Nature Robots at COP16 Riyadh - Together against desertification

It was an inspiring time for us! As part of the Dutch delegation from Catalyze Group, we had the honor of presenting innovative solutions to combat desertification together with our CEO Sebastian Pütz and COO Gerrit Woeckner as one of five start-ups.

Our mission is clear: we want to make complex regenerative cultivation systems scalable. We are focusing on automation, particularly in view of the labor shortage that often makes it difficult to use such systems. Our technology can be used to implement autonomous agricultural processes in agrivoltaic or agroforestry systems.

These systems are of enormous importance as they are much more resistant to extreme weather conditions. Especially in dry regions such as Riyadh, they offer a promising solution to counteract the advancing desertification - a central goal of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

One highlight of COP16 was the UNCCD’s Business 4 Land program, which encourages private companies to actively participate in the restoration of degraded land. The aim is to restore 1.5 billion hectares of land worldwide by 2030. This is exactly where we come in with Nature Robots: Our technology makes it possible to implement sustainable land and water management practices more efficiently and create long-term productive ecosystems.

Many thanks to Catalyze Group, Werner Fischer and Edde Lyons for this great opportunity. We would also like to thank the UNCCD, ChangeNOW and the World Economic Forum for their valuable work in this area.

We look forward to working with strong partners to contribute to the sustainable management and restoration of our landscapes!