concrete” solutions for desertification control at COP16

RIYADH (Xinhua) — Gazing at the goji berries in his hands, Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), was amazed by the taste and economic value of the little red berries grown in China’s northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

“Four billion U.S. dollars?” Thiaw looked thrilled when learning of the annual output value the goji berry industry generates for the locals.

“That’s incredible,” he said while taking another sip of the goji berry juice.

During his Friday tour to the China Pavilion at the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the UNCCD held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Thiaw was impressed by China’s decades-long efforts in desertification control.

“With China, we have a good example of what can be done in the degraded lands. From the economic point of view, it is socially profitable and creates millions of jobs,” he said.

The goji berry industry in Ningxia is just part of China’s anti-desertification story.

Themed “Cross-Century Green Great Wall, China’s Restoration in Action,” the exhibition showcases China’s battle against desertification, particularly through the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, a major national initiative aimed at reversing desertification.

The new technologies China has applied in its desertification control also took the spotlight. From tree-planting robots to satellite remote sensing systems, Thiaw listened attentively as the exhibition staff introduced the technologies displayed at the pavilion.

His eyes were also drawn to the photovoltaic panels in a poster, which were widely used in the city of Ordos, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to reduce carbon emissions and boost resilience against drought.

“One of the challenges facing photovoltaic power plants in the desert is that sand and dust will accumulate on the panels. How do you clean them?” Thiaw asked.

“With drones and robots,” a staffer replied.

“It’s a convenient solution!” Thiaw nodded.

Continuing his stroll through the pavilion, he was captivated by a display about the construction of China’s “green Great Wall,” which encapsulates China’s efforts to prevent sandstorms, conserve water and soil, and safeguard agriculture in its drought and desert area.

China’s “green Great Wall” is “extraordinary,” showing “how much traditional knowledge is combined with new technologies, how much long-term vision is combined with the need to have short-term solutions, how much business is associated with ecology, to create the positive movement that is needed to actually bring the land back to health,” he remarked.

“I would urge my colleagues and visitors here in COP16 to come because it tells something concrete,” Thiaw said.

Covering more than 600 square meters, the China Pavilion is the second-largest national pavilion at COP16.

Running from Dec. 2 to 13 under the theme “Our Land. Our Future,” COP16 is the largest UN land-focused conference to date and the first UNCCD COP in the Middle East and North Africa.

During the conference, delegates are expected to make decisions on collective actions aimed at accelerating land restoration, improving resilience against droughts and sandstorms, restoring soil health, and scaling up nature-positive food production, with a focus on 2030 and beyond.