Other meetings & events

Catalysing SDG Implementation through a Soil and Land Review 22-24 May 2017 This year, the Global Soil Week 2017 will support the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by looking at the subset of SDGs that are under review by the High-level Political Forum 2017 (HLPF). The Week will also serve as a bridge to empower different actors to share their priorities for the SDG implementation. For more information, visit: https://globalsoilweek.org/ (external link) UNCCD is a co-host of the Global Soil Week. (Photo credit: IASS / Piero Chiusi)

Country experiences on setting LDN targets with climate benefits  Date/Time: 16 May 2017, 13:00-15:00  Place: Bonn Marriott World Conference Hotel Lounge (17th Floor), Germany Why land matters for climate? A “lunch and learn“ seminar, scheduled on 16 May 2017, will answer the question. The seminar will take place at Bonn Marriott World Conference Hotel Lounge in Germany, organized by the Government of the Republic of Korea and the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).   Sustainable management and rehabilitation of land is not only critical to boost resilience to climate change but to reduce the emissions gap and staying within the 2°C limit. By rehabilitating and restoring 12 million hectares of degraded land annually until 2030, we can achieve land degradation neutrality and potentially close the remaining emissions gap by up to 25 percent. At the same time, improved land use and management, such as low-emissions agriculture, agroforestry and ecosystem conservation and restoration provide a real resilience booster.  Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) is a simple yet transformative new concept, and the corresponding SDG target 15.3 on achieving a land degradation-neutral world by 2030 constitutes a prime vehicle to galvanize action for a paradigm shift towards low-carbon and climate resilient development. LDN bridges the climate and development agendas. As of today, 105 parties to the UNCCD have committed to translating the SDG target 15.3 into country specific action by setting voluntary national LDN targets. The seminar will showcase the early results and share experiences of the LDN target setting process in champion countries. It will also explain how LDN is providing a transformative framework for a low carbon and climate resilient development. The Changwon Initiative launched at UNCCD COP 10 in Changwon, Republic of Korea in 2011 has played an essential role in defining and testing LDN. The Initiative aims to continue taking the lead in supporting and advocating LDN implementation. The event will share experiences and discuss on how best the Changwon Initiative can be applied for effective collaboration among partners, including governments, communities, donors, NGOs and practitioners in achieving national LDN targets with maximized benefits for climate action. See programme Registration Lunch will be served. Please register via email to koreabonn@mofa.go.kr by 11 May 2017. The number of seats is limited.   

Date: Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 6.00 pm – approx. 8.00 pm Venue: Festsaal, Main Building of the University of Bonn A get-together reception follows. The lecture will be given by: Dr. Richard A. Byron-Cox, Ph.D. International Law UNCCD Action Program Alignment and Capacity Building Officer ____________________________________________________________ Opening remarks: Prof. Dr. Michael Hoch, Rector University of Bonn _________________________________________________________________________________ Historically, land was important to the state as it inter alia determined size of territory, geopolitical influence, and came with resources ranging from gold and silver to the free labor of inhabitants of conquered territory. Today, land maintains its importance to the state for some of the aforementioned reasons, but there are additional very important factors including its social, environmental and agricultural values. Put another way, land’s bio-productive value is also crucial to the state’s future well-being.  This recognition of land’s bio-productive value in the context of future development is highlighted among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in the autumn of 2015. No. 15 of these goals has among its targets to “… strive to achieve a land-degradation neutral world.” With this target, land degradation neutrality (LDN) became “en vogue” language in the sustainable land management discourse. And quite a few in the scientific community and policy-making bodies of a government, concerned with the question of land in one way or the other, have now turned their attention to this issue. But what really is LDN? And even if we found a universally accepted definition, can LDN be achieved? If so, what must practically be done to achieve this? What is/are the approach(es) to be used? And how can one say that LDN is a path the world must follow? Dr. Byron-Cox will discuss those questions in his lecture. Dr. Byron-Cox is a lawyer specialized in international law, diplomat and writer who has been working directly on the issues of sustainable land management and the environment over the last two decades. He played a key role in designing and coordinating the implementation of the first project aimed at putting the LDN concept into practice. This project ran under the auspices of the UNCCD Secretariat, involved some 14 countries from around the world and was a tremendous success. Dr. Byron-Cox is also an experienced lecturer having been a special guest and/or distinguished lecturer at universities around the world: from Oxford and Yonsei Universities to the Universities of Cologne and Trinidad and Tobago. He has masterminded the UNCCD Capacity Building Marketplace (www.unccd.int/marketplace), and writes on subjects ranging from international law to global environmental governance. In his lectures, Dr. ByronCox aims at giving his audience serious “food for thought” on the questions he raises. Consequently, this lecture is an exercise that begins with his presentation but goes beyond it, inviting the thoughts and views of the attendees. Registration: Please register via email to s.gansen@uni-bonn.de or online form on http://www3.unibonn.de/forschung/euroconsult/veranstaltungskalender. The event is free of charge but the registration is binding. Please register by April 20, 2017. The number of seats are limited.

A seven-part lecture series on interdependence of drought, food security, conflict and migration, organized by UNCCD in cooperation with scientific and development partners, will take place in Bonn between 6 April and 13 July 2017. The series will focus on the role that institutional cooperation and continued dialog between stakeholders can play in anticipating, preventing and mitigating the effects of drought on vulnerable rural populations. The event will offer a platform for the representatives of scientific institutions, development agencies, governments, NGOs and the civil society to exchange ideas and present recommendations on how to improve coordination between partners and ensure concerted global effort to minimize the effects of drought and associated risks. Participants will discuss topics such as creating greater resilience to drought by using pro-active risk-based approaches, strengthening vulnerable communities against extreme weather events through social protection programs, developing drought-resilient crops to achieve greater agricultural outputs without increasing environmental impacts, addressing climate challenges through flexible water governance and adapting development work to the context of pastoral societies. The event is organized in the margins of the “One World – No Hunger” Initiative by the UNCCD, the German Development Institute (DIE), the University of Bonn, German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), the Center of Development Research (ZEF), Deutsche Welle (DW), the Reconstruction Credit Institute (KfW) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). For more detailed information, please visit the following page.

Deutsche Welle (DW), Gremiensaal, Kurt-Schumacher-Straße 3, Bonn Thursday 6 April 2017, 18:00-20:00h, followed by a reception Droughts and other climate-related weather events have a significant negative impact on food security, conflict and migration. Many regions in sub-Saharan Africa, including some of the poorest countries in the world, are particularly susceptible to droughts and need help to overcome them. Unfortunately, many countries and international community continue to regard droughts as unpredictable "crises" and often react with poorly coordinated emergency aid measures only after the damage was done.   The event will discuss the links between drought, food insecurity, conflict and migration. Droughts bring negative impacts in many ways, from poverty to food security, resource protection and energy supply. Conflicts around scarce water and support are pre-programmed. With increasing globalization, more and more people are indirectly affected, especially by the spread of local conflicts and unplanned mass migration. The event illuminates how droughts are linked, and the limits of sectoral policy approaches.   In addition, the need for proactive approaches to mitigate of the effects of droughts will be addressed. The complexity of the subject calls for a close dialogue between scientists and developmental practitioners to challenge conventional knowledge, to evaluate old solutions and to find new solutions.   PROGRAMME   Welcome: Dr. Stefan Schmitz, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Keynote: Prof. Robert McLeman, PhD, Professor of Drought Research, Wilfrid Laurier University Panel discussion: · Dr. Stefan Schmitz, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) · Prof. Robert McLeman PhD, Professor of Drought Research, Wilfrid Laurier University · Dr. Pradeep Monga, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNCCD · Mr. Mathias Mogge, Program Director, Welthungerhilfe Moderator: Mr.  Michael Brüntrup, German Institute for Development Policy (DIE) The event takes place in English. Please register with Ms.  Ina Klemke (socioeconomic@die-gdi.de) for participation in the event.