India calls for Diversified, Adequate, Predictable and Sustained International Finance - 24th August 2026 - Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change - Gazette Notification PDF
Read or download the official PDF of this gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on 24th August 2026. Classified under Press Release.
Executive Summary
At the UNCCD CoP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, India’s Union Environment Minister highlighted the country's innovative financing architecture for land restoration and drought resilience. On 24 August 2026, India called for diversified and sustained international finance to complement domestic efforts such as the Green Credit Programme and Sovereign Green Bonds. The document emphasizes that land restoration must be viewed as a long-term investment in food and water security rather than a cost.
Key Points / Main Content
Global Financial Call to Action
Need for Sustained Funding: India advocated for diversified, adequate, and predictable international finance to address desertification, land degradation, and drought at a global scale.
Supplementing Domestic Resources: While domestic resources are vital, the Minister stressed they cannot substitute for additional international financial support.
India’s Green Finance Frameworks
Blended Green-Finance: A framework that enables financing for climate change adaptation, sustainable land use, forestry, and biodiversity conservation.
Sovereign Green Bonds: These serve as a primary avenue to mobilize capital for drought resilience and environmental priorities.
Restoration and Conservation Programs
Green Credit Programme: Allows public and private entities to finance the restoration of degraded forest land.
Credit Issuance Criteria: Credits are issued after five years of restoration once a minimum of 40% canopy density is achieved.
Utilization of Credits: Credits can be used to meet Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) obligations, statutory plantations, or compensatory afforestation requirements.
Compensatory Conservation Regime: Payments received for forest diversion are channeled specifically toward ecosystem restoration and compensatory afforestation.
Strategic Approach to Restoration
Whole-of-Society Approach: Emphasizes the convergence of public finance, private finance, and citizen participation on the same landscape.
Community Connection: Financing must be verifiable, continuous, and directly connected to the local communities that need it most.
Impact Analysis
International Community and UNCCD PartiesImpact
They are urged to move beyond public budgets and establish stronger public-private partnerships to provide sustained international finance.
Action Required
Collaborate with member nations to develop and provide additional, predictable financial resources for global land restoration.
Public and Private Entities (India)Impact
These entities gain access to a structured market for environmental credits and green bonds, allowing them to integrate corporate funding with environmental regulatory processes.
Action Required
Finance the restoration of degraded lands and adhere to the five-year restoration and 40% canopy density requirements to earn tradable green credits.
Local CommunitiesImpact
Communities stand to benefit from investments in food, water, and livelihood security resulting from long-term land resilience projects.
Action Required
Engage in the "Whole-of-Society" approach through active participation in local landscape restoration and conservation efforts.
Key Entities Referenced
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD): The international convention governing the 17th Conference of Parties (CoP17) focused on land restoration and drought resilience.
Green Credit Programme: An Indian initiative that allows public and private entities to finance the restoration of degraded forest land to earn tradable credits.
Sovereign Green Bonds: A financial mechanism highlighted by India to mobilize capital for sustainable forestry, land restoration, and climate priorities.
Blended Green-Finance Framework: India's financing architecture used to scale investment for climate change adaptation, sustainable land use, and biodiversity conservation.
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: The central location hosting the 17th Conference of Parties (CoP17) where these international finance and restoration strategies were discussed.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
India calls for Diversified, Adequate, Predictable
and Sustained International Finance for Land
Restoration and Drought Resilience at UNCCD
CoP17, at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Union Environment Minister highlights India’s successful
Blended Green-Finance Framework for Land Restoration
Land Restoration is Not a Cost, but an Investment in Food,
Water, Biodiversity, Livelihoods and Long-term Resilience:
Shri Bhupender Yadav
Posted On: 24 AUG 2026 12:05PM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, today highlighted
India’s innovative and diversified financing architecture for land restoration and drought resilience at the
Ministerial Dialogue on ‘Innovative Financial Mechanisms for Healthy Land and Drought Resilience’,
during the 17th Conference of Parties (CoP17) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD), at Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia).
Emphasising the need for sustained investment in land restoration, Shri Yadav said, “Land restoration is
not a cost, but an investment in food, water, biodiversity, livelihoods and long-term resilience”. He
stressed that addressing desertification, land degradation and drought at scale requires diversified,
predictable and sustained sources of finance beyond public budgets, along with stronger public-private
partnerships.The Minister highlighted India’s blended green-finance framework, which enables financing for climate-
change adaptation, sustainable land use, forestry and agriculture, afforestation and biodiversity
conservation. He also highlighted Sovereign Green Bonds as an avenue to mobilise capital for land
restoration, drought resilience, sustainable forestry and other environmental and climate priorities.
Shri Yadav highlighted India’s Green Credit Programme, which enables public and private entities to
finance restoration of degraded forest land. Credits are issued after five years of restoration and upon
achieving at least 40 per cent canopy density, and may be used once for compensatory afforestation,
statutory plantation or CSR obligations. He also highlighted India’s compensatory conservation regime,
which channels payments received for forest diversion towards compensatory afforestation and ecosystem
restoration, while corporate funding is integrated by the environmental regulatory processes.Underscoring the importance of convergence, the Minister said that bringing public and private finance
together through mechanisms such as the Green Credit Programme and compensatory afforestation funds,
on the same landscape and alongside citizen participation, represents a Whole-of-Government and Whole-
of-Society approach. Shri Yadav emphasised that “Finance must be continuous, verifiable and connected
to local communities.” He noted that India’s experience demonstrates what committed domestic resources
can achieve, but stressed that this cannot substitute for additional, adequate and predictable international
finance for restoration and drought resilience.
Concluding his address, the Minister reaffirmed India’s commitment to sharing its experience, safeguards,
institutional arrangements, lessons learned and areas requiring course correction. He said, “Ultimately,
innovative finance should be judged not by its design or resources mobilised, but by whether it reaches the
land, ecosystems and communities that need it most and delivers lasting restoration and resilience.”
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VM
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