#unccd

[hicginewsagency]

UN Convention to Combat Desertification - COP 16 Begins in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with a Strong Voice of Confronting the global crisis of land degradation.

[intlforestday]

Forests for Sustainable Land Restoration- UNCCD COP16 (UNFF16 Side Event).

The requested side event will share experience from Saudi Arabia on these major forestry initiatives for sustainable land restoration, and will help inform the forest restoration debate at UNCCD COP 16. In support of the global debate for land restoration, Saudi Arabia will host the 16th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 16) in Riyadh on 2-13 December 2024.

Watch Forests for Sustainable Land Restoration- UNCCD COP16 (UNFF16 Side Event)

[preponias]

Global Drought Snapshot report

[vari-medical-academy]

Happy World Soil Day 🌍. Let us all save soil for a better future.

#WorldSoilDay #SoilHealth #SaveSoil #ConsciousPlanet #UNCCD #climate #nature #sustainable #neetcoachingcentreincoimbatore #varimedicalacademy

[dayofcombattingsandandduststorms]

Launch of the SDS Toolbox of the UNCCD on the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms (SDS).

The frequency of sand and dust storms (SDS) is on the rise in various regions across the globe. This rise is attributed to factors such as human-driven climate change, desertification, land degradation, and persistent droughts. These storms occur when strong winds lift large amounts of sand and dust from dry, arid soils into the atmosphere. They often carry these particles long distances, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. The effects of these storms are widespread and often devastating. The World Health Organization estimates that 7 million people die from poor air quality every year, which is at least partly attributed to dust. Sand and dust storms pose numerous threats to human health, disrupt livelihoods, and wreak havoc on the environment. Managing these impacts is a major challenge, as human activity, and desertification in one region can trigger sand and dust storms that cause significant damage in remote regions. Recognizing the urgent need for international cooperation to address SDS, the General Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/77/294) on 8 June 2023, designating 12 July as the International Day to Combat Sand and Dust Storms. This day is intended to raise awareness of the link between health and sustainability in the context of SDS. To mark the first observance of the International Day to Combat SDS, several events were organized around the world. The “Commemoration of the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms” event, co-organized by the Permanent Missions of Iraq, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Senegal at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, featured various speakers from organizations collaborating in the UN SDS Coalition. At the same time, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) hosted a series of regional webinars bringing together stakeholders from different regions. In line with the observation of the day, the UNCCD launched the new SDS Toolbox, a result of its collaboration with SDS Coalition partners. The toolbox provides a comprehensive set of tools, strategies, and guidelines for understanding and mitigating the impact of SDS. Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, extended a warm welcome to this initiative, stating, "We welcome the focus and efforts to raise awareness of this serious phenomenon. It shows how desertification and drought can have far-reaching effects beyond national borders and underlines the crucial role of cooperation in addressing these issues. We anticipate that the newly launched SDS Toolbox will foster much-needed collaboration by providing tools and guidance to our stakeholders." During the commemoration of the International Day to Combat SDS in New York, representatives of the SDS Coalition discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between the Coalition and various national and regional initiatives. They emphasized that regional cooperation is essential to address the transboundary nature of sand and dust storms and their impacts, and that regional action can complement national efforts to achieve sustainable development goals.

See also:

General Assembly Proclaims 12 July International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms, Aiming to Raise Awareness about Importance for Health, Sustainability

SDS toolbox

[hermosaman]

Financial and digital inclusion for last mile payments: Trends, sustainable land use and disruptive financial service options

A lot of hard work here by my very dear friend who is more like a brother and son to me, and his associate Stephano Celeda Helping to change the world! Publication year 2023 Resource type UNCCD Publication As the world addresses the necessary realignment in investment strategies to tackle a range of existential issues including climate change, land degradation, polluted oceans and gender…

[wetlandsday]

Let these success stories of wetlands restoration inspire you to Revive And Restore these wonderlands.

Did You Know that wetlands support livelihoods of 1 billion people worldwide? Let these success stories of wetlands restoration inspire you to Revive And Restore these wonderlands.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Nation of Change:

A startling new report by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has found that up to half of the world’s natural pasture lands have been degraded due to the combined effects of climate change and over-exploitation. This widespread degradation poses a severe threat to the global food supply, potentially affecting billions of people who depend on these lands for their livelihoods.

Range lands, which include natural grasslands, savannas, wetlands, tundra, shrub lands, and deserts, cover 54 percent of the Earth’s land surface. These ecosystems are crucial for grazing livestock and wild animals, providing essential resources for food production and biodiversity. The UNCCD, dedicated to addressing desertification and land degradation, has released the Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralists, emphasizing the urgent need for better management and restoration of these vital areas.

The report reveals that as much as half of the Earth’s rangelands have suffered significant degradation. The primary causes include climate change, unsustainable land use practices, and policy-driven over-exploitation. The transformation of rangelands into cropland and urban areas, driven by population growth and increasing demands for food and fuel, has led to excessive grazing and abandonment of land by pastoralists.

This land degradation manifests in various detrimental ways, including the depletion of soil nutrients, loss of fertility, salinization, alkalinization, erosion, and soil compaction. These factors inhibit plant growth and contribute to severe environmental issues such as fluctuating precipitation, drought, and biodiversity loss, both on the surface and below ground.

The degradation of range lands directly threatens the food security of billions of people. According to the UNCCD report, a sixth of the planet’s food supply is at risk. Approximately two billion people worldwide, including small-scale farmers, herders, and ranchers, depend on healthy range lands for their survival.

In many regions, the stakes are even higher. In West Africa, for instance, 80 percent of the population relies on livestock production. Similarly, in Mongolia and Central Asia, grazing range lands constitute 60 percent of the land area, supporting nearly a third of the population.

[notwiselybuttoowell]

The 12-day meeting of parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), known as COP16, has ended in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh without an agreement on responding to drought.

The talks follow a stream of failed talks on climate change issues, including biodiversity talks in Colombia and plastics pollution talks in South Korea, as well as a climate finance deal that disappointed developing countries at COP29 in Azerbaijan.

The biennial talks have attempted to create strong global mandates on climate change, requiring nations to fund early warning systems and build resilient infrastructure in poorer countries, particularly in Africa.

UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw said on Saturday that “parties need more time to agree on the best way forward”.

A news release stated that the parties – 196 countries and the European Union – had “made significant progress in laying the groundwork for a future global drought regime, which they intend to complete at COP17 in Mongolia in 2026”.

Droughts “fuelled by human destruction of the environment” cost the world more than $300bn each year, the UN said in a report published on December 3, the second day of the talks in Riyadh.

Droughts are projected to affect 75 percent of the world’s population by 2050, the report said.

A delegate at COP16 from a country in Africa, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AFP news agency that African countries had hoped the talks would produce a binding protocol on drought.

That would ensure “every government will be held responsible” for devising stronger preparation and response plans, the delegate said.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen Africa so united, with a strong united front, with respect to the drought protocol.”

Two other anonymous COP16 participants told the agency that developed countries did not want a binding protocol and instead were vying for a “framework”, which African countries deemed inadequate.

Indigenous groups were also pushing for a binding protocol, according to Praveena Sridhar, chief technical officer for Save Soil, a global campaign backed by UN agencies.

Meanwhile, host Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest oil producers, has been criticised in the past for stalling progress on curbing emissions from fossil fuels at other negotiations.

At the talks on Saturday, Saudi Environment Minister Abdulrahman al-Fadley said the kingdom has launched several initiatives to address desertification, a major issue for the country.

Saudi Arabia is dedicated “to working with all parties to preserve ecosystems, enhance international cooperation to combat desertification and land degradation, and address drought”, he said.

In advance of the Riyadh talks, the UNCCD said 1.5 billion hectares (3.7 billion acres) of land must be restored by the end of the decade and that at least $2.6 trillion in global investments was needed.

[tvbrasilnoticias]

Seca ameaça três quartos da população mundial até 2050, alerta ONU

Um relatório divulgado durante a 16ª Conferência das Partes da Convenção das Nações Unidas para o Combate à Desertificação (UNCCD), realizada na Arábia Saudita, apresenta projeções alarmantes: até 2050, três em cada quatro pessoas no mundo estarão expostas aos impactos devastadores da seca. O documento, intitulado Atlas Mundial da Seca, detalha como esse fenômeno silencioso, frequentemente…

[ujcdecuba]

Tres cuartas partes del planeta se están secando

Más de tres cuartas partes de la Tierra se han vuelto más secas en las últimas décadas, según un informe histórico de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas de Lucha contra la Desertificación (CNULD). La UNCCD afirma que el 77,6% de la superficie terrestre experimentó condiciones más secas durante los últimos 30 años, en comparación con el mismo período anterior. Al mismo tiempo, las tierras secas…

[intlforestday]

Identify, develop and implement targeted joint activities on sustainable land management and sustainable forest management, including through the development of transformative projects to achieve land degradation neutrality and sustainable forest management and through greater information exchange.

The UN Forum on Forests Secretariat, DESA and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification entered into a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today, on the margins of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. The MoU was signed by Ms. Juliette Biao, Director of the UNFF Secretariat, and Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD. The key objectives of the MoU are to identify, develop and implement targeted joint activities on sustainable land management and sustainable forest management, including through the development of transformative projects to achieve land degradation neutrality and sustainable forest management and through greater information exchange.

Through this MoU, the two Secretariats aim to strengthen cooperation in the mobilization of financial resources for sustainable land and forest management and build strategic partnerships for implementation. This will include working together to raise awareness on the links between forests and sustainable land management, their contributions to climate change adaptation and mitigation and biodiversity conservation and on enhancing synergies between the Rio conventions and the UN Forum on Forests. The duration of the current MoU is for three years.

The UN Forum on Forests Secretariat and UN Convention to Combat Desertification Secretariat have a long history of working together as partners in the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), and the current MoU will serve to strengthen this existing collaboration in areas of mutual interest. Activities undertaken in implementing the MoU will support the achievement Sustainable Development Goals including SDG 15, the Global Forest Goals of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2030, Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets, targets of the Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework and Paris Agreement of the UNFCCC amongst others.

[europahoynews]

Trazando un camino para la acción global sobre la tierra y la sequía

Los casi 200 países se reunieron en la 16ª Conferencia de las Partes (COP16) de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas de Lucha contra la Desertificación (UNCCD) y se comprometieron a priorizar la restauración de tierras y la resiliencia a la sequía en las políticas nacionales y la cooperación internacional como estrategia esencial para la seguridad alimentaria y la adaptación al clima. . Si bien…

[dr-iphone]

沙特啟動國際沙塵暴監測計劃，強化全球預警能力

沙特阿拉伯在聯合國防治沙漠化公約（UNCCD）第16次締約方大會（COP16）期間，宣布啟動國際沙塵暴監測計劃，旨在提升全球沙塵暴預警系統的能力，為受沙塵暴影響的地區提供更精準的氣象服務。這項計畫由世界氣象組織（WMO）監督，並被納入全球沙塵暴預警系統網路。 Continue reading 沙特啟動國際沙塵暴監測計劃，強化全球預警能力

[dayofcombattingsandandduststorms]

Drought risk management and mitigation strategy 2022-2032.

The incidence and intensity of droughts is expected to increase in Southern Africa over the coming years. In order to mitigate these trends, the region has developed the SADC…