Dune Is No Longer Just Science Fiction – New Report by Israel Innovation Authority Highlights Technologies Joining the Fight Against Desertification
Connecting Water, Agriculture, Energy and Data Technologies and Moving Them from Pilots to Real-World Implementation
The Israel Innovation Authority and C4IR Israel, part of the World Economic Forum’s global C4IR network, released today a new report on desertification, identifying five key areas of technological innovation that can help countries address the growing global challenge, from water and climate-resilient agriculture to artificial intelligence, soil restoration and renewable energy.
The report finds that more than 170 countries are already affected by desertification, directly impacting approximately 250 million people and threatening the livelihoods of approx. one billion more. This calls for a shift from standalone technologies to integrated resilience systems and from pilots to large-scale deployment under real-world conditions.
The report examines how applied innovation and advanced technologies can strengthen resilience in arid and climate-vulnerable regions. Using Israel and its Negev region as a reference model, demonstrating how water scarcity, extreme heat and land constraints can drive applied research, real-world testing and public-private collaboration.
Dror Bin, CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority: “The climate crisis and desertification present the world with challenges that cannot be solved through a single technology or country. The report shows that the innovation we need is already being developed across a range of fields, from water and agriculture to artificial intelligence, soil and energy. The major challenge now is to connect these solutions and enable them to move from research and pilots to implementation at a meaningful scale. Israel’s experience demonstrates how conditions of scarcity can become a driver of innovation when science, entrepreneurship, policy and the ability to test solutions under real-world conditions are brought together. This knowledge can serve as a foundation for collaboration with countries and regions facing similar challenges.”
Shimon Rachmilevitch, Head of the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev: “Global changes are a present-day problem affecting every aspect of our lives. The combination of desertification and climate change creates a deadly and accelerating cycle in which global warming and drought destroy the soil, while degraded soil loses its ability to absorb carbon and further exacerbates the climate crisis. These processes lead to damage to food security, water scarcity, the collapse of agricultural systems, flooding, harm to health and geopolitical instability. The solutions to this problem are complex and require the integration of research, education and policy advancement. The various forces within academia must be connected with public systems, the education system, industry and the broader population. This joint effort is necessary for the benefit of future generations.”
Another finding highlighted by the report is the concentration of Israeli innovation. A dedicated mapping conducted for the report identified approximately 100 Israeli companies in the fields of data, sensing, artificial intelligence and decision-support systems relevant to desertification resilience. In the comparative mapping presented in the report, Israel stands out among the countries examined both in the density of companies founded since 2015 relative to population size and in the amount of capital invested in them per capita. Although the data is presented as an indication of activity concentration rather than as a comprehensive market mapping, it points to an exceptional concentration of entrepreneurial activity and investment in Israel relative to its population size.
Lior Yafe, Director of International Organizations, International Division, Israel Innovation Authority: “Desertification is no longer a local environmental challenge affecting only desert regions. The report defines it as a systemic risk with implications for water security, food production, soil health, energy systems, economic development and regional stability. Climate change is accelerating droughts, heat stress, groundwater depletion and soil degradation, increasing the need for solutions that can be implemented at scale.”
Contrary to popular belief, desertification is not the natural expansion of existing deserts. It is a process of land degradation in arid and semi-arid regions, manifested, among other things, in the loss of soil fertility and depletion of vegetation as a result of a combination of human activity and climatic changes. Among the human causes identified by the report are over-cultivation, overgrazing, deforestation and poor irrigation practices.
According to data presented in the report, desertification directly affects approximately 250 million people and around one-third of the world’s land area, while threatening the livelihoods of approximately one billion people who depend on land for their needs. More than 170 countries are affected by desertification processes. At the same time, pressure on water resources is expected to intensify. According to the report, by 2050, between 1.7 billion and 2.4 billion people are expected to live in urban areas facing water scarcity. Alongside population growth, emerging industries, including advanced manufacturing and digital infrastructure, are also increasing demand for reliable water and energy supplies.
The Report Identifies Five Key Areas of Technological Innovation for Addressing Desertification:
Water systems for arid regions: Water scarcity is one of the most significant manifestations of desertification and climate change. The report points to the need to move from systems focused primarily on increasing water supply toward integrated and circular systems that combine demand management, non-conventional water sources, water reuse and digital optimization.
Climate-resilient agriculture: Agriculture in arid regions must produce more food under increasing pressure on water and land resources. The report identifies solutions including precise and optimized irrigation, drought-resistant crops, biological solutions to improve soil health and increase yields, and advanced decision-support systems.
Environmental intelligence: The ability to understand what is happening on the ground and respond before damage becomes irreversible is one of the key tools identified by the report. Satellite observations, soil and water sensors, AI-based analysis, drought early-warning systems, digital soil mapping and decision-support tools can improve countries’ ability to identify environmental stress, make decisions and direct investments. The report also recommends treating such systems as shared infrastructure for climate adaptation.
Renewable and distributed energy: The report highlights the close connection between energy and the ability to address desertification. Renewable energy systems can support water, food and restoration systems in arid regions and provide the energy required, among other things, for irrigation and water treatment.
These five areas of technological innovation are interdependent and should therefore be advanced as part of an integrated system. Water reuse can support agriculture, distributed energy can power irrigation and water-treatment systems, and environmental intelligence can guide land-restoration efforts. This approach enables a shift from separate technology categories to “resilience systems” that can be deployed on the ground and adapted to the local conditions of each region.
These five areas of technological innovation are interdependent and should therefore be advanced as part of an integrated system. Water reuse can support agriculture, distributed energy can power irrigation and water-treatment systems, and environmental intelligence can guide land-restoration efforts. This approach enables a shift from separate technology categories to “resilience systems” that can be deployed on the ground and adapted to the local conditions of each region.
Three key drivers are required to move solutions from pilots to broad implementation: policy and governance, financing and investment, and human capital and knowledge transfer. Workforce training and knowledge sharing between countries and sectors are essential for adapting technologies to local conditions and ensuring their long-term implementation.
In particular, the report emphasizes that the adoption of precision agriculture, advanced water systems, remote sensing and AI-based environmental monitoring is changing workforce needs. Investment is required in professional training in digital agronomy, water infrastructure, restoration ecology, soil science, data and artificial intelligence, as well as partnerships between academia, industry, governments and training organizations. At the same time, international research networks, cross-border demonstration sites, and fellowship and exchange programs can facilitate knowledge transfer, test solutions under different conditions and adapt them to local needs.
The report calls on governments, research institutions and innovation organizations to establish and support living labs, regulatory sandboxes and demonstration sites. These infrastructures make it possible to demonstrate performance, costs, contributions to resilience and local suitability under real-world conditions, thereby reducing risk for investors, authorities, farmers, industry and public-sector customers. They also help bridge the gap between technological success in the laboratory and adoption in an operational environment.
Alongside support for research and development, innovation policy is needed to accompany technologies through the adoption stage and connect public-sector needs with private-sector opportunities. The report proposes combining public and private financing, blended finance and risk-sharing mechanisms throughout the long development path of deep technologies, from the laboratory through field trials and demonstrations to initial deployment. It also proposes linking financing to measurable outcomes such as water savings, improved soil health, prevention of degradation and increased agricultural productivity.
The report emphasizes that desertification is not a challenge that can be solved within the borders of a single country. International cooperation can connect regions facing similar challenges through demonstration networks, shared learning platforms and technology transfer.
Israel as a Case Study
Alongside its global perspective, the report presents Israel and the Negev as a reference model for innovation under arid climate conditions. For decades, Israel has faced water scarcity, land degradation, extreme heat and the need to produce more with fewer resources. According to the report, the experience accumulated in Israel can provide insights for countries seeking practical ways to strengthen climate resilience and advance sustainable development.
Israel’s advantage lies not only in individual technologies, but in an ecosystem that connects research and development, policy, infrastructure and implementation under real-world conditions. The water sector illustrates this approach: desalination and water reuse expanded through a combination of sustained policy, infrastructure investment and the creation of clear demand, which accelerated innovation and technology adoption.
The Negev, which covers more than half of Israel’s territory and is characterized by extreme heat, limited rainfall, water scarcity and challenging environmental conditions, is presented in the report as a national-scale living laboratory for climate-resilience innovation.
The region provides an environment in which technologies can be tested, validated and implemented under conditions similar to those that communities and industries around the world are increasingly expected to face. Prolonged drought, extreme temperatures, salinity and resource scarcity make it possible to test solutions under real-world conditions before adapting them for additional markets and regions.
Alongside these environmental conditions, the Negev is home to a network of pilot and demonstration sites in agriculture, water, energy, industry and infrastructure. Research institutions, led by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, operate alongside companies, farmers, local authorities, government entities, investors and ecosystem organizations. This combination makes it possible to connect research, industry and implementation within a relatively concentrated system.
The lesson from the Negev is institutional no less than technological: when strong institutions, coordinated partnerships, accessible infrastructure and appropriate financing mechanisms are in place, environmental constraints can become a catalyst for innovation, growth and resilience.
Key Recommendations
The report recommends moving from separate responses to integrated resilience systems; expanding living labs, demonstration sites and regulatory sandboxes; ensuring a continuum of financing from research and development through initial commercial implementation; turning environmental data into shared infrastructure; and investing in human capital, local partners and international knowledge sharing. Cooperation between countries can connect regions facing similar challenges through demonstration networks, shared learning and technology transfer. However, the objective is not to replicate a single model everywhere, but to adapt implementation pathways to the climatic, economic, social and institutional conditions of each region.
The report concludes with a clear call to governments, innovation organizations, investors, industry, research institutions and international organizations to change the operating model: moving from fragmented pilots to integrated resilience systems, and from isolated national responses to locally adapted implementation supported by international cooperation. By connecting innovation, policy, financing, people and partnerships, arid and climate-vulnerable regions can transform desertification from a growing systemic risk into an opportunity for resilient, sustainable and inclusive development.
The report was developed as part of an international, multi-sector partnership led by the Israel Innovation Authority and C4IR Israel, with the participation of research, innovation and implementation organizations from Israel and around the world. Partners include Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, The DeserTech & Climate Innovation Center, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, C4IR India, C4IR Azerbaijan, Nura Global, Jewish Climate Trust and Evergreen Innovation Platform. The composition of the partnership reflects the multi-sector and international approach underlying the report.
The launch of the report will be accompanied by the Israel Innovation Authority’s participation in a range of events during Climate Week NYC, including World Economic Forum events, a joint event with ADAMA, an event hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Industry’s Economic Mission to the U.S. East Coast, and an event in partnership with Evergreen Innovation Platform. The events will present the report’s conclusions, the Israeli ecosystem and opportunities for international collaboration around the implementation of resilience solutions in arid and climate-vulnerable regions.