COP30 Momentum Shifts to Panama as UN’s CRIC23 Set to Tackle Global Land Degradation

Panama City — December 2025

Heat rises over Panama City as the country prepares to welcome delegates from 196 nations and the European Union for the twenty third session of the Review Committee on the Implementation of the Convention. When CRIC23 opens on 1 December, Panama will step onto the global stage at a pivotal moment for drought resilience and land restoration, hosting the UNCCD’s most consequential stocktake since the 2030 targets were set. For a nation emerging from its driest year on record, the meeting carries both symbolic weight and strategic urgency.

The session will bring together around five hundred delegates from governments, civil society and academia to assess whether countries are on track to reverse land degradation, strengthen drought preparedness and update the institutional direction of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, one of the three Rio Conventions.

Panama steps forward as a regional anchor

Panama’s decision to host CRIC23 reflects both national commitment and regional urgency. The country has pledged to reach land degradation neutrality by 2030 and has identified thirty one national hotspots that require targeted restoration. It is also advancing reforestation and adaptation programs across the Central American Dry Corridor, a zone that stretches through multiple countries and has become one of the most climate vulnerable regions in the hemisphere.

“Never before has a country hosted, in the same year, the three main United Nations environmental conventions: on climate action, biodiversity, and desertification and sustainable land management,” said H.E. Juan Carlos Navarro, Panama’s Minister of Environment. “With this, Panama reaffirms its commitment to nature conservation and the advancement of sustainable development, while reiterating its call for the integrated management of these three pillars to address the planetary crisis and build a resilient future for our communities.”

A region that reflects a global emergency

The UNCCD estimates that the planet is losing nearly one hundred million hectares of healthy land each year. More than seventy percent of the world’s land area has become drier over the past three decades, placing pressure on food systems, water supplies and rural livelihoods. Latin America and the Caribbean have become an epicentre of this trend, with at least twenty percent of the region experiencing severe degradation.

“Severe droughts and the loss of arable land are already impacting food and energy production, displacing rural communities, and threatening the livelihoods of millions,” said Yasmine Fouad, UNCCD Executive Secretary. “By hosting CRIC23, Panama is positioning itself at the heart of the collective response and contributing to the urgent need for drought resilience and land restoration worldwide.”

Reviewing progress and setting the course beyond 2030

A central task for CRIC23 is to evaluate progress toward the 2030 targets on land degradation neutrality and drought resilience. Delegates will examine national implementation reports, discuss bottlenecks, assess financing needs and begin formulating recommendations for the next phase of the Convention’s agenda. Decisions taken in Panama will shape the contours of a post 2030 strategic framework, including how monitoring systems, capacity building and regional cooperation evolve in the coming decade.

Gender equality is a major focal point. CRIC23 will review best practices and structural barriers affecting women’s participation in land governance, including among Indigenous women who often bear the heaviest burdens of drought while carrying primary responsibility for food production and family livelihoods. Their exclusion from land management processes, delegates argue, undermines restoration outcomes across entire regions.

The investment gap still overshadows global ambitions

The scale of the challenge remains immense. Achieving global land restoration targets will require an estimated one billion dollars each day until 2030. UNCCD officials have noted that these costs are small compared with the trillions directed annually toward environmentally harmful subsidies and unsustainable investments.

For many delegates, CRIC23 offers a rare opportunity for countries to confront the growing mismatch between political commitment and financial reality. With drought already affecting water security, energy systems and rural economies, the convention’s review mechanism is rapidly shifting from a reporting exercise to a central pillar of global stability planning.

A pivotal moment for the UNCCD

Throughout the week, participants will meet with local communities, youth representatives and Indigenous groups, while also attending the launch of Panama’s Commitment to Nature and several key UNCCD reports. The discussions will not only determine how countries accelerate progress through the remainder of the decade but also how they prepare for a world where drought, land scarcity and ecological stress are intensifying.

As CRIC23 begins, Panama’s experience offers both a warning and a roadmap. A country deeply affected by drought has stepped forward to host the global review of a convention designed to halt desertification. Whether the decisions taken this week can match the speed of land degradation remains the defining question for the years ahead.

The Nature Summit Part 2

In parallel to CRIC23, Panama will host the Nature Summit, a high-level gathering designed to mobilize solutions for land restoration, climate resilience and sustainable growth across regions. Framed as a partnership accelerator, the Summit will convene governments, financiers, multilateral institutions and innovators to build coalitions capable of advancing nature-based investments at scale. Its purpose is not only to showcase emerging models, but to forge the alliances and capital flows required to turn them into implementable national and regional strategies.

The Nature Summit Series was formalized during the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly through a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Panama and Global Resilience Partners. This formal partnership builds on the momentum of the inaugural Nature Summit held during the UNFCCC’s first Global Climate Week earlier this year, which demonstrated growing demand for platforms that link climate, nature and development.

“Our mission is to demonstrate that investing in nature is not just the right thing to do. It is the foundation of prosperity,” said Navarro, Panama’s Minister of Environment. “Through these Summits, we will unite leaders and accelerate solutions that restore balance between humanity and the planet.”

Expressions of interest to participate in the Nature Summit Series 2025 may be submitted below.

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