Statements

Monsieur le Président du CRIC, Monsieur le Vice-Président, Cinq jours de débats en ligne, en raison de 2 heures par jour, n’auront naturellement pas suffi pour remplir pleinement notre mandat de revue de la mise en œuvre de la Convention. La situation est loin d’être idéale. Grâce à votre coopération, aux talents et à la patience de votre présidence, vous avez néanmoins pu échanger, réitérer vos points de vue et donné des directives à votre Secrétariat. Je puis vous assurer que nous avons pris note de votre feed-back et de vos orientations. Comme vous le savez, la pandémie continue de se propager dans le monde, jetant une certaine incertitude sur la tenue de notre COP15 aux dates et conditions fixées par la décision 33 de la dernière conférence des parties. Nous allons soumettre des options au Bureau de la COP lors de sa réunion du 8 avril prochain, et vous tiendrons naturellement informé des directives et orientations que nous aurons reçues. Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, Land has nourished humanity for millennia. It can safely provide us with its good services for many more. But only if we must stop destroying the land in the name of short-term, and ultimately destructive, economic growth. We must instead protect the land. Through adopting less land-hungry production systems. Through adopting more sustainable consumption patterns. Individually and collectively: our diets, our clothing, the food we waste or lose. The forests we abuse. The water we misuse. Humanity ought to treat land for what it is: a finite resource. We must instead better manage the land. Through sustainable and efficient management techniques that grow more food with less land and water. Through regenerative practices such as organic agriculture and agroforestry. We must instead restore the land. Through delivering on existing commitments to restore one billion hectares of degraded land. Through adopting a landscape approach, not a shortsighted, spot-focused view. Through repairing the planet, conserving its vital biodiversity. Storing emitted carbon back to the soil where it belongs. Through turning degraded land back to production. To future generations, the slash and burn is no different from an attitude of scorched earth. Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, We ought to grab the tryptic of protect-manage-restore land. This begins with using COVID-19 recovery packages to enhance investments and policies promoting sustainable land management. Successful post-COVID economic recovery programs should target land managers and small-holder farmers. Those millions of producers, Those indigenous people, Those women producers, Those rangers who protect our beautiful tourist destinations, whose work is often invisible to many, are unsung heroes of our economy. They sustain their livelihoods thanks to land. Land is their only asset. Their only capital. In fact, land is OUR real collective capital. Indeed, combatting land degradation requires us to reach out to players beyond the confines of our convention focal ministries. We should engage every ministry, business, community, and policy makers that impact on the land. As you discussed during this meeting, mitigating the impact of drought requires a multi-pronged approach. Disaster risk reduction; building the resilience of farmers and pastoralists; stress-testing our national economies; developing compensation packages to assist, as appropriate, the most vulnerable. If we take our chance to protect, manage and restore the land, the benefits will be immense. We will accelerate recovery from the COVID-19 economic crisis. Slow climate change and protect biodiversity. Free millions of people from poverty and hunger. Help to create a world of peace, prosperity, and equity. This, dear ladies, and gentlemen, is our collective vision. And it is one we can make a reality, together. Excellences, Mesdames et Messieurs, Permettez-moi de conclure par des remerciements : À vous tous, délégués et observateurs, pour votre engagement, votre clairvoyance Au Président du CRIC, et son vice-président, qui ont conduit nos travaux avec compétence et patience A nos collègues de UNOG pour leur capacité à s’adapter et pour la qualité du service A nos interprètes sans lesquelles notre réunion serait une belle cacophonie Vous me permettrez aussi que j’adresse une mention très spéciale au personnel de l’UNCCD (Secrétariat et Mécanisme mondiale) pour leur excellent travail. Je suis très fier de l’engagement, l’agilité, la créativité et de la capacité d’adaptation de cette équipe. Merci pour ce que vous êtes. Merci pour ce que vous faites. Merci à tous.

Remarks by UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw: Welcome to the nineteenth session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention. This is a unique session, for reasons that we would have preferred to avoid. This is the first session of the UNCCD to be held online. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the distancing rules that we must all follow, has forced us to meet this way. I thank you for your commitment and patience in this time of great disruption and difficulty. While the pandemic has forced us apart, it has also emphasized the importance of the UNCCD’s work. Healthy land is essential to humanity. It is at the core of what we do, of what we are. And it is at the core of human and planetary health – by feeding us, buffering us from zoonotic diseases, regulating our climate and providing the home for crucial biodiversity.    So, even though our work has become more difficult, we must redouble our efforts to protect, manage and restore the land – particularly with COP 15 and the beginning of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration just around the corner. Colleagues, At this session, you might not be negotiating decisions, or issuing agreed recommendations, as you have done in previous years. But what you do over the next five days remains vital nonetheless. At this session, you will discuss the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) target-setting programme and the efforts of the Global Mechanism to help countries develop Transformative Projects and Programmes. You will hear a report from the Global Mechanism on the LDN Fund, which has in its short life already received backing of more than USD 150 million. You will receive an update on the drought initiative, gender action plan and land tenure frameworks. And you will hear the interim report of the Intergovernmental Working Group on drought, which is looking at options for the UNCCD to provide focus and emphasis to the work on drought. Now, I do understand that some of these issues are still the subject of lively debate among Parties, which is why this online session holds great relevance. You will share your experiences on these issues and processes with your counterparts. You will put forth your points of view and listen to those that do not necessarily align with your own. You will, I hope, start to move towards common ground. In so doing, you will set the stage for negotiations on these pivotal issues at the COP. It is my sincere wish that we make as much progress as practically possible at this session, and in its wake. Colleagues, Given the pressures building on the planet, we really have no time to waste. If you ask me: healthy land will be essential for a sustainable recovery from the pandemic. Sustainable land management, land restoration, creates green jobs. Mitigates climate change, slows nature and biodiversity loss. Increases food security and frees millions of people from poverty and hunger. Protecting natural habitat and species reduces the risk of future pandemics. In a nutshell, combating desertification can contribute to creating a world of peace, prosperity and equity. The work we do under this Convention is essential to protecting, managing and restoring healthy land to seize all of these benefits. But we can only fulfill the land’s full potential if we do it together. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences. Thank you.

Statement by UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw This year International Women’s Day celebrates the theme ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world’. After a year of unprecedented impacts from the pandemic, it’s clear that women globally have been disproportionately affected by the health, social and economic repercussions of COVID-19. With economies beset by lockdowns, and fundamental disruption to established international, regional and local trade patterns, women’s reliance on land, and their frequently weak legal protection and social status, makes them even more vulnerable to land degradation in a COVID-19 world. These stark facts make clear the importance of strong support to women in implementing the UNCCD mandate. Equal access to land, and security of land tenure, are fundamental to inclusive sustainable development. Even before the pandemic, in more than half of the world’s countries, laws or customs hindered women’s ownership or access to land. Globally, barely 10 per cent of agricultural land is held by women. Equality of land tenure offers both a safety net and a post-pandemic economic launch pad for millions of the most vulnerable women. It delivers tangible and meaningful benefits – poverty reduction, food security and gender equality. Secure tenure also permits land to be used as collateral, accessing credit, markets, and income opportunities, and bringing better education and health care within reach. Women and girls must be at the heart of action on land tenure. Promoting gender equality enhances the effectiveness and sustainability of environmental interventions. The UNCCD Gender Action Plan represents an ambitious step towards gender equality in the implementation of the Convention, and we must continue unwavering support for efforts by women and girls to strive for equality, build resilient post-pandemic economies and bolster thriving communities. As we seek to build a better world post COVID-19, let’s celebrate women who provide leadership to communities that are restoring degraded land. Let’s honor these women, who can lead humanity to a better and more equal post-COVID-19 future. Guided by all these women, the UNCCD mandate seeks the same goal. Read more: UNCCD Gender Action Plan UNCCD and land tenure Photo (c) Michael Martin

This year World Wildlife Day celebrates the theme ‘Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet’. Currently, up to 350 million people live within or close by forests, including some of our most ecologically diverse ecosystems.

In this corner of the UNCCD, I will occasionally share my thoughts and highlight significant developments of interest to our readers and stakeholders. As with most international organizations, COVID-19 impacted our work. But I am convinced that we are moving in the right direction and that now is the moment for a breakthrough in the implementation of the Convention. Our commitment to sustainable solutions is taking a new turn. As does our understanding of how solutions can be leveraged so that we respond to and recover from the COVID-19 crisis and at the same time reduce the risk of future pandemics. Last year, most of our staff worked remotely for most of the year. Despite the challenges, we made significant progress. In fact, in many areas we exceeded the results we had envisioned half-way through the biennium. As momentum to open up economies builds up, land remains a critical part of our toolbox. Our priority is still to ensure the policy and implementation work we do helps people and economies to build back better, guided by our COVID-19 Response. Land-based solutions offer a viable pathway towards regenerating our communities, societies, and regional economies. Countries have committed to restore nearly 800 million hectares of land globally, and more than half of the world’s restoration potential  is now tied directly to the UNCCD’s Land Degradation Neutrality national voluntary targets (at 450 million hectares). This figure is from 90 countries, a majority of which had secured the commitment for implementation at high-levels of government by mid-2020. Another 14 countries have set their targets since and an additional 23 countries are working on setting their targets. Clearly, the Convention will play an important role in health recovery and rebuilding economies and environmental resilience. For instance, it is estimated that farmland restoration applied on 172 million hectares could generate 14.08 gigatons reduced CO2 by 2050. The restoration of the 250 million hectares of farmland earmarked, so far, for restoration under the LDN voluntary national targets could make a significant contribution to climate change mitigation and adaption in the short term, and environmental resilience long term. It is my hope that our Parties will seize this moment and momentum to make rapid progress on these targets. Documenting and communicating effectively the concrete and positive outcomes of land restoration on security, economy and health in their countries will be vital. The growing visibility of – and interest in – the Convention’s work is also evident through our engagement with the UN Security Council, One Planet Summit, G-20, and World Economic Forum. The financial commitments of over US$ 14 billion, referred to as the Great Green Wall Accelerator, was a good start to 2021. The Great Green Wall will deliver nature-based solutions to multiple challenges at epic scale to provide jobs and economic opportunities for millions and transform an entire region. We will build on this momentum, through future opportunities, including: the Food Summit that starts next week,  the event by the President of the UN General Assembly to mark the end of Decade on Desertification postponed from June 2020; the launch of the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration in June to support concrete work on the ground at country level; the Desertification and Drought Day on 17 June to raise awareness about the potential for restoration, and the Conferences of the Parties of the Rio Conventions on Biological Diversity and Climate Change. My optimism for change also comes from progress I have witnessed at other levels. Our working collaboration with the wider UN system, and with the other two Rio Conventions in particular, is stronger and closer. Our public outreach during the Desertification and Drought Day (over 70 million people) and to young people (over 2 million to date) is also growing. But the most significant, is probably a new appreciation globally that land health matters for security, human health and the economy. The 19th meeting of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention which starts in less than a month will meet under the most challenging circumstances ever. Let us make it an opportunity to further share, learn, inspire and help the communities we serve to recover faster, better and sooner. Now that the door is open, we ought to act together with a sense of hope, but also of urgency. Ibrahim Thiaw UNCCD Executive Secretary

Statement by UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw: Arabic | Chinese | French | Russian | Spanish  Joseph Biden Jr., President of the United States, issued an Executive Order yesterday outlining the bold steps his administration will take to tackle the climate crisis at home and throughout the world. I welcome this decision and the President’s offer to host a Leaders Climate Summit in April. President Biden’s Executive Order moves forward the goals he set on his first day in office. The actions laid out are expected, among other results, to revitalize the country’s energy sector, conserve natural resources and leverage them to drive the country toward a clean energy future and deliver justice for communities that have been subjected to environmental harm. These actions are not only bold. They reflect the policy priorities that people all over the world are demanding. People want responses on climate change to focus on the land and forests, according to the largest survey ever conducted of public opinion on climate change. The conservation of land and forests, a switch to renewable energies and adopting climate-friendly farming techniques are the top three calls to action identified through a global poll conducted by the United Nations Development Programme in partnership with Oxford University, and others. Over 1.2 million people in 50 countries that make up 56 percent of the global population responded to the poll. The public has witnessed the dangers of land use change across all countries. And it is not just in the loss of species or of productive land. It is in the increase in extraordinary and dangerous weather events such as hurricanes, droughts and floods. It is in recurrent food shortages and crop failures. It is from the society-wide impacts of a pandemic of the kind that is linked to land use change. And it is in these impacts worsening with every passing year. It is not a question of whether change is possible. It is whether the will to change exists. More than 70 percent of the natural ecosystems are significantly altered already according to a Special Report of the authoritative Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change. One in every five hectares is degraded beyond repair, according to country reports submitted to this Convention. At the same time, close to 800 million hectares of degrading land can be restored to health. About 250 million hectares of this is farmland. Reversing these processes will create green jobs and offer multiple benefits. It will revitalize farmlands where communities are falling behind. It is an opportunity to turn unusable land into clean energy farms. It will discourage the conversion of natural land, reduce emissions from the land and sequester significant amounts of carbon into the soil. The public is asking us to build back better for a resilient future through better decisions and smart plans. We know what needs to be done and where, and the framework for action exists. We must stop financing activities that encourage land users to convert natural ecosystems into other uses. Instead, finance must be directed to three concrete activities. First, better foresting activities. Second, fixing land that was converted and damaged. And third, farming practices that fix the land while increasing its output. This is a time like no other. We know what the public wants. I call on world leaders to heed the public’s call for bold policy actions on the land. For more information, contact: Wagaki Wischnewski, wwischnewski@unccd.int  

2021 must be the year to reconcile humanity with nature

The Climate Ambition Summit of this month marks the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. World leaders meeting online are being asked to deliver stronger, more ambitious commitments that will spark action to halt the unfolding climate crisis.

Co-Chairs, Council members,  Fellow colleagues Heads of the Conventions’ secretariats, Ladies and Gentlemen: First, allow me to express my gratitude to Dr Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, for his kind invitation. I wish him great success in his new role as CEO of the Global Environmental Facility. We are truly excited to work with you.  Dear friends.  Land and in particular land restoration is gaining a renewed momentum on the world stage.  Just a couple of weeks ago, G20 leaders launched the "Global Initiative on Reducing Land Degradation and Enhancing Conservation of Terrestrial Habitats” to prevent, halt, and reverse land degradation. Building on existing initiatives, leaders share the ambition to achieve a 50 percent reduction in degraded land by 2040. According to estimates from FAO, there are 2 billion ha of degraded land in the world.  In their communiqué, the G20 Ministers of Environment underscored that land restoration and the avoidance of habitat loss are often cost-effective solutions to addressing the biodiversity crisis and other key environmental challenges.  Thus, land restoration approach not only contributes to achieving SDG 15 - and its target 15.3 - but yields high social and economic returns.  The Ministers decided to house the Initiative Coordination Office at UNCCD.  This initiative is being launched as the world prepares to emerge from the COVID19 pandemic.  As the pandemic destroys hard-won development gains, smart investments in land restoration will have to be at the center of recovery programmes in most developing countries. Indeed, investing in land restoration unlocks multiple opportunities: combat climate change; water and biodiversity conservation, poverty reduction, food security, etc.  We expect demand for investment in land restoration will remain high and grow further. Because land is now recognized as a “glue” at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.   A bridge between different GEF focal areas.  Implementation for many critical GEF themes – that directly benefit the poorest people - happens on the land.   Land restoration benefits people and nature. A restoration economy will create millions of green jobs and enhance humanity’s resilience to future shocks and stresses. Revitalizing terrestrial ecosystems, such as farmlands, grasslands, forests and wetlands rebuilds their ability to store carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Done well, it can also protect habitat for biodiversity, build soil fertility and reduce water scarcity.  So, as we enter the replenishment of the GEF, we must find bold and creative ways to meet soaring demand and sustain momentum.  Parties to the UNCCD want to see their voluntary plans for land degradation neutrality delivered, with the aim to combat desertification.  Overcoming bottlenecks like land tenure and gender will be key.  Support from GEF to improve the enabling environment will be indispensable.   At the same time, Parties are increasingly looking for support to implement national drought plans. Financing for drought risk reduction and resilience needs imagination and a shift in thinking.  In the future, we must be better prepared rather than just being reactive to drought.  To my mind, GEF8 can also explore and test innovative solutions. Thanks to the Paris Agreement, investors are exploring options to decarbonize their portfolio and to invest in low-carbon technologies.  Nature-based solutions offer them low-tech, low-carbon, and green options. When investors meet producers along value chains, their business has the additional advantage of having a human face.   As GEF family, we ought to work hand in hand with investors on NBS and change their narrative. The time is certainly right to be bold and creative. And to use land and nature to build back better – or rather build forward towards a better future.  The upcoming GEF replenishment is an opportunity for the international community to show bold financial commitment to land restoration which is, as seen by the G.20 Ministers, cost-effective solutions to address biodiversity loss and other key environmental challenges yielding high social and economic returns.    The UNCCD stands ready to play its part in efforts leading to a full replenishment of our facility.  Thank you. 

Your Excellency Barbara CREECY, Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries of South Africa and Chairperson of AMCEN, Excellencies,  Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you for bringing us together today to address an urgent threat to humanity.  The COVID-19 is more than a health crisis. It is a socio-economic crisis and a growing threat to regional and global security. It is also a threat to our environment.  Today’s session is therefore timely and clearly warranted. More than ever, this COVID-19 crisis has reminded us of how much we depend on nature for our health, our wealth and our food systems.   To the surprise of many pundits, Africa turned out to be so far very resilient to the pandemic, thanks to incredible and courageous decisions throughout the continent.  However, despite heroic efforts by African leaders and African people, the continent’s economy is already hit very hard. While the socio-economic consequences have not been fully assessed yet, millions of people from across the continent are affected, reversing hard-won progress made in many fronts.  Furthermore, the pandemic will have serious environmental consequences. Indeed, when jobs are lost, when cities are pushing people back to rural areas, when families have no other source of revenue, land and nature are the only safe heaven there is. Nature is the GDP of the poor.   Madame Chair, The linkages between land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss have been clearly established by all our scientific bodies. Today, the spread of zoonotic diseases such as COVID is the starker example of this triple challenge and its devastating effects on humans and on our environment.  Fortunately, the contrary is also true: land and ecosystem restoration have a remarkably positive impact on the climate. Climate action, in turn, creates better conditions for a thriving land and ecosystems in general, creating a triple opportunity for sustainable growth and development, which is precisely what we need after COVID.  Madame Chair,  Health is our most basic human right and one of the most important indicators of sustainable development. We rely on healthy ecosystems and healthy land, to support healthy societies and communities. For many of us in Africa, land is the sole source of livelihoods and the only safety net there is.  As such, today I have a simple ask to all of you: bring land to the centre of your COVID recovery conversations and actions. Why? Because it will not only help address the climate and biodiversity crises but also have an impact on other pressing issues, such as food security, energy generation and distribution, job creation and health and help deliver Agendas 2030 and 2063.  The wetland rehabilitation in Mpumalanga South Africa  for example yielded tremendous benefits for people and nature alike:   Thanks to the efforts of all those involved, the rehabilitated wetland now provides services estimated at  419 US dollars per year to some 70 per cent of local households. 419 USD per year may seem small. Not in an area where half of households survive on an income of less than 690 US dollars per year.      Land restoration puts carbon back in the soil where it belongs. The land-use sector, through a combination of conservation, sustainable management, and restoration, has great potential to reduce emissions and sequester carbon.  Land represents the largest sink for carbon -even larger than oceans. Land has the additional advantage that there are 500 million farming families that can help in the global effort to draw carbon from the atmosphere and put it back in our soils and vegetation.  Take for example the Kenya agricultural Carbon project.  About 40,000 smallholders in western Kenya adopted a variety of sustainable agriculture practices including soil conservation and forestry. In 2014, the project achieved a reduction close to 25’000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. More importantly, farmers’ yields increased by up to 15 to 20 per cent. The same is true for the Farmer managed natural regeneration in Niger – a low-cost land restoration technique used to combat poverty and hunger amongst poor subsistence farmers. The tree cover increased 20 times offering a larger carbon sink. The real farm income doubled for 900,000 farms.  Soil fertility improved to boost grain yields by 10 per cent. As a consequence, biodiversity also significantly improved. Allow me to repeat: the COVID -19 crisis has become a major economic and social crisis. Inflation and food prices are rising. Land restoration brings degraded land back to life and helps us address the expanding food gap we are facing. Very importantly, it does it at a lower cost than “business as usual”.  For example, it can cost less than 100 USD to rehabilitate one hectare of farmland using traditional agro-forestry, water conservation, and livestock management practices.  Land and nature in general will no doubt play a central role in the reconstruction of African economies. Agriculture, tourism, livestock, timber and non-timber products are essential elements of the economy.  Land restoration is not divisive. It can unite us. Rich and poor. North and South. Governments and Civil Society. Public and Private Sector. Land restoration benefits us all. We can indeed turn the triple challenge that I described into a triple opportunity - by reinforcing positive practices at each stage. This will foster closer collaboration and set the stage for a new political and investment paradigm.  As part of its preparations for a post-COVID recovery, Africa may wish to consider including in its negotiations with its creditors the notion of debt swap for land restoration and nature conservation. Most countries will not be able to reconcile the payment of their debt with a large effort to rebuild their economies. In order to re-invest in the rural economy in support of the poorest of the poor, some countries may need a softer approach to the debt burden, short of debt forgiveness.  Madam chair,  Today’s meeting is important. It is a call to action – at scale, a call for unity, a call for solidarity.  UNCCD stands with you.   Thank you.