Why healthy land is our greatest economic asset

Why healthy land is our greatest economic asset

Why healthy land is our greatest economic asset
Short Url

The signs are becoming harder to ignore. Crops are failing more often. Wells are yielding less water. Dust settles where food once grew. In many parts of the world, the land is growing tired — less able to support the people who depend on it. And as the soil weakens, so too do the livelihoods, economies and communities built upon it.

While land degradation is a global concern, its impact is especially pronounced in the Arab region. Stretching from North Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, this part of the world is among the most vulnerable. Nearly 90 percent of land is already degraded and a combination of rising temperatures, water scarcity and stressed agricultural systems is placing an increasing strain on people and ecosystems alike.

Here, land degradation is not just about the environment — it affects the fundamentals of daily life. It shapes whether families can grow enough to eat, whether young people envision a future at home and whether communities can remain self-reliant. In some areas, it has already contributed to displacement and tension over dwindling natural resources.

While agriculture still employs 38 percent of the workforce across the Arab region, half of all calories consumed are imported. With droughts intensifying and arable land diminishing, pressure is mounting on food production and rural livelihoods across the region. Without meaningful investment in sustainable land use, the divide between those with access to fertile land and food and those without will only deepen.

Still, this is not just a problem to solve; it is a chance to rethink how we value and manage land. Not as something to be used up, but as a foundation to be protected and solidified.

We now know that land restoration delivers real returns. For every dollar invested, studies show a return of $7 to $30 in benefits. Globally, restoring 1 billion hectares of degraded land could generate up to $1.8 trillion in value annually. These are not distant ambitions — they are within reach.

Healthy land is not just an environmental priority, but a cornerstone of long-term resilience and prosperity.

Ibrahim Thiaw

Yet the financing gap remains stark. To meet global restoration targets by 2030, investments to the tune of $1 billion dollars per day are needed. The private sector currently contributes 6 percent of total investment. Scaling up both public and private finance and redirecting harmful subsidies toward sustainable land use will be necessary to keep our economic models sustainable.

Encouragingly, the Arab region is taking meaningful steps. The Arab Coordination Group has pledged $10 billion by 2030 to address land degradation and strengthen drought resilience. It is a significant move, but far more is needed. Globally, $7 trillion continues to support land-harmful subsidies and unsustainable practices, underlining the urgency of shifting resources toward land restoration.

To shift direction, we need smarter tools for investment. One of these is the Sustainable Return on Investment — a way of measuring success that includes not only financial returns, but also climate stability, biodiversity, food security and human well-being. This approach can guide both public and private capital toward lasting impact.

As we marked World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on June 17, our message was clear: Healthy land is not just an environmental priority, but a cornerstone of long-term resilience and prosperity.

Because when we restore land, we restore choices. We restore hope and dignity. And we rebuild the foundation of a more secure, equitable, and livable world for all.

Ibrahim Thiaw is under-secretary-general of the UN and executive secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

 

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

US Homeland Security chief visits Chicago area ICE facility as agents arrest 13, raid city neighborhoods

US Homeland Security chief visits Chicago area ICE facility as agents arrest 13, raid city neighborhoods
Updated 6 min 21 sec ago

US Homeland Security chief visits Chicago area ICE facility as agents arrest 13, raid city neighborhoods

US Homeland Security chief visits Chicago area ICE facility as agents arrest 13, raid city neighborhoods

BROADVIEW, Illinois: Federal officials reported the arrests of 13 people Friday protesting near an immigration facility outside Chicago that has been frequently targeted during President Donald Trump’s administration’s surge of immigration enforcement this fall.
As Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met with employees inside the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Broadview, a crowd grew over several hours, some riled by newly installed barricades to separate them from law enforcement officers stationed outside.
Noem also accompanied agents Friday on a raid near a local Walmart store and later engaged in a tit-for-tat over unannounced visits — and even bathroom use — with the Broadview mayor.
Immigrants’ rights advocates and residents separately reported that federal agents had used tear gas near grocery or hardware stores they had targeted for enforcement elsewhere in Chicago on Friday and detained a city council member as she questioned the attempted arrest of a man. The federal government has restricted airspace over Broadview, officials said Friday, and Gov. JB Pritzker called for an investigation into an immigration raid on the city’s South Side early Tuesday morning.
Objections to barricades, local police step up
At the ICE facility, some protesters have aimed to block vehicles from going in or out of the area in recent weeks, part of growing pushback to a surge of immigration enforcement that began in early September. Called “Midway Blitz,” the US Department of Homeland Security announced Friday that it has resulted in more than 1,000 immigration arrests.
Federal agents have repeatedly fired tear gas, pepper balls and other projectiles toward crowds in response and at least five people have faced federal charges after being arrested in those clashes.
While Friday’s demonstration was quieter at Broadview, about 12 miles  west of Chicago, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reported 13 protesters were arrested. Charges were not released but McLaughlin said they included alleged assaults on federal officers.
The Illinois State Police, whose officers patrolled the grounds wearing riot helmets and holding batons, set up concrete barriers Thursday night to segregate protesters and designate spaces to demonstrate, with several adjacent streets being closed. Many demonstrators ignored the zones to protest on the other side of the building, saying the corrals prevented free speech rights.
Others were angered by local and state officers standing shoulder-to-shoulder with federal agents, including Homeland Security Investigations, ICE, the Bureau of Prisons and others. At one point, Illinois State Police joined Border Patrol in pushing back a crowd.
Jonny Bishop, a 28-year-old former teacher from Palatine, Illinois, and from a Mexican immigrant family, said the cooperation concerned him.
“ICE acts with impunity,” said Bishop, who’s previously encountered tear gas and pepper balls. “They know that they can shoot at us. They can tear gas us. And Broadview Police Department is not going to do anything.”
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed it has restricted Chicago airspace, with Border Patrol citing “a credible threat” against law enforcement amid ongoing clashes with protesters at the Broadview site. The restriction, which is in effect from Oct. 1-12 and targets drones, extends in a radius of 15 nautical miles  and includes Broadview. Critics question the length of time and the geographic breadth of the prohibition, worried about oversight of ICE operations.
Tear gas used on quiet street; city council member handcuffed at hospital
In a Chicago neighborhood, Andrew Denton, 39, stopped at a grocery store for lunch and heard honking from an SUV stopped behind a motorcycle parked in the middle of the street. He realized ICE agents were in the SUV and started shooting video just before the agents threw canisters of gas near passersby.
“There was no reason to use tear gas on the crowd,” he said. “No one was threatening them in any way.”
Denton said he immediately began tearing up. His nose began running, and he felt like he was choking. He said the 20 or so people in the area included seniors, families with children and children outside at recess at an adjacent elementary school.
“Every week, ICE escalates its violence against us,” said Demi Palecek, a military veteran and candidate for state representative. “With this level of escalation, it’s only a matter of time before someone is killed.”
In a near West Side neighborhood a few miles away, Chicago Alderperson Jessie Fuentes shared video appearing to show her being handcuffed as she confronted federal agents at a hospital. She said a resident had fallen and broken his leg while chased by ICE agents who then transported him to the emergency room.
Fuentes arrived after an emergency room staff member called to say there were ICE agents in the room with him. In the video, none of them answers when she asks if they have a signed warrant. One agent then says, “You need to leave,” and handcuffs her from behind as she repeats her question about a warrant and then says, “You’re hurting me.” Fuentes said agents escorted her outside and released her.
Noem participates in raid, engages in restroom dispute
Noem, alongside Gregory Bovino, chief patrol agent of the US Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector, appeared on the Broadview building’s roof, surrounded by armed agents and a camera crew while standing beside a sniper’s post, according to footage shared online by conservative media personality Benny Johnson.
Johnson also posted video outside a Walmart store where he said agents, accompanied by Noem, had conducted a raid. Another video showed detainees in a parking lot where Noem noted “consequences for breaking the law and jeopardizing our law enforcement.”
Noem attempted to visit Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson at the village hall, but she was not there, and Noem was turned away when she asked to use the facilities.
“The city police wouldn’t even let us use the restroom,” she said in a video.
Broadview village spokesperson David Ormsby said Thompson later “returned her visit” at the ICE facility, where she too was refused access.
“We are distressed to hear that the bathrooms are unavailable at the ICE facility,” Ormsby said in a statement.
Governor decries anonymous, ‘inhumane’ tactics
Pritzker, the governor, lashed out at the Trump administration for the way federal agents, many of them masked to hide their faces, have treated protesters over the past month. He castigated officers’ “inhumane” tactics including slamming protesters to the ground, arresting a reporter and firing chemical agents into the crowds.
“It is clear federal agents cannot be trusted to act to protect the safety and constitutional rights of the public,” the Democrat said.
Pritzker also ordered state agencies to coordinate possible action to “hold federal agents accountable” for a raid on an apartment building in the city’s South Shore neighborhood early this week in which residents, regardless of status and including children, were detained for hours, some handcuffed. Children were separated from their parents, while officers smashed windows and tore through apartments, leaving piles of debris in the hallways.
Homeland Security officials said 37 undocumented immigrants were arrested, some with criminal histories and two allegedly members of a criminal Venezuelan gang.


Google expands AI Mode to Arabic and 35 other languages

Google expands AI Mode to Arabic and 35 other languages
Updated 22 min 51 sec ago

Google expands AI Mode to Arabic and 35 other languages

Google expands AI Mode to Arabic and 35 other languages
  • New feature allows users to submit questions via text, voice, offering advanced reasoning, multimodal search

LONDON: Google has rolled out its AI Mode feature in Google Search to 36 new languages, including Modern Standard Arabic, reaching over 200 countries and territories.

Powered by Google’s Gemini 2.5 model, AI Mode offers users advanced reasoning, multimodal search, and the ability to explore topics in depth using follow-up questions and contextual links.

The tool builds on Google’s AI Overviews — the company’s existing artificial intelligence feature at the top part of Google Search results — and allows users to submit questions via text, voice, or images.

“When people use AI Mode to search for a topic, our systems aim to surface relevant links, including news pages, and connect people with a breadth of content and perspectives from across the web, on a wide range of queries,” Najeeb Jarrar, Google’s regional product and marketing director for the Middle East and Africa, said in a statement to Arab News.

“We aim to show an AI-powered response as much as possible, but in cases where we don’t have high confidence, you will see a set of web search results.”

The update follows the feature’s launch in English in the MENA region this August.

Google reports that users in markets where AI Mode is live are now submitting queries two or three times as long as traditional search inputs, reflecting a shift in how people seek information online.

However, the rollout has also prompted debate among experts, many of whom caution that AI-driven search may significantly reduce website traffic by providing direct answers instead of routing users to external pages.

Some studies have found that Google’s AI Overviews have reduced traffic to original websites by as much as 30 to 70 percent, depending on the query.

However, Google, along with other major AI firms, argues the new model is driving “more queries and higher quality clicks.”

The company’s AI Mode uses a “query fan-out” technique, running multiple background searches and aggregating them into a single, cohesive response meant to offer greater breadth and depth than standard search results.

The company said it will continue to add features and capabilities to AI Mode and plans future integration into the main Search experience.

AI Mode appears as a tab on Google Search results, as well as on the Google app for Android and iOS.


Trump promises trade fairness for Canada, noncommittal on USMCA deal

Trump promises trade fairness for Canada, noncommittal on USMCA deal
Updated 24 min 43 sec ago

Trump promises trade fairness for Canada, noncommittal on USMCA deal

Trump promises trade fairness for Canada, noncommittal on USMCA deal
  • Trump suggests United States could ditch USMCA trade agreement
  • Canadian government plays down chances of imminent trade deal

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday promised to treat Canada fairly in talks over painful US tariffs on Canadian goods, but was less committed about a continental trade deal that also includes Mexico.
“I think they’re going to walk away very happy,” Trump said, referring to Canada, in Oval Office remarks ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney. “We’re going to treat people fairly. We’re going to especially treat Canada fairly.”
The Canadian minister in charge of bilateral trade later said the two sides had made progress during what he called a successful, positive, and substantive conversation with Trump, while making clear any potential deals were not close.
“I’m happy and content because I think we have a momentum now that we did not have when we woke up this morning ... but we have not yet finished our work,” Dominic LeBlanc told reporters.
LeBlanc said officials could meet again as soon as Tuesday evening.
Carney, who made his second visit to the White House in five months, this time at Trump’s request, faces increasing pressure to address US tariffs on steel, autos, and other goods.
“ left us very much with the sense that there is a desire to see how we can, starting with the steel and aluminum sectors, structure something that would be in the economic and security interests of both countries,” said LeBlanc, who had said beforehand that a breakthrough was unlikely.
Trump, complaining “we’re the king of being screwed” by trading partners, said Washington would continue to target some Canadian exports.
Carney initially responded to tariffs by pushing for a separate trade and security deal with the United States, but as talks stalled, he focused on a review of the US-Canada-Mexico free trade deal scheduled for 2026.
“We can renegotiate it, and that would be good, or we could just do different deals,” said Trump. “We might make deals that are better for the individual countries.”
Asked for his preference, he replied: “I don’t care. I want to make whatever the best deal is for this country, and also very much with Canada in mind.”
In March, Carney took over as prime minister from Justin Trudeau, who had famously bad relations with Trump.
Carney and Trump have since underlined how well they get on.
“From the beginning, I liked him, and we’ve had a good relationship,” Trump said.
“We have natural conflict. We also have mutual love ... you know we have great love for each other,” he added.
In response, Carney called Trump a transformative president. Trump interrupted Carney as he listed the president’s accomplishments to add: “the merger of Canada and the United States,” drawing laughter from reporters before adding, “I’m only kidding.” Carney, also laughing, responded: “That wasn’t where I was going.”
Canada sends 75 percent of all exports to the United States and is vulnerable to US trade action. Trump said the two countries had agreed to work together on a missile defense shield dubbed Golden Dome.
“There are areas where we compete, and it’s in those areas where we have to come to an agreement that works. But there are more areas where we are stronger together, and that’s what we’re focused on,” said Carney. The prime minister last visited the Oval Office in May, when he bluntly said Canada would never be for sale in response to Trump’s repeated threat to purchase or annex Canada. Since then, he has made numerous concessions, including dropping some counter-tariffs and scrapping a digital services tax aimed at US tech companies.

While most Canadian exports enter the United States duty-free under the USMCA, tariffs have pummeled the steel, aluminum, and auto sectors and a number of small businesses.
Doug Ford, premier of the Canadian industrial province of Ontario, reiterated calls for Carney to be prepared to be tougher with Trump.
“We seem to be weakening our case by continuously pulling off tariffs. I’d take a different approach — try to get a deal. If you can’t, we got to hit him back hard and never stop hitting him back hard,” he told reporters.
Canada’s main opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre, criticizes Carney’s approach, noting the prime minister’s earlier pledge to “negotiate a win” by July 21. He said on Monday it did not look like Carney would accomplish much.
The trade war is straining bilateral ties. Ford in March threatened to cut off electricity exports to New York state and has ordered provincial liquor stores to boycott US alcohol.
Canadians are also shunning travel to the United States. Trump, though, seemed unconcerned.
“I think the people of Canada, they will love us again. Most of them still do,” he said.


Russia hosts Taliban delegation and warns against foreign military presence in Afghanistan

Russia hosts Taliban delegation and warns against foreign military presence in Afghanistan
Updated 43 min 54 sec ago

Russia hosts Taliban delegation and warns against foreign military presence in Afghanistan

Russia hosts Taliban delegation and warns against foreign military presence in Afghanistan
  • In July, Russia became the first country to recognize the Taliban’s government after removing the group from its list of outlawed organizations
  • Officials from China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan also took part in Tuesday’s talks

MOSCOW: Russia hosted a delegation of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban government Tuesday and issued a strong warning against a foreign military presence in the country.
Speaking at the start of an international meeting on Afghanistan in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised the Taliban government for efforts to combat the Islamic State and other extremist groups, as well as eradicate illegal drugs.
Lavrov emphasized that “the deployment of military infrastructure of any third countries on the territory of Afghanistan, as well as on the territories of neighboring states, is categorically unacceptable under any pretext.”
Last month, the Afghan government rejected a bid by US President Donald Trump to retake Bagram Air Base, four years after the chaotic US withdrawal from the country left the sprawling military facility in the Taliban’s hands.
“The military presence of any extra-regional players could only lead to destabilization and new conflicts,” Lavrov said. “The history of Afghanistan has seen a lot of situations with foreign military presence. I believe everyone should have drawn the right conclusions long time ago.”
The former Soviet Union fought a 10-year war in Afghanistan that ended with Moscow withdrawing its troops in 1989.
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 after the pullback of US and NATO forces, they have sought international recognition while also enforcing their strict interpretation of Islamic law.
In July, Russia became the first country to recognize the Taliban’s government after removing the group from its list of outlawed organizations.
At Tuesday’s talks, Lavrov said Russia was looking forward to expanding business ties with Afghanistan and boosting anti-terrorism and anti-narcotics cooperation. He assailed the West for conducting “hostile” policies toward Kabul, maintaining a freeze on its assets and other sanctions.
Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi praised “the bold move of the Russian Federation to officially recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
“I appreciate it and wish that all countries follow the same path,” he said.
Muttaqi said the Moscow talks offer “a good opportunity for the countries of the region to listen to each other’s views,” noting his government has created an opportunity “to ensure comprehensive security after four decades and provide a good ground for investment, economy, transit and connectivity.”
Officials from China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan also took part in Tuesday’s talks.
While Russia was the first country to recognize the Taliban administration, the group had engaged in high-level talks with many nations and established some diplomatic ties with countries including China and the United Arab Emirates.
Still, the Taliban government has been relatively isolated on the world stage, largely over its restrictions on women.
Although the Taliban initially promised a more moderate rule than during their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, it enforced restrictions on women and girls soon after the 2021 takeover. Women are barred from most jobs and public places, including parks, baths and gyms, while girls are banned from education beyond sixth grade.

 


Putin says Russia has captured nearly 5,000 square km in Ukraine this year

Putin says Russia has captured nearly 5,000 square km in Ukraine this year
Updated 50 min 58 sec ago

Putin says Russia has captured nearly 5,000 square km in Ukraine this year

Putin says Russia has captured nearly 5,000 square km in Ukraine this year
  • Russia’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday reported the capture of two more villages along the front, which Ukraine’s top commander says now extends over 1,250 km

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russian forces had captured almost 5,000 square km (1,930 square miles) of land in Ukraine in 2025 and that Moscow retained complete strategic initiative on the battlefield.
Putin, addressing a meeting with Russian top military commanders, said Ukrainian forces were retreating in all sectors of the front. He said Kyiv was trying to strike deep into Russian territory, but it would not help it to change the situation in the more than 3 1/2-year-old war.
“At this time, the Russian armed forces fully hold the strategic initiative,” Putin told the meeting in northwestern Russia, according to a Kremlin transcript.
“This year, we have liberated nearly 5,000 square km of territory — 4,900 — and 212 localities.”
Ukrainian forces, he said, “are retreating throughout the line of combat contact, despite attempts at fierce resistance.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday reported the capture of two more villages along the front, which Ukraine’s top commander says now extends over 1,250 km (775 miles).
Ukrainian accounts of the situation on the front line say Kyiv’s forces have made gains in the Donetsk region, particularly near the town of Dobropillia. President Volodymyr Zelensky has also said Ukrainian forces have regained ground in the border Sumy region, where Russia has established a foothold.
Russian Army General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of Russia’s armed forces, told the meeting of top commanders that Russian forces were “advancing in practically all directions.” Ukrainian forces, he said, were focused on slowing the Russian advance.
Gerasimov, overall commander of Russia’s war effort, said Moscow’s troops were moving on the key cities of Siversk and Kostyantynivka in the main theater of the Donetsk region.
He said they were clearing Ukrainian forces from the city of Kupiansk, under Russian attack for months in Ukraine’s northeast, and were moving forward in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions further south. They were also progressing in setting up buffer zones in Sumy and Kharkiv regions in the north.
In his remarks to the meeting, Putin said Russia’s objectives remained the same as when he launched its “special military operation” in February 2022, saying it was aimed at “demilitarising and denazifying” its smaller neighbor.