Silk Road Congress Center, Samarkand, Uzbekistan Wednesday, 15 November 2023 – 10:30 to 13:00

This High Level Event on Sand and Dust Storms (SDS) is being organized by the Government of Uzbekistan under the aegis of the UNCCD’s 21st meeting of the Committee to Review the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC21).

This event will bring together Ministers, leaders, policymakers, scientists, and stakeholders from across the globe to address the impacts of SDS and discuss strategies and measures for effectively managing this growing hazard.

All UNCCD Parties at the CRIC 21 Plenary are invited to attend the High Level Event on SDS. 

Objectives

• Raise political awareness on the escalating threat posed by SDS, their causes, and potential consequences for food security, human health, the environment, and socio- economic development as well as the linkages to climate change, land degradation, and air pollution.
• Explore collaboration to develop and implement SDS policies, regulations, and action plans at national, regional, and global levels, including multilateral cooperation mechanisms to strengthen national capacities for SDS management and to foster regional collaboration at address this transboundary challenge.
• Identify financing and capacity needs to encourage financial institutions, development agencies, and relevant organizations to invest in capacity building as well as projects and programmes aimed at preventing and reducing the impact of SDS.

Main topics for interactive discussion

• How can we work together to elevate the political profile of Sand and Dust Storms agenda at the global scale?
• As many SDS events cross frontiers, what are the options for global and regional cooperation to reduce SDS impacts?
• What are the main technical and financial needs to mitigate and reduce the impacts of SDS?       

Expected outcomes

• The Chair’s Summary of the Samarkand High Level Event on Sand and Dust Storms, which will include considerations regarding how to raise the political profile of SDS agenda and how to strengthen coordinated efforts in tackling SDS. The Chair’s Summary will be presented by the Government of Uzbekistan to the Parties of the Convention.
• The Government of Uzbekistan in its pursuit to generate political impetus to SDS agenda within UNCCD process may wish to request that the following is included in the CRIC Report: the acknowledgement of the HLE on SDS and of the Chair ́s Summary and the exploration of possibilities to elaborate the Samarkand Declaration on SDS to be eventually adopted at UNCCD Conference of Parties (COP16) in December 2023 in Saudi Arabia.
• Enhancement of collaborative partnerships, knowledge networks, and joint initiatives among participating countries and organizations to better address SDS challenges.

Format
The High Level Event on SDS chaired by H. E. Aziz Abdukhakimov, Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan will be organically integrated in the Plenary meeting and will last from 10.30 am to 13.30 pm on 15 November 2023.

It will consist of two parts: the Ministerial segment and the moderated Interactive Dialogue with participation of Governments representatives, UN agencies, International Organizations. The Parties are invited to make brief interventions and pose questions in the end of the event during the Q&A section.