
UN talks aimed at halting the degradation and desertification of vast swathes of land start in Saudi Arabia on Monday after scientists fired a stark warning over unsustainable farming and deforestation.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called it a "moonshot moment": a 12-day meeting for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), looking to protect and restore land and respond to drought amid the onslaught of climate change.