Extreme weather has raised the significance of Cop17 talks starting this week on tackling drought and land degradation<\/p>\n
As swathes of the northern hemisphere bake in what could be the hottest year on record, with wildfires blazing across North America and Europe<\/a> and heatwaves afflicting millions across Asia, the UN\u2019s bi-annual talks on desertification have assumed much greater importance \u2013 and have started attracting more money.<\/p>\n Work will begin this week on allocating more than $12bn (\u00a38.9bn) to vulnerable countries to help them deal with drought and land degradation, when scores of countries gather in Mongolia for Cop17.<\/p>\n