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‘Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity' is the theme of UNCCD COP15 to be held from 9-20 May 2022 in Abidjan Abidjan/Bonn, 9 February 2022 – Côte d’Ivoire has unveiled the logo and announced the theme of a major United Nations conference on the future of land management that the country is hosting from 9 to 20 May 2022 in Abidjan. Releasing the brand for the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP15) 90 days to the start of the in-person event, Mr. Abou Bamba, head of the COP15 Organizing Committee said the theme, ‘Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity', is a call to action to ensure land, the lifeline on this planet, continues to benefit present and future generations. The statements delivered by the speakers at the launch event in Abidjan reflect the host country’s commitment to host a COP with tangible impact, with interactions expected at a Heads of State level, concrete initiatives agreed for women and youth and, for the country, the Abidjan Legacy Programme that will drive job creation and the sustainable development of the economic, social and environment sectors. Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, welcomed the announcement, and said stakes for the global event in Abidjan couldn’t be higher. "Caring for land is more than a conservation issue, it’s an existential one. Ensuring the land stays healthy, productive and available sustains life." — UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw “Caring for land is more than a conservation issue, it’s an existential one. Ensuring the land stays healthy, productive and available sustains life. Recent droughts signal a precarious future world. The food and water shortages, along with the wildfires caused by severe drought we have seen since 2015, have occurred in places or on a scale never witnessed before,” Thiaw said. “COP15 is a pivotal moment to rally and unite the world around the vision of a land-degradation neutral world. In this vision, natural land is preserved, degrading land is recovered and put to sustainable use, and ecosystems and biodiversity are made resilient to the coming effects of climate change. The window for reversing climate-related and other human-induced threats is closing rapidly,” Thiaw cautioned. About 70 percent of all ice-free land has been altered globally. Two billion hectares of land are degraded, according to World Resources Institute. The international community has pledged to restore one billion hectares of degraded land by 2030, according to the Global Potential for Land Restoration: Scenarios for the Global Land Outlook 2, with half of the global commitments made by Parties to the Convention. COP15 is expected to agree on actions to increase investment for land restoration and tackle the growing impacts of drought. UNCCD conferences of the parties are held every two years. COP14 was held in New Delhi, India, in September 2019. COP15 was re-scheduled from late 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Convention is the global voice for land helping to rally commitments for sustainable land and water management worldwide for a resilient future, with healthy land as a solid foundation for all life. It is ratified by 197 countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, which did so in 1997. Read more: UNCCD COP15 Land Degradation Neutrality Role of land in COVID response
Since its inception, the UNCCD has held a firm mandate on the involvement of women in policy planning and decision-making at the local, national, and regional levels. The Convention stresses the importance of ensuring the full participation of both men and women at all levels in programs to combat desertification and to mitigate the effects of drought.
Women and climate is the focus of a new charitable non-fungible token (NFT) art drop, launched 21 January on the margins of the World Economic Forum’s digital edition of Davos. It will land on the pioneering marketplace SuperRare, featuring digital artwork inspired by the interlinked challenges of gender equality and climate justice. This carbon-net negative event is a collaboration between the climate tech non-profit Code Green co-founded by UNCCD Land Ambassador Inna Modja and the World of Women NFT collection that unites female artists to celebrate women’s diversity and power. Inna says she was inspired to create this auction by her experience traveling along the Great Green Wall — an African-led initiative growing an 8000-km green corridor across the continent to improve the lives of millions of women on the frontline of climate change. "Being from Mali, I have seen with my own eyes that women and girls disproportionately bear the brunt of the global climate emergency. They are the main stewards of natural resources like land, making up 80 per cent of the agricultural workforce. Through absolutely no fault of their own, climate change is destroying their livelihoods and sparking widespread food insecurity, mass migration and conflict. The Great Green Wall is a powerful solution that can help empower women to take charge of their own destinies." — Inna Modja Inna contributed some of her own artwork to the Women and Climate charitable NFT drop that will channel 70 per cent of all proceeds to women-led land restoration solutions along the Great Green Wall. Image: Twin Mamas by Inna Modja Read more: Great Green Wall initiative Land and gender UNCCD Land Ambassadors NFT community supports climate action, sustainably
The workshop “Development of Project Proposal to Combat Desertification in the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) region” took place on 14-16 December 2021, organized by the Republic of Turkey, the General Directorate of Combating Desertification and Erosion, and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).
On Friday 17 December 2021, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution on the implementation of UNCCD, recognizing that combating desertification, land degradation and drought are important for sustainable, inclusive and climate-resilient recovery from the COVID-19 crisis
The online meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IWG) on drought on 13-15 December 2021 brought together 30 regional representatives, scientists, international organizations and members of civil society, to review new policy and institutional measures that can help address drought effectively under the Convention. The novel findings and recommendations are the result of the two years of work since the IWG was established by Parties at UNCCD COP14 in New Delhi, India in 2019. The final recommendations of the IWG will be presented to Parties at UNCCD COP 15 which will take place in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire in May 2022. The holistic approach to drought proposed by the IWG are expected to support early action on drought to help the most vulnerable communities and ecosystems. Read more: Land and Drought The Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought
