Inauguration of Finance Discussions: Needs and Opportunities

This session will examine the cost of drought and land degradation and begin to explore how we can find solutions, setting the context for further discussions and panels on financing land and drought throughout COP16. It will highlight three foundational reports: UNCCD's financial needs assessment report, the Islamic Development Bank's sustainable financing modalities for drylands report, and Germany's economics of drought report. Making inaugural remarks and launching the reports will be:

• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw
• Islamic Development Bank President H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser
• The Federal Republic of Germany's Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Niels Annen