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At COP25 in Madrid today, heads of UN agencies met for a high-level leadership dialogue on how to turn the tide on deforestation and committed to the common goal of helping countries reduce deforestation and improve forest management. According to the UN, up to 23 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions derive from the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector. However, a myriad of forest-based solutions taking place on the ground show the real and promising results that forests can deliver As President of COP25, Chile initiated the Santiago Call for Action on Forests. The call highlights the fact that climate change, including increases in frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, is impacting terrestrial ecosystems, exacerbating existing risks to livelihoods, food systems, infrastructure, human and ecosystem health, and biodiversity.  The COP25 Presidency issued a call for action on seven essential activities, including on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and enhancing so-called "sinks" which absorb carbon. Together with improved land management options, forests and trees could provide up to 30 per cent of GHG mitigation required by 2030 to keep the increase in global average temperature below 2 degrees Celsius, the upper temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. All UN agencies at today's high-level dialogue committed firmly to the common goal of helping countries to reduce deforestation and improve forest management. The United Nations Forum on Forests, represented by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, which serves as the Secretariat of the Forum, highlighted the importance of promoting sustainable management of all types of forests and implementation of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests by 2030: Implementation of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests by 2030 will reverse the loss of forests and increase them by three per cent globally and will also help eradicate extreme poverty for forest-dependent people. UN DESA, through its work in support of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the UN Forum on Forests, is committed to playing its vital role in accelerating global efforts to halt deforestation and promoting sustainable management of all types of forests  — Mr. Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations underlined that addressing deforestation requires looking beyond the forest sector to identify the main drivers of deforestation: We need to look beyond the forests. To step up action against deforestation and forest degradation, we need to find consensus to agree on reducing footprints of agricultural commodities. We need to work with all stakeholders in supporting global efforts to turn the tide on deforestation  — Mr. QU Dongyu, Director-General The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification explained the concept of land-degradation neutrality to help countries identify and address the drivers of deforestation in a robust way: Halting deforestation and restoring degraded forests are global imperatives. Land Degradation Neutrality SDG Target 15.3 provides the robust framework needed to keep land, including forests, healthy and resilient over the long haul, which in turn will keep food, energy, carbon and biodiversity in balance. Restoring degraded lands means better lives and income for farmers and herders and for women and youth, and less pressure to migrate to cities — Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary The Global Environment Facility emphasized the need for transformative action that connects sustainable activities across different sectors, in particular, land-use and food: Faced with growing rates of global deforestation, there is an urgent need to transform economic systems related to food and land use. The new four-year GEF-7 strategy reflects this with a focus on harnessing the existing and emerging multi-stakeholder platforms committed to sustainability, which include important global companies from the food sector  — Ms. Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson The United Nations Environment Programme agreed with the strong need for action, and highlighted several areas for the implementation of solutions: We need to focus on nature-positive agriculture; clean up our supply-chains; adopt sustainable consumption and production methods; partner with the private sector and put a price on carbon. And the good news is that there is much greater awareness about the state of our forests than ever before and when we build leadership in one place, we will witness a race to the top to save our planet's forests.  — Inger Andersen, Executive Director The United Nations Development Programme stressed the need to implement the existing REDD+ framework to reduce deforestation effectively and raise ambition in NDCs: Supporting countries to tackle deforestation is an essential component of climate action and thus of UNDP's Climate Promise. REDD+ is a "ready to go" nature-based solution. And the UN-REDD Programme provides a platform for the UN to support countries to raise their nature-based NDC ambition.  — Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator Regarding implementation on the ground, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change added: The agreement on the REDD+ framework was a milestone. It gives a clear direction on how countries, civil society and the private sector can collaborate to reduce deforestation. While it's only a starting point, its strength is its flexibility. Each country can adapt it to its national circumstances and enhance implementation over time, especially by including REDD+ activities in their NDCs.  — Ms. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary Addressing deforestation is an issue that is a concern throughout the UN organization and for millions throughout the world. All UN agencies emphasized their readiness to support countries in their efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, building on existing efforts to provide technical and financial support, and working together as partners. Trust-building through the UNFCCC transparency framework will remain vital for collaboration on this important matter. Finally, it was also highlighted that reducing deforestation requires an effort by all stakeholders, engaging local communities and indigenous peoples, women and youth, civil society and the private sector, as well as producers and consumers.

"Droughts really are changing the planet, around us. They are one of the worst impacts that we will see in terms of the human impacts of climate change," said Louise Baker, the UNCCD External Relations, Policy and Advocacy Chief at a film screening event, "When the Skies Ran Dry", on 7 December 2019. The event was part of the Climate Change Action Hub programme being held on the margins of the UN Change Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid, Spain. After screening of the documentary film, "When the Skies Run Dry", Baker and Patrick Augenstein, the producer of the film, discussed with audience impacts of drought on livelihoods and ecosystems. Creating opportunities for showing "win-win" evidence of ecosystem restoration and development was among the dialogue with the audience.  Watch the event video About land and drought

UNCCD Land Ambassador Baaba Maal returned to his native Senegal in December to headline the annual Blues de Fleuve festival and make a contribution to the global sustainable development through agriculture.

In an unprecedented public action for a greener future, 650 000 trees have been planted across Azerbaijan on 6 December 2019. This environmental campaign took place at the initiative of Azerbaijan’s First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva to mark the 650  anniversary of the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Imadaddin Nasimi.   A map identifying the planting locations, most of them along highways, has been prepared by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. The trees for planting have been cultivated in the sapling fields of Azerbaijan Greenery and Landscape Structure and Forestry Center of the Ministry.  The planted trees have the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by 2,6 thousand cubic meters per year, a significant contribution to the climate action, combating desertification and land degradation at scale. A number of government officials, representatives of the diplomatic corps, public figures and representatives of civil society have joined the planting campaign. Read more: Land and climate Azerbaijan and UNCCD

The new International Knowledge Management Center on Combating Desertification opened on 5 December during the International Seminar on Desertification Control Technologies and Practices in the city of Yinchuan, Ningxia Autonomous Region, China.  

Award winning musicians Baaba Maal of Senegal and Ricky Kej of India have released a new music video Born from the Land on World Soil Day to celebrate the land. Why? Here is what they say: There is a sense of excitement and joy when musicians come together for the cause of environmental consciousness. In this case, it was a time of coming together for our land… We all thrive and depend on the land. This is our land and our home. Everything we know is an embodiment of the land and life on it. This is inspiring and the UNCCD efforts at conserving land also inspired me — Ricky Kej I am an international artist of African descent. The fight against desertification is part of my commitment to the cause of development, especially the reforestation I have been doing with the people in my country (Senegal) for several years. My participation in the song ‘Born from the Land,’ resonates with my musical work ‘Lekki’, which means the Tree, and that I interpreted during COP 14. It is therefore a pleasure to invest myself with Ricky Kej in this project for the environment, especially the fight against desertification that spares no continent — Baaba Maal To put it into perspective, consider that only 30 per cent of our planet is land. The rest is water. That small portion of the planet is source of everything all 7.5 billion of us need – food, fresh water, homes, cities and recreation areas. But every generation gets to use less and less of what the Earth once offered because it has changed a lot, mostly since 1970. Today, only about 30 per cent of the land’s original state remains. Forests, grasslands and wetlands have been converted to farmland, cities, abandoned mines or building sites or construction areas. This is making it more and more difficult for the land to store the excess carbon in the air, to hold in the ground the amount of water its once did, to absorb suck a lot of the water that hits the land from rain, hurricanes or thawing ice and to produce enough food to eat. If we continue converting natural ecosystems to other uses, only 10 per cent of the world’s natural areas will exist by 2050. My music and my efforts have always been a dedication to the environment and harmony. When I bring these inspirations together, the UNCCD Land Anthem 'Born from the Land' came to be. I had the absolute pleasure of working with some of the best musicians in the making of the official UNCCD land anthem ‘Born from the Land’. Working with fellow musicians who share the same passion for the environment helped bring this song to its full glory! — Ricky Kej Ricky Kej is known internationally as a music composer, a No.1 artist on the United States Billboard chart and a Grammy Award winner for his album titled, Winds of Samsara. Baaba Maal is a world-renowned musician from Africa. He lent his unique voice to the soundtrack of the international blockbuster Black Panther, which won an Oscar and a Grammy Award for its music score. Download the lyrics in each of the UN languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, Russian