Other meetings & events

Time: 16:45 - 18:00 Lomond Auditorium UNFCCC COP 26 | Glasgow Catastrophic drought and flooding are linked to the changing climate and sub-optimal land use planning and management. This side event will highlight the pivotal role of land in regulating water (reducing scarcity and limiting surplus), bringing to light the science and policy land-based solutions needed to reduce the impact of drought and floods on people and their ecosystems, while at the same time contributing to climate action. Through a talk-show format, participants can make sense of recent drought and flood events, and more importantly, the actions needed for land-based solutions to minimize overexposure to disastrous climate change impacts. Agenda Setting the stage Louise Baker, Managing Director of the UNCCD Global Mechanism State of the Art – What does the science tell us? Barron Joseph Orr, UNCCD Lead Scientist Action – How are countries responding? (Panel discussion The experience of Nigeria H.E. Ms. Sharon Ikeazor, Minister of State for Environment The experience of Honduras H.E. Ms. Liliam Lizeth Rivera, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment The experience of Malawi H.E. Ms. Nancy Tembo, Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources, Energy and Mining The experience of Pakistan Irfan Tariq, Director General Environment The experience of Grenada Mr. Trevor Thompson, Land Use Officer and UNCCD National Focal Point, Grenada The experience of Burkina Faso Mr. Pierre Omer Ouedraogo, Chargé des Programmes, Secrétariat Permanent des Organisations Non Gouvernementales Next steps – The new urgency for integrated land-water-climate action Mr. Torgny Holmgren, Executive Director at Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) Closing remarks Louise Baker, Managing Director of the UNCCD Global Mechanism More info: Download the agenda Download the flyer COP 26 Side Events YouTube channel  

At UNFCCC COP 26, the Rio Conventions Pavilion will be hosted by the Global Environment Facility at the Joint Pavilion of the GEF and the Global Climate Fund. Sessions of the Rio Conventions Pavilion will be held between Monday, 1 November and Friday 12 November 2021, at the GEF/GCF Pavilion, Hall 5 of the SEC Campus (Blue Zone). The sessions will address themes that cut across the objectives of the three Conventions, including: aligning financial flows to meet the objectives of the Conventions; ecosystem restoration; the interlinkages between health, climate change, biodiversity and desertification, and a One Health approach; and the contributions that can be made by the three Conventions towards sustainable and healthy food systems. Collectively, they aim to highlight opportunities for coordinated action towards land degradation neutrality, carbon-neutrality, halting the loss of biodiversity and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. More info...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), is organizing an event to commemorate the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR), which is annually marked worldwide on 13 October.  At the event, key frontline stakeholders will highlight FAO’s and partner’s efforts in providing Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) related capacity development, including DRR-related statistical capacity to developing countries, which is a key element of international cooperation. A key focus is the support that FAO has provided to developing countries in applying and institutionalizing the FAO’s damage and loss assessment methodology to monitor the Sendai Framework’s Indicator C2: direct agricultural loss attributed to disasters. It will further help increase awareness of the impact of disasters and crises on agriculture and food security and identify ways forward to strengthen data collection and analysis, reporting and monitoring efforts including through international cooperation. Register here.

he 49th Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) will be held virtually from 11 to 14 October 2021. The UNCCD together with the Land Portal Foundation, FAO, GIZ, RVO and USAID are holding a side event on “Development finance and land rights: Leveraging the VGGT to enhance food systems, climate resilience, and Land Degradation Neutrality” on Monday, October 11, 2021 from 12:45 to 14:15 CEST.   Despite wide international recognition, financing and investment in land rights remain marginal in comparison to overall development investment. This side event will bring together key actors to discuss the state of art of finance and philanthropy for land and property rights as crucial mechanisms for creating sustainable food systems, enhancing climate resilience, and achieving land degradation neutrality. Participants in the event will hear about the cutting edge of philanthropy and development investment in land and property rights from world's foremost experts. Member countries and other key stakeholders will obtain key information to support decision making processes for improved operationalization of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT). The overall aim of this event is to lay the building blocks for improved development mechanisms for land and property rights, and ultimately sustainable agriculture, enhanced food security and nutrition.   Participants in the side event will be encouraged to actively engage in the discussion and submit questions to the panelists. To participate in the side event, please register on the CFS49 website.

This virtual event will take audiences on thematic journeys for a deep dive into specialist topics such as sustainable food production, transforming finance, and ecosystem protection, and will explore some of the practical solutions and ambitious actions that are paving a path toward a nature-positive future. Participants will include representatives from governments, international organizations, civil society, academia, local and Indigenous communities and the private sector, with the aim of agreeing on a common agenda that lays the foundations for a ‘decade of hope and transformation’ for humanity and the environment. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be broadcast in English, Spanish and French. More information, including on how to register to watch the event, is available at Nature for Life Hub. The Nature for Life Hub will be a catalyst for raising current ambitions and building greater momentum for increasing environmental protections as we approach the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit, the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15), and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. The session on 4 October, “Transforming our relationship with the planet”, will explore how society can reshape current economic and political models to develop new solutions that protect and restore the environment, including new partnerships recognizing the rights of Indigenous peoples. One Earth will be discussing an important science based plan to protect biodiversity and solve the climate crisis. The session includes the Equator Prize, an annual award recognizing community efforts to achieve local sustainable development through nature-based solutions. This year’s winners, drawn from local and Indigenous communities from 9 countries, have together protected more than 1.8 million hectares of critical ecosystems, and have improved the livelihoods of more than 180,000 people. The session also includes the launch of the UN Biodiversity Lab, in partnership with UNEP, CBD, Microsoft and others. The session on 5 October will explore how businesses can embrace practices that restore, regenerate and protect nature while sustaining communities. Under the theme of “From the Ground Up: Transforming Production,” participants will be invited to showcase best practices for sustainable business models that safeguard the environment, with a particular focus on food, global supply chains, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of small and medium-sized enterprises.  The final day, “Pathways toward a nature-positive future,” will begin with an exploration of how to transform public and private sector finance to reduce impacts on nature. New initiatives will be shared that build on efforts creates a new framework for businesses to report and respond to environmental impacts, following a recent call by G7 governments for mandatory financial disclosures of climate-related risks. The final session will identify 25 pathways for a nature-positive future.