Explanation:

Recently, the 14th Conference of Parties (CoP14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was convened in New Delhi.  

• This was the first time that India hosted a CoP of UNCCD.
•  India has taken over the COP Presidency for the next two years from its previous host China, where the event was last held in 2017.  

Important takeaways of the CoP 14 

• Adoption of Delhi Declaration: in which parties expressed commitment for a range of issues, including gender and health, ecosystem restoration, taking action on climate change, private sector engagement, Peace Forest Initiative and recovery of five million hectares of degraded land in India.

• Peace Forest Initiative is an initiative by South Korea to provide a practical platform that will foster international collaboration by demonstrating the value of achieving land degradation neutrality in crossborder post-conflict situations. 
• Emphasis on need to participate in United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), which commits to adopting an integrated, best-practice approach to land restoration based on scientific evidence and traditional knowledge.

• Drought Toolbox launched: The Drought Toolbox is currently being developed as part of the Drought Initiative through the close partnership among UNCCD, WMO, FAO,     GWP, National Drought Mitigation Centre (NDMC) of the University of Nebraska, and UNEP-DHI.

• It is being designed to provide drought stakeholders with easy access to tools, case studies and other resources to support the design of National Drought Policy Plan with the aim to boost the resilience of people and ecosystems to drought.
• The toolbox is a sort of knowledge bank, which contains tools that strengthen the ability of countries to anticipate and prepare for drought effectively and mitigate their impacts as well as tools that enable communities to anticipate and find the land management tools that help them to build resilience to drought.

• Release of Adapt Now: A Global Call for Leadership on Climate Resilience’ Report:

• It has been written by the Global Commission on Adaptation — a group of 34 leaders in politics, business and science. It is led by former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, Microsoft Corp founder Bill Gates and former World Bank chief executive Kristalina Georgieva.
• It focuses on making the case for climate adaptation, providing specific insights and recommendations in key sectors. 
• As per it, an investment of $1.8 trillion (Rs 2 lakh crore) in climate-adaptation measures over the next decade will bring about concrete transformation on the ground.

• India has announced its commitment to restore nearly 50 lakh hectares of degraded land in the next ten years and set up a Centre of Excellence at the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, for providing technical assistance to meet the challenges.