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Requested in The COP 13 as part of the Drought Initiative, the toolbox is being designed to provide drought stakeholders with easy access to tools, case studies and other resources to support the design of National Drought Policy Plan with the aim to boost the resilience of people and ecosystems to drought. The Drought Toolbox is currently being developed as part of the Drought Initiative through the close partnership among UNCCD, WMO, FAO, GWP, the Joint Research Centre of the European Union, the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) of the University of Nebraska, and UNEP-DHI.
The "Sustainability, Stability and Security" (3S) Initiative is an inter-governmental action launched by Morocco and Senegal to address the root causes of instability in Africa – in particular migration and conflict related to the degradation of natural resources – through an innovative approach.
The Land for Life Programme was launched at the tenth UNCCD Conference of the Parties (COP10) in 2011 in the Republic of Korea as part of the Changwon Initiative. The Programme seeks to address the challenges of land degradation, desertification and mitigation of drought. To demonstrate that Land Degradation Neutrality is necessary and achievable, the Land for Life Programme engages in awareness raising and knowledge support. Every two years, the programme presents the Land for Life Award which aims to provide global recognition to individuals and organizations whose work and initiatives have made a significant contribution to sustainable development through sustainable land management.
The LDN Fund is an impact investment fund blending resources from the public, private and philanthropic sectors to support achieving LDN through sustainable land management and land restoration projects implemented by the private sector. GM spearheaded the establishment of the LDN Fund and undertook its initial design with support from the Governments of France, Luxembourg, Norway, and the Rockefeller Foundation and involvement of an advisory group that brought together representatives from public financial institutions, international NGOs and academia. A private sector investment management firm Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to responsible investing, was selected competitively to manage the LDN Fund. Officially launched at UNCCD COP 13 in Ordos, China, the LDN Fund is the first-of-its-kind investment vehicle leveraging public money to raise private capital for sustainable land projects. Anchor investors – the European Investment Bank and the French Development Agency – are joined by institutional investors including the first north-American private investor Fondaction, the Fondation de France foundation and insurance companies BNP Paribas Cardif and Garance. The initiative is also backed by de-risking partners that include the Government of Luxembourg, IDB Invest and the Global Environment Facility. In total, investors have announced commitments of over USD 100 million out of a target of USD 300 million.
The Great Green Wall is a symbol of hope in the face of one of the biggest challenges of our time – desertification. Launched in 2007 by the African Union, this game-changing African-led initiative aims to restore Africa’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in one of the world’s poorest regions, the Sahel. Once complete, the Wall will be the largest living structure on the planet – an 8,000 km natural wonder of the world stretching across the entire width of the continent.
The latest episode of the 'Inside UN Bonn' podcast, released on 2 February, features the Malian musician and UNCCD Land Ambassador Inna Modja who talks about her work for the Great Green Wall (GGW) Initiative. "We're growing new lungs for the planet" – this is how Inna describes the GGW Initiative that aims to restore Africa’s degraded landscapes, fight the climate crisis and transform millions of lives. Inna says that her passion for the project reflects in all her work – as a musician, visual artist and women's right advocate. It also inspires her to explore new outlets to generate support for the GGW. In collaboration with other digital artists, she recently launched a charitable non-fungible token (NFT) art drop to help finance women-led land restoration solutions in the Sahel. The podcast is available on Spotify | Google podcasts | Apple podcasts Read more: Great Green Wall initiative Land and gender Land and climate UNCCD Land Ambassadors Charitable NFT event will fund women-led solutions along the Great Green Wall