UNCCD: COP15 from 9-20 May 2022 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Pursuant to provisions contained in decision 33/COP.14 and subsequent consultations with the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, the fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and the meetings of its subsidiary bodies will take place at the Sofitel Abidjan Hôtel Ivoire in Abidjan from 9 to 20 May 2022.
UNCCD: IWG meeting provides actionable recommendations to Parties
The online meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IWG) on drought on 13-15 December 2021 brought together 30 regional representatives, scientists, international organizations and members of civil society, to review new policy and institutional measures that can help address drought effectively under the Convention.
UNCCD celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Changwon Initiative
A decade ago at the UNCCD COP10 in Changwon, two key ideas in the UNCCD process were rolled out: the “Changwon Initiative” and the global target of “zero net land degradation.” The initiative has been instrumental in materializing this new vision of a land-degradation neutral world and played a pivotal role in developing the Land Degradation Neutrality concept, supporting advocacy within the international community and ensuring its reflection in Sustainable Development Goals through SDG 15.3.
UNCCD on Climate: Fix the Land or it will be an Emitter
The Earth is warming fast, and even faster on the land. This trend is “virtually certain” to continue and no region of the world will be spared, according to the Working Group 1 assessment report released Monday by the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Globally, the last decade was on average already one degree Celsius warmer than it was between 1850 and 1900. But it was way warmer over the land, and close to the 2 degrees in some regions.
Food Systems Summit 2021
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres will convene a UN Food Systems Summit (FSS) to raise global awareness and shape global commitments that can transform food systems to resolve hunger, reduce diet-related diseases and restore the planetary health. The Secretary General is calling for collective action of every citizen to radically change the way we produce, process, transport, market and consume food.
Ibrahim Thiaw on Desertification and Drought Day 2021
Humanity is totally dependent on the natural world and the land we live on. We have transformed nearly three quarters of the Earth’s ice-free land to meet our demands for food, raw materials, and homes. It is not sustainable. We are putting our land under enormous pressure.
2021 Desertification and Drought Day
The 2021 Desertification and Drought Day to be held on 17 June will focus on turning degraded land into healthy land. Restoring degraded land brings economic resilience, creates jobs, raises incomes and increases food security. It helps biodiversity to recover. It locks away the atmospheric carbon warming the Earth, slowing climate change. It can also lessen the impacts of climate change and underpin a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
International Day for Biological Diversity 2021
Message by UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw
The pandemic has reminded us how much we depend on each other. How much we depend on nature. How much our fate depends on our relationships with nature.
How much we need a good political will, combined with collective action, and sustained investment. When these come together, we can make a difference.
So, despite the major setbacks we suffered this year, there is hope.
Hope that we can build back better from COVID-19.
UNCCD Welcomes Two New Initiatives to Recover Millions of Hectares of Degrading Land
Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, has welcomed the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives that were made public this week. The Initiatives aim, among other things, to restore roughly 240 million hectares of degraded land in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East.
Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia announced the initiatives Sunday evening, 28 March 2021.
International Women's Day 2021
Statement by UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw
This year International Women’s Day celebrates the theme ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world’. After a year of unprecedented impacts from the pandemic, it’s clear that women globally have been disproportionately affected by the health, social and economic repercussions of COVID-19.