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Representatives of 15 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and 5 international partner agencies met in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 20-21 July to discuss and jointly launch the land degradation neutrality (LDN) target setting process in LAC. Facilitated by the Global Mechanism and the Secretariat of the UNCCD, co-hosted by the governments of Argentina and of Trinidad and Tobago, and supported by a significant number of bilateral and multilateral partners, the workshop enabled Latin American and Caribbean countries to discuss a practical methodology for defining national voluntary LDN targets and the elements needed to implement this methodology at national level, as part of the process to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular the SDG goal 15. In their opening remarks, both Mr. Moreno,  Secretary of Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Sustainable Development of Argentina, and Mr. Repnik, Managing Director of the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD, agreed that “As a new vehicle for UNCCD implementation, the LDN vision provides countries an innovative approach to  address multiple Sustainable Development Goals in an effective manner, bringing together different national development agendas – from agricultural policy to climate action – and offering countries the possibility of tapping into unprecedented climate finance opportunities”. Through engagement in the articulation of LDN targets and associated land restoration measures, and the promotion of operational synergies with the national UNFCCC and CBD processes, as well as with relevant land restoration efforts such as Initiative 20x20, “the LAC region is in a particularly advantageous position to implement bold LDN actions against climate change, considering that the land sector alone is responsible for approximately 58% of the GHGs emissions of the entire LAC region”, Mr. Vergara, Coordinator of the World Research Institute’s Initiative 20x20, declared. Highlighting three key elements on which a successful LDN target setting process should be based , Ms. Polanco, National Focal Point of Dominican Republic, referred to: “(i) a political decision making process that is based on a solid LDN baseline elaborated upon the best available data and a sound methodology;  (ii) a collaborative effort that meaningfully involves a broad range of stakeholder that participate in the stewardship and use of land resources; and (iii) a strong political commitment with clear country leadership in order to effectively streamline the LDN vision into the national SDG agendas.” This regional workshop was followed by the first LDN national stakeholder consultation meeting for Argentina, on 22 July. At the opening, Mr. Ravine Bergman Argentina’s newly appointed Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, highlighted  the importance of the LDN vision, recalling “the ethical obligation that we all have, both individually and as a society, to ensure that our land-based natural capital is well managed for future generations”, and arguing that “nothing is profitable if it is not sustainable”. He also tweeted  his commitment to achieving LDN in Argentina. This is the fourth in a series of regional inception workshops, following those in Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia, under a global initiative led by the Global Mechanism and the Secretariat of the UNCCD to support countries in achieving the LDN vision – as of today 95 countries have committed to this challenge. The next workshop on LDN target setting will take place from 14 to 15 October 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya, for new countries expressing their interest in joining this global effort to achieve  a Land Degradation Neutral word by 2030.   Related links: Download the Workshop Report (1.2 MB

The NAP Expo for 2016, organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat (UNFCCC), served as a fruitful scenario to leverage the implementation of LDN - Land Degradation Neutrality - (Sustainable Development Goal target 15.3) through its integration into the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).  As one of the invited speakers, Mr. Markus Repnik, Managing Director of the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD, highlighted the immense opportunities that can be tapped through LDN in order to address climate change adaptation. By acting as an SDG accelerator, LDN provides multiple benefits such as food security, poverty reduction and green jobs, therefore reducing vulnerability to climate change. “LDN can act as a lens to create coherence amongst most relevant sustainable development policies such as climate change […]”, Repnik added.  Mr. Repnik encouraged participant countries’ officers to look at LDN as a strategic entry point for NAP implementation by highlighting the strong nexus between land degradation and vulnerability to climate change in developing countries.  As of today, 94 countries have committed to translate the global SDG target into country-specific targets and actions and most of these countries are also working on their NAPs. It provides crucial momentum and an enormous opportunity for integration.  “It is time to move from pilots to large-scale, transformative multi-partner projects and programmes. Innovative and blended finance and private sector involvement will enable this transition and LDN provides the platform to put all those pieces together", Repnik concluded.

The Asia and Pacific Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) target setting inception workshop - the third in a series of four workshops (Konya, Batumi, Bangkok and Buenos Aires) - was successfully held in Bangkok. These workshops have been organized in the framework of a global initiative of the UNCCD Secretariat and the Global Mechanism to support a growing number of countries that have committed to set national LDN targets – as of today, 95 countries. The LDN Target Setting Programme (TSP) supports countries to define LDN baselines, targets and associated measures to achieve LDN by 2030 as called upon by the Sustainable Development Goals. It furthermore helps countries to create leverage at country level by making the country specific LDN business case, implanting LDN in selected high profile national policies and commitments, ensuring stakeholder engagement at the highest possible level as well as identifying opportunities for the development of transformative LDN projects and programmes. The workshop was attended by representatives of sixteen countries in Asia and the Pacific. Country representatives, representatives of ADB, GEF, IUCN, and UNDP and the LDN TSP project team discussed the approach and steps towards setting voluntary targets aiming at achieving LDN by 2030. It was facilitated by the Global Mechanism and the Secretariat of the UNCCD, co-hosted by the Land Development Department of the Government of Thailand, and supported by a multitude of bilateral and multilateral partners. This event enabled participants to understand the key building blocks to defining national voluntary LDN targets and identifying transformative LDN projects and programmes. Participants acknowledged that the LDN-TSP provides a versatile platform for raising national capacity and increasing investments in order to avoid, minimize and revert all forms of land degradation. The LDN approach is recognized to offer participating countries opportunities to mainstream sustainable land management issues on a new and higher political level, both nationally and globally. “For implementation of the LDN , we need two ingredients: finance & technical capacity. But more than that we need leadership! We need individual leadership at country level - from the national focal points up to the most senior levels of government. And we need collective action at all levels - country, regional, and global”, declared Dr. Pitayakon Limtong, Advisor to Land Development Department, the National Focal Point Agency of the Royal Thailand Government to UNCCD. Participants recommended that LDN should be addressed not only at the highest in-country government levels but also at the regional policy-making level. Moreover, they alluded to the critical need to create synergies between UNCCD’s LDN approach and the other two Rio Conventions (CBD and UNFCCC) and explore options for co-operation and financing.   Related links: Workshop Report (701.36 KB)

Rural communities in West Africa have historically used migration as a seasonal coping mechanism in times of poor harvests or extreme drought. Yet, in recent decades, seasonal migrations have been replaced by more permanent relocations, as devastating droughts, changes in the seasons, reduced rainfall and flashfloods have all taken a toll on local community livelihoods. No longer able to live off what the land produces due to the increased unpredictability of the weather, local communities in rural areas – particularly young men – are left with little other choice than to search for work in urban centres to support their families. The Global Mechanism is working with the International Organization for Migration, to explore in more depth the complex linkages between land degradation and migration through the Italian-funded project, ‘West Africa: Promoting Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in migration prone areas through innovative financing mechanisms”.  The objective is to provide policy recommendations to upscale best practices and boost long-term investments into land restoration as part of the solution to stemming migration from rural areas. On 18-19 May in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, the Global Mechanism organized a regional workshop together with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to advance the dialogue on this topic in 3 main areas: How to use migration as a resilience strategy to tackle the intertwined challenges of desertification, land degradation, drought, climate change and migration Promoting investments in sustainable land management and adaptation to climate change to build resilience in migration-prone areas in West Africa, including through the direct investments of migrants through remittances Reducing vulnerability and insecurity caused by land degradation, in particular the negative effects of land degradation on population growth, migration and poverty and the increased risks of radicalization of young vulnerable people that might become a target for extremists groups The event, which took place under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Government of Burkina Faso, was attended by more than 60 government officials from Burkina Faso, Niger and Senegal, as well as high-level representatives of ECOWAS and international experts specialized on environment, migration and security. Experts at the event agreed that land-based green jobs are a crucial part of the solution to stemming the migration exodus of rural communities in West Africa. The Global Mechanism looks forward to publishing the results of its on-going project in the near future, paving the way for further action in this area.

Ottawa, Ontario, June 17, 2016 – We welcome the joint statement by Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, on the World Day to Combat Desertification, announcing that Canada intends to re-sign the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought. Canada's renewed engagement and leadership signals the growing recognition of the role of healthy and productive land in fighting climate change and in delivering food and water security for people right around the world. The statement Reads: "Joint statement by ministers Dion and Bibeau on World Day to Combat Desertification June 17, 2016 – Ottawa, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, today issued the following statement on World Day to Combat Desertification: On this day we recognize that desertification is linked to many of Canada’s development priorities, such as food security, agriculture, peace and security, access to water, livestock production and renewable energy.  We recognized the importance of these issues when Canada joined the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification [UNCCD] in 1995. In 2014, Canada was the only country in the world to withdraw from the UNCCD. Today we are taking positive steps to rejoin the global effort. ​ Canada recognizes not just the link between land degradation and climate change, but also the risks that desertification poses to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals. We are coordinating with our international partners to implement the 2030 Agenda and its ambitious objective to eradicate poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change.  Canada is committed to improving the resilience of developing countries to climate change, which disproportionately affects women and girls. Canada has also contributed more than $216 million to the most recent Global Environment Facility replenishment, the main funding channel of the UNCCD, making us the sixth-largest donor.  We are committed to joining world action on climate change, land degradation and desertification. That is why Canada intends to rejoin the UNCCD at the earliest opportunity, subject to Parliamentary approval in the fall." For more information see: http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1086379

Beijing, China, 17 June 2016 – China and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification today launched the Joint Action Initiative to combat desertification, rehabilitate degraded land and mitigate the effects of drought (JAI). The initiative aims to make the whole region along the “Silk Road” environmentally sound and ecologically sustainable.  The countries expect to prepare adequately for drought, create ecosystem stability and protect desert, steppe, pasture and oasis biodiversity and developing infrastructure. Together, countries will monitor and evaluate sand and dust storms. They will rehabilitate new and emerging source areas and those affected by disaster. They will revegetate mining and industrial wastelands and create shelter belts to protect vital infrastructure.  JAI provides the framework for conducting joint research and technical exchanges and for sharing information and demonstration projects.  Ms. Pan Yingzhen (in the picture above), Director General of the National Bureau to Combat Desertification in the State Forestry Administration and the UNCCD National Focal Point of China, launched the initiative during the global observance of the World Day to Combat Desertification in Beijing, China.  The Silk Road Economic Belt starts from China and runs to the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean via Central and West Asia, geographically linking the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. Many of the countries along the Belt are affected seriously by desertification, land degradation and drought and traditional and new sources of financing will be needed to deliver on ambition. Ms Monique Barbut, UNCCD Executive Secretary, said that through solidarity and engagement China has brought millions of people out of poverty through massive scale land restoration efforts.  She encouraged China to spearhead work in achieving land degradation neutrality and ensure it becomes humanity's defining achievement in the 21st Century, noting, “it will mark China's legacy in green development.”  Globally, more than 2 billion hectares of the terrestrial ecosystems are degraded, with nearly 170 countries affected by land degradation and drought. Scientists are also increasingly concerned about human activities such as mining, infrastructure development and drying water beds that may be contributing to sands and dust storms.  UN Secretary-General Ban, in a video message to the high-level gathering that was attended by China’s Vice-Premier and 11 ministers and vice-ministers from Africa, Asia and Latin America, said “over the next 25 years, land degradation could reduce global food productivity by as much as 12 per cent, leading to a 30 per cent increase in world food prices.” “Without a long-term solution, desertification and land degradation will not only affect food supply but lead to increased migration and threaten the stability of many nations and regions. This is why world leaders made land degradation neutrality one of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. That means rehabilitating at least 12 million hectares of degraded land a year,” he said. Since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals last September, more than ninety countries have signed up to set their voluntary national targets on land degradation neutrality. Ms Barbut said “actions to avoid, halt and reverse land degradation must begin now with everyone fully engaged. If we procrastinate the prospect of land degradation neutrality grows dimmer. But it shines brighter each time a person or country joins the campaign to restore degraded land or the battle against the degradation of new land.” During the event, the International Resource Panel of UNEP, released a report titled, Unlocking the Sustainable Potential of Land Resources: Evaluation systems, strategies and tools, offering tools that can help land users to assess their land potential in order to match it to the best uses. JAI is linked to the 2030 global target of achieving land degradation neutrality agreed under the Sustainable Development Goals. Through actions that promote healthy and productive land, the initiative also aims to alleviate poverty and improve the livelihoods of the people in the region. In line with this year’s theme for the World Day to Combat Desertification, a core principle of JAI is “people’s engagement at all levels, in particular land users at community level, in a participatory process.” With a rallying call to “Protect Earth. Restore Land. Engage People”, this year’s observance aims to raise public awareness about the urgency for land users to secure productive land by avoiding degrading more land, on the one hand, and rehabilitating and restoring all productive that can be recovered, on the other. World Day to Combat Desertification is observed every year on 17 June in all countries of the world.  For more information on the World Day to Combat Desertification: click here For interviews in Beijing contact: Ms Jenny Choo, jchoo@unccd.int For more information contact: Ms Wagaki Wischnewski, wwischnewski@unccd.int About UNCCD The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement on land issues. The Convention works, with partners, to promote good land stewardship. Its 195 Parties aim to achieve land degradation neutrality (LDN) through voluntary national targets. By achieving LDN, we will secure the health and productivity of the land, mitigate the effects of drought and make people and ecosystems more resilient to climate change.