The almost 200 nations gathered on the sixteenth Convention of the Events (COP16) to the UN Conference to Fight Desertification (UNCCD) and dedicated to prioritising land restoration and drought resilience in nationwide insurance policies and worldwide cooperation as a vital technique for meals safety and local weather adaptation.
Whereas events did not agree on the character of a brand new drought regime, they adopted a robust political declaration and 39 selections shaping the best way ahead.
In line with UNCCD’s newly launched World Drought Atlas and Economics of Drought Resiliencereports, droughts have an effect on the livelihoods of 1.8 billion folks worldwide, pushing already weak communities to the brink. In addition they price an estimated $300 billion per yr, threatening key financial sectors similar to agriculture, vitality and water.
Among the many most important outcomes reached at COP16 had been:
A prototype launch of the Worldwide Drought Resilience Observatory, the primary ever international AI-driven platform to assist nations assess and improve their capability to deal with harsher droughtsMobilisation of personal sector engagement beneath the Business4Land initiativeThe creation of designated caucuses for Indigenous Peoples and for native communities to make sure their distinctive views and challenges are adequately represented
“Right now, historical past has been made”, stated Oliver Tester from Australia, a consultant of Indigenous Peoples. “We sit up for championing our dedication to guard Mom Earth by way of a devoted caucus and depart this area trusting that our voices be heard.”
UN Information/Martin Samaan
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, an Indigenous Peoples rights campaigner, attends the COP16 desertification convention in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
World drought regime
Nations additionally made vital progress in laying the groundwork for a future international drought regime, which they intend to finish at COP17 in Mongolia in 2026.
At COP16, greater than 30 selections had been issued on key matters by way of the negotiation course of, together with migration, mud storms, enhancing the function of science, analysis and innovation, and empowering ladies to deal with environmental challenges.
Some selections launched new matters to the agenda, particularly environmentally sustainable agrifood programs and rangelands, which cowl 54 per cent of all land. The degradation of rangelands alone threatens one sixth of worldwide meals provides, probably depleting one third of the Earth’s carbon reserves.
On the identical time, greater than $12 billion was pledged to deal with land challenges all over the world, particularly in probably the most weak nations. Proper now, some two billion folks residing in pastoral areas are among the many world’s most weak within the face of desertification, land degradation and drought.
Now, the work begins
COP16 was the most important and most various UNCCD COP so far. It attracted greater than 20,000 contributors, round 3,500 of them from civil society, and featured greater than 600 occasions as a part of the primary Motion Agenda to contain non-State actors within the work of the conference. It additionally set data for youth attendance and for probably the most ever non-public sector contributors at a UN land convention, with greater than 400 representatives from such industries as finance, vogue, agri-food and prescription drugs.
UN Deputy Secretary-Basic Amina J. Mohammed stated now, the work begins.
“Our work doesn’t finish with the closing of COP16,” she informed delegates. “We should proceed to deal with the local weather disaster. It’s a name to motion for all of us to embrace inclusivity, innovation and resilience”
She stated youth and Indigenous Peoples should be on the coronary heart of those conversations.
“Their knowledge, their voices, and their creativity are indispensable as we craft a sustainable future with renewed hope for generations to come back.”
Important turning level
The assembly additionally marked a turning level in elevating worldwide consciousness of the urgent must speed up land restoration and drought resilience, in response to COP16 president, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Setting, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Alfadley.
“We hope the outcomes of this session will result in a big shift that strengthens efforts to protect land, scale back its degradation, construct capacities to handle drought, and contribute to the wellbeing of communities all over the world,” he stated in closing remarks.
UN Below-Secretary-Basic and UNCCD Government Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw agreed, underscoring a big shift within the international strategy to land and drought points and the interconnected challenges with broader international points similar to local weather change, biodiversity loss, meals safety, pressured migration and international stability.
NOOR for FAO/Benedicte Kurzen
In Koyli Alpha, Senegal, ladies work in tree nurseries created as a part of the Nice Inexperienced Wall Initiative.
‘Options are inside our grasp’
Throughout COP16, contributors heard that UNCCD estimates that not less than $2.6 trillion in whole investments are wanted by 2030 to revive multiple billion hectares of degraded land and construct resilience to drought.
This equals $1 billion in each day investments between now and 2030 to satisfy international land restoration targets and fight desertification and drought.
New pledges had been additionally introduced for large-scale land restoration and drought preparedness and for some present initiatives which can be already successful the battle, just like the Nice Inexperienced Wall, an African-led initiative to revive 100 million hectares of degraded land straddling throughout the Sahel area, which mobilised $11.5 million from Italy and almost $4 million from Austria.
UNCCD Government Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw summed up a typical message heard all through COP16 in his closing remarks.
“As now we have mentioned and witnessed, the options are inside our grasp,” he stated.
“The actions we took at this time will form not solely the way forward for our planet but in addition the lives, livelihoods and alternatives of those that rely on it.”
Learn extra tales on local weather and the atmosphere right here.
Sacred Lands Declaration
In a landmark determination, COP16 events requested the creation of a caucus for Indigenous Peoples with the aim of making certain that their distinctive views and priorities are represented within the work of the Conference to Fight Desertification.
The Sacred Lands Declaration, introduced through the inaugural Indigenous Peoples Discussion board on 7 December, underscored their function in sustainable useful resource administration and referred to as for higher involvement in international land and drought governance, together with by way of participation in land restoration efforts.
Listed below are some requires motion within the declaration:
We name on events to make sure an strategy that embraces human rights and Indigenous Peoples’s rights in all insurance policies and actions associated to land restoration and resilience buildingWe name on events to respect, recognise, promote and defend Indigenous Peoples’ rights, based mostly on the elemental proper to self-determination, supplied for within the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Worldwide Conference on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and its Basic Advice 23
We encourage the UNCCD to create a devoted fund for Indigenous Peoples’ initiatives on land restoration, conservation, desertification and drought resilience
