Nigeria, Aug. 24 -- Governments, development banks, investment funds and businesses attending the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) have announced $1.3 billion in new and pipeline financing for land restoration and drought resilience across 23 countries on five continents.

This was announced on Monday during the plenary meeting at the COP17 venue in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital. The announcement of the finance mechanism placed rangelands at the centre of a growing global investment push, with Mongolia using its presidency of COP17 to advance financing for the ecosystems that dominate much of its landscape and support millions of pastoralists worldwide.

Of the $1.3 ...