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What is at stake at the most important global meeting on drought of the past decade26 September 2024 — Droughts are risks to be managed, rather than crises to be responded to with little or no planning. In the past decade, more than 70 countries around the world have developed national drought policies to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to harsher and more frequent droughts — a departure from the traditional reactive approach that was commonplace before the first High-Level Meeting on National Drought Policy in 2013. As drought is projected to touch three out of four people globally by 2050, decision-makers and experts will reconvene in Geneva from 30 September to 2 October with a twin goal: taking stock of the progress made in the past ten years and transforming plans, policies and commitments into concrete actions that protect societies, economies and ecosystems from the impacts of drought. The Drought Resilience +10 (DR+10) Conference will result in a series of recommendations for decision-makers and managers. Crucially, its final declaration will inform the global drought community and the negotiations at the most ambitious land and drought summit in United Nations history, or UNCCD COP16, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 to 13 December.Progress across the following issues will be at the heart of discussions to take global drought resilience to the next level:A global drought resilience mechanismGlobal drought governance is fragmented. A new global mechanism for drought resilience would align goals and investments across development agencies, development banks and international instruments like the Paris Agreement, the Global Biodiversity Framework, and Land Degradation Neutrality efforts.The mechanism would also facilitate coordination and coherence across governance levels, sectors and funding flows, ensuring that policies, practices and incentives are aligned from the international to the local level. The proposal will be discussed at DR+10 and raised with world leaders at UNCCD COP16 to usher in a new era of drought resilience.A systemic approach to droughtDroughts have become 29 per cent more frequent since the year 2000 due to the combined effects of human-driven land degradation and climate change, and they are one of the world’s most deadly and costly nature-based hazards. Droughts impact agriculture and food security, but also health, energy production, transportation and the services that vibrant ecosystems provide to humanity. Additionally, they can trigger a string of hazards: flooding is made worse by dry, compacted ground; the loss of land cover can lead to sand and dust storms; and the degradation of watershed ecosystems can compromise water security in urban centres. Droughts cut across all sectors and governance levels and, as such, call for an all-of-government, all-of-society approach — an approach that must be rooted in sustainable land management, make the most of nature-based solutions and account for the cascading and compounding effects of drought. DR+10 looks to create the momentum for a truly systemic, inclusive and science- based approach to drought risk management. Droughts are a risk, but with the right actions, they needn't be a disaster.Funding and partnerships for actionIn the past decade, only five per cent of official development assistance for disasters was allocated to preparedness, although evidence shows that building drought resilience is up to ten times more cost-effective than waiting for crises to happen.That is an example of the disconnect between what we know needs to be done — fund drought resilience — and what is too often happening in practice — waiting for droughts to strike, then launching costly emergency responses as lives, livelihoods and assets are lost.So how can the financial allocations for proactive and emergency measures be rebalanced? What role should the private sector play in protecting the watersheds their water-intensive businesses depend on? And how could governments better attract financial resources and forge partnerships for drought resilience? These are some of the questions DR+10 will address with a view to closing the drought finance gap and encouraging meaningful partnerships between public, private and civil society actors. Geneva to RiyadhThe UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which is turning 30 this year, is the only legally binding instrument that addresses land degradation and drought at the global level, recognizing that we are only as resilient to drought as our land is.The outcomes and recommendations of DR+10 on the issues above will be presented to world leaders at UNCCD COP16 in December and inform high-level negotiations on potential global drought resilience mechanisms. The march from Geneva to Riyadh, and from policies to action, is on.Learn more about the nine DR+10 workstreamsRegister onlineCheck out the programmeFor media:Media registrationFor interviews with UNCCD representatives contact: gpallares@unccd.int

The world’s population is on track to reaching 10 billion by 2050, just as the planetary systems that sustain life on Earth are being pushed to their limits — and with them, our ability to provide food and water and to prevent large-scale displacements, rippling economic shocks and conflict.

To UNCCD focal points and representatives of the UN and observer organizations:Please be informed that the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made available a dedicated platform to grant free visa entries to duly registered COP16 participants. Participants must apply using the following link https://www.unccdcop16.org/visa only after receiving the official letter generated by the COP16 online registration system confirming their participation in COP16.Participants will need to fill in the required information and will receive their respective visas via the email they used for the application. The COP16 visa will be valid for 3 months and will include a single entry only.For any further enquiries about visa arrangements to attend COP16 please contact visa(at)unccdcop16.orgOther arrangements for entering the country: No visa is required for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) citizens.GCC residents, citizens of 66 countries and US, UK, Schengen visa holders can apply online or get a tourist visa on arrival. Information on eligibility and requirements is available at Visit Saudi official website.Requirements for a tourist visa (e-visa/on arrival):Valid for one yearStay up to 90 days per visitMultiple entry in the countryAccommodationThe host country has further made available a dedicated platform for COP16 participants to book their respective accommodations. For any additional information related to accommodation please contact cop16.accommodation(at)gl-events.com 

At World Water Week, a hard look at the notions that stand in the way of drought resilienceStockholm (Sweden), 2 September — Drought is on track to hitting three in four people globally by 2050. Around the world, scientists and practitioners have amassed a wealth of knowledge on what it takes to anticipate, prepare for, respond and adapt to drought. So what is standing in the way of more drought-resilient countries and communities?At an event co-convened by the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA) at World Water Week, held in Sweden from 25 to 29 August, experts from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the United Nations University (UNU) discussed how to elevate drought resilience beyond borders and sectors, upending preconceived notions on drought along the way. These are the 5 myths around drought experts wish to shatter:Myth 1: Drought is a poor farmers’ problem caused by the lack of rain Drought is a natural phenomenon, but the current global emergency is human-made, the result of poor land management and unbridled consumption, leading to water stress. Droughts are also becoming harsher and faster due to human-induced climate change. And although agriculture is being impacted by drought from the Southern Cone to the Mediterranean to the Horn of Africa, the effects are felt across sectors, starting with recent cuts in hydropower production in areas like northeastern Brazil, as pointed out by UNCCD Policy Officer and drought-resilience expert Daniel Tsegai.In the past weeks, droughts have forced the authorities of three Bolivian regions to close schools two weeks earlier as drought emptied reservoirs, posing a particular challenge for menstruating students; and 700 wild animals, including hippos and elephants, are being culled in Namibia's game parks to feed people in need as southern Africa battles its worst drought in a century, even as ecotourism is an important source of income for the region.Less water also causes major disruptions in transportation of people and goods —as seen in recent years from the Yangtze river in China to the Panama Canal, the Rhine in Germany and the Mississippi in the USA—, and drought fuels sand and dust storms, leading to air pollution and respiratory infectious diseases. Also, gender inequality means that women and children are disproportionately affected by the effects of drought.“Bottom line is: the cascading impacts of drought can touch all regions and sectors, including energy production, transportation, manufacturing, tourism, education and physical and mental health,” said Tsegai. “This means we need an inclusive and all-of-government, all-of-society approach to drought.”Myth 2: Droughts are crises to be responded to “We are not planning for drought. We are not appreciating the fact that the water bankruptcy situation we are in is no longer a simple anomaly, but a reality with which we need to adapt to,” said the Director of the UNU Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), Kaveh Madani. “Our response to drought is still reactive.”Madani noted that policy-makers and citizens often have the perception of water availability when it rains, without taking into account that overall water consumption is larger than replenishment. Additionally, having some water in dam reservoirs delays the effects of hydrological drought —when river and underground water levels are dangerously low— on societies. Since the impacts are not immediately felt, decision-makers and water users tend to dismiss early warnings and fail to take action. “Drought is not a crisis, it is a risk and, as such, it can —and has to— be managed with proactive policies and investments, without waiting for drought to strike,” added Tsegai. “This is the one major change in mentality that needs to happen.”Myth 3: Climate change alone is to blame for the effects of drought“From a decision-making perspective, climate change is a blessing for some managers because they can always justify their inaction and blame every failure on global warming and the international community,” said UNU's Madani.In his opinion, leaders must stop treating the water and land sectors as mere victims of climate change and harness their mitigation potential, putting the agrifood sector, including smallholder farmers, at the forefront of the fight against climate change. “Let’s stop blaming drought on climate change and start promoting the water and land sectors as opportunity sectors, instead,” urged Madani, emphasizing the need to shift from a reactive to a proactive approach to drought management. “One thing is clear: we will not engineer our way out of droughts, which are a component of the water cycle.”  Myth 4: Gray infrastructure is the answer to droughtAccording to panelists, drought resilience depends on good policies and incentives, supported by targeted investments and a mix of low- and high-level technologies adapted to each context. Such policies must consider nature-based solutions, instead of relying solely on gray infrastructures like dams and water cisterns.A recent TNC report, for example, analyzed which parts of the world face a growing risk of drought and flooding across in the next two decades. What it found is that nature is key to reducing these risks in more than one third of those locations. “When implemented at scale and in the right places, nature-based solutions can support healthy hydrological systems that naturally store water and slowly release it in drier times, building the resilience of ecosystems and communities,” explained Kari Vigerstol, director of Water Security Science and Innovation at The Nature Conservancy.The expert also urged decision-makers to take into account both blue water —found in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs— and green water —available in the soil for plants and soil microorganisms—, as well as surface and underground water. The latter tends to be neglected and overexploited, and there are few collaborative management agreements for transboundary aquifers.Finally, she made a case for involving water users in the management of the resource at all times, not only when the impacts of drought reach societies and economies, and pointed at the importance of weather forecasting, early warning systems, and technologies to enhance water efficiency in agriculture and reuse water.Myth 5: Business can continue as usualAll countries can better prepare to coexist with drought and, according to UNCCD's Tsegai, the political momentum has never been higher. Especially, in the lead up to UNCCD COP16, the largest UN land and drought summit to date, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 2 to 13 December. At COP16, the 197 parties to the Convention will discuss, among others a global drought resilience framework, drawing on valuable inputs: the policy recommendations of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IWG) on Drought, established by the previous COP; the outcomes of the Drought Resilience+10 Conference (30 September-2 October, Geneva), focused on drought policy implementation; the insights from IDRA members and allies; and the lessons countries have learned by participating in regional and global communities of practice.The summit in Riyadh will be crucial in fostering a new drought management regime of a global nature, and securing high-level political commitment to drought resilience in the lead up to 2030 and beyond.For the UNCCD expert, the key components needed for countries to plan for drought, rather than simply respond to it, are there: the science, the economic case, the practical success examples, and the technical support.“The next step is to get the governance, financing, and implementation wheels in motion. I am hopeful that countries will rise to the challenge and use every means at their disposal in the upcoming international fora to correct, once and for all, the course of drought management,” he concluded. 

Excellence Monsieur le Premier Ministre Madame la Présidente de la Conférence des ministres africains de l’environnementMesdames et Messieurs les Ministres, et Chefs de délégations,Monsieur le Président de la COP 15 de UNCCD,Excellences Mesdames et Messieurs les Ambassadeurs,Mesdames et Messieurs les Représentants des Organisations Internationales et des Agences du Système des Nations Unies,Mesdames et messieurs,—————————————Le 3 mai 2022, le Président de la République de Côte d’Ivoire recevait, dans cette même salle, des Leaders du monde, pour l’ouverture de la COP15 de la Convention des Nations-Unies sur la Lutte contre la Désertification.  SEM Alassane Ouattara jetait, à l’occasion, les bases d’un programme ambitieux de restauration des terres. Cette COP15, et l’Initiative d’Abidjan sur la restauration des terres, sont restées gravées dans nos mémoires comme étant une des étapes importantes dans la vie de la Convention. Comme pour nous replonger dans les sources d’eau rafraîchissantes du Gbancô (Banco), ou nous concerter sous les baobabs de la Comoé, nous revoilà en terre africaine de Côte d’Ivoire. En quête sinon d’une fraction de la mémoire desEléphants, du moins de la sagesse ressortant de l’arbre à palabres.Le fossé entre les besoins d’une population croissante, et la disponibilité de terres productives, ce fossé dis-je, n’a jamais été grand. Par ailleurs, les revendications des jeunes africains qui aspirent au développement plus juste et plus durable n’ont jamais été aussi audibles. Fort heureusement, l’Afrique n’a jamais été aussi proche d’un consensus ministériel cohérent, avant de prendre part aux trois COP des Conventions de la génération de Rio. Voilà qui plante le décor de l’importance des assises d’Abidjan.  Excellencies,  Ladies and gentlemen,  As we gather here in Abidjan for this special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, large parts of the African continent are wilting.  The Greater Horn of Africa has not yet recovered from its longest drought in 40 years. The dry spell is not sparing North Africa and the Mediterranean region. A couple of years ago, it was Madagascar and the Sahel that were dry. As we speak, the Sahel is severely affected by floods notably in Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali and Sudan. There is hardly any year where floods, drought or loss of fertile land is not hitting the continent. It is heartbreaking to see that Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia --once breadbaskets—are listed among the most affected by malnutrition caused by drought. In Namibia, crippling drought is pushing both people and wildlife to the brink.The loss of productive land across the continent, coupled with the disruptions caused by the increased and erratic rainfall patterns, have reached such levels that young African men and women have no choice but to abandon their farms; flee their villages and their countries. This amplifies a phenomenon that is increasingly making headlines across the world. A phenomenon at the center of the many electoral campaigns we saw this year:  forced migration. In other words, because land degradation fails to garner the political attention it deserves from the countries of origin of African migrants, it is indirectly capturing the attention in third countries. Often for the wrong reasons, leading to a cascade of unsuitable solutions. It is also remarkable that political discussions across the world, and in Africa in particular, barely scratch the surface of the complex relationship between land degradation, climate change and the destruction of natural habitats on the one hand, and conflict and insecurity on the other.  Yet it is a well-known fact that despair breeds hatred. Hunger fuels frustration and resentment. Poverty and the lack of educational and economic opportunities make young people easy prey to trafficking as well as armed conflict and violence. Bad governance creates gusts of frustration which, once set in motion, become very difficult to contain. What could be more paradoxical in the eyes of young people—the overwhelming majority of the African people—than to see their soil, subsoil and seabed overflowing with so much potential, while the opportunities for wealth creation are so few? What could be more intriguing than being fed with speeches claiming that Africa has more arable land than any other continent in the world; when it is the African continent that receives the most food aid?  This begs two questions: is Africa properly addressing the root causes of land degradation? Is Africa prepared to mitigate the impact of the more frequent and more intense droughts -and floods- that are hitting a fast growing, vulnerable population? Addressing the root causes of land degradation points to a revision of some development policies. Reviewing agricultural development policies in the light of real African needs as well as new geopolitical priorities and realities. The land must not be seen only as a source of extraction: extraction of agricultural products, extraction of minerals and extraction of water resources. Nor must the land be seen only through the lenses of exploitation. As the land is our most precious asset for our food, our clothes, our fuels and our animals' feed, we need to adopt a managerial rather than an exploitative attitude. An asset— especially such as a precious asset— ought to be managed, with a whole-of-government and a whole-of-society approach. What's more, the time has come to create value chains for products extracted from the soil and the depths of African lands. Creating jobs and added value before export. Giving economic value— and not just the market value of raw produce— to agriculture.  Changing our relationship with nature also means adapting to natural hazards. Rather than being reactive to slow-onset disasters, we need to prepare for them, including the silent killers, such as drought. In the same way as anticipating and monitoring non-communicable diseases, each country needs to develop its own drought and flood resilience plan.  Mesdames et Messieurs,Les chiffres du dernier rapport quadriennal de UNCCD montrent qu’en dépit d’importants efforts de restauration des terres, 163 millions d’ha de terres se sont dégradées en Afrique entre 2015 et 2019. Si cette superficie dégradée en seulement 4 ans était une nation, ç’aurait été le 5e pays le plus vaste d’Afrique ! N’est-il pas venu le temps de traiter ces plaies béantes qui menacent l’avenir de tout un continent ?  N’est-il pas venu le temps de repenser les politiques d’extraction agricole et minière ? Le secteur primaire représente la principale source de revenus en Afrique. De sa gestion rationnelle et durable dépendra donc le futur économique du continent.Offrir une autre voie, une approche alternative et plus durable à la gestion des ressources naturelles et l’atténuation des effets de la sécheresse, tel pourrait être le message clé de l’Afrique à la seizième session de la Conférence des Parties à la Convention UNCCD prévue à Riyadh, Royaume d’Arabie Saoudite, du 2 au 13 décembre prochain.Il est attendu de cette COP16 d’être un tournant historique pour adopter une nouvelle approche de gestion des terres et de résilience à la sécheresse. Nous anticipons que Riyadh sera non seulement une belle et grande COP, mais qu’elle laissera un héritage sans précédent pour construire un monde plus résilient à la sécheresse et à la dégradation de la nature. Les agendas des terres, du climat et de la biodiversité étant fortement interconnectés, une approche globale et intégrée est fortement recommandée. Quelle belle coïncidence car la présente session intervient au moment où nous nous préparons tous, avant la fin de cette année, aux COP des 3 Conventions de Rio. La rencontre d’Abidjan vient, donc, à point nommé car se situant à la croisée des chemins de l’agenda environnemental mondial. L’Afrique doit inéluctablement réaffirmer et renforcer son leadership et aller en Arabie Saoudite avec une position confortable et concertée. Une sagesse africaine dit ceci : « Quand la tête est là, il ne faut pas que le genou prétende porter le bonnet ».Alors quand l’Afrique est là, présente en force, qui d’autre portera le bonnet à Riyadh ?  Je vous remercie.

Side events organized within the sidelines of the official sessions of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and/or its subsidiary bodies convened by the UNCCD provide an informal opportunity for Parties and accredited observer organizations to exchange information and experiences on diverse issues related to the objectives of the Convention. Parties and accredited observers wishing to organize a side event during the conference are requested to apply using the following form and submitting it to: sideevent@unccd.int The application form can be downloaded from the Resources tab on this page and should be submitted by 6 September 2024. Participants are advised that the secretariat is responsible only for room allocation. Time slots and rooms will be accommodated according to availability on a first come, first serve basis. For more information, click here.