UN report: Continued land degradation will cost Yemen $90 billion by 2040

A recent UN report confirmed that continued land degradation in Yemen will cause losses in the gross domestic product and increase malnutrition rates in the country by 2040.

This came in the report launched by the United Nations Development Program ( UNDP ) on Wednesday, under the title " The Impact of Land Degradation on Human Development in Yemen ", during the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties ( COP16 ) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification ( UNCCD ), which has been ongoing in Riyadh since the beginning of this month.

The report revealed that if land degradation continues as it is currently, “Yemen will lose $90 billion in cumulative GDP by 2040, and an additional 2.6 million people will suffer from malnutrition.”

The report added that if the conflict is ended, governance is improved, and targeted human development measures are taken, Yemen is expected to be able to return to pre-conflict levels of human development within just ten years.

He added, "Under this last scenario, 33 million people could be lifted out of poverty, 16 million people would not suffer from malnutrition, and more than $500 billion in additional cumulative economic output would be generated by 2060."

Climate change, land integrity, food security and peace are all interconnected issues, explained UNDP Resident Representative in Yemen, Zena Ali Ahmed. “If we do not intervene, the land degradation exacerbated by the conflict in Yemen will negatively impact agriculture and livelihoods, leading to widespread hunger and undermining recovery efforts.”

She stressed the need for cooperation to restore agricultural potential in Yemen and address shortcomings in human development.

The report pointed out that Yemen is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, and already suffers from the highest rates of malnutrition in the world among women and children.

According to the UN program, the report, which was prepared under its supervision, is the result of a joint collaboration between the Frederick S. Pardee Institute for International Futures and the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.