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Madam President, Dear Bureau members, It is, as ever, a pleasure to speak to you and work with you, regardless of the distance the pandemic has forced upon us. I hope that everyone is holding up during what has been a long and wearying period for us all. I commend your continued commitment to our Convention. Your dedication remains essential, as UNCCD is growing ever more and as land is part of the solution in these times of great turmoil. If we fulfill our mandate to protect, manage, and restore the land, the benefits will be immense towards building a resilient and inclusive post-pandemic world. We will accelerate recovery from the COVID-19 economic crisis. Reduce the risk of future pandemics. Slow climate change and protect biodiversity. Free millions of people from poverty and hunger. Help to create a world of peace, prosperity, and equity. Madam President, More than ever before, we need solidarity, hope but also tough political choices and innovative policy action to see this crisis through together.  Allow me to give a brief update of our activities so far before addressing today’s agenda. Regarding the Secretariat and Global Mechanism, I am pleased to report that our staff and families are doing well overall. In unison with the rest of the UN in Bonn, I have continued to take all precautionary measures that are intended to protect the safety, health, and well-being of UNCCD staff with regard to COVID19. This has been a top priority for me and the management team. I have been inspired by how our work has continued uninterrupted, enabling the Convention to continue to play an active global role. I am thankful to my staff for their enduring dedication. Our work in 2020 and 2021 is not, in any form, on hold.  We now have a strong Management Team which I am very proud of, with more women into leadership positions. I am proud that we achieved gender parity in just one year, with 54% women as senior leaders. Overall, women now represent 57% of the UNCCD labor force. Together with the management team, we have created a consensus around simplification, decentralization, and flexibility to be more nimble, efficient, and effective by adopting for the first time in the Secretariat’s history a Delegation of Authority policy. At global level, never has the need for land restoration been more crucial. In the midst of the pandemic, a window of hope and opportunity has opened for our Parties: a chance to recover better. The UNCCD Secretariat has focused its attention on key strategic partnerships. At our last Bureau meeting, I informed you about the G20 Global Initiative on Land. We are in advanced discussions with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the funding agreement and we will soon set up the Initiative Coordination Office. Italy which holds the G20 Presidency this year, is also very much interested in Sustainable Land Management. I would like to use this opportunity to thank G20 countries who are also members of the Bureau for their instrumental support. On January 11, at the One Planet Summit organized in Paris, the Africa’s Great Green Wall received a major boost from donors and partners. For the first time ever, there was a clear recognition that land restoration can have multiple positive impacts. To the ecology, to society, to the economy. Close to USD 17 billion have now been pledged. The UNCCD has been requested to provide technical support to provide enabling conditions for an accelerated implementation on the ground. Madam President, Covid-19 has not postponed the need for Parties to accelerate work towards fulfilling commitments they have already made. We understand the Indian Government is completing the process for the implementation of Prime Minister Modi’s vision shared at COP14 in New Delhi, to restore 26M ha of land by 2030. Furthermore, you may have noted the recent announcement by Prince Mohamed Ben Salman of Saudi Arabia about a national and a regional initiative to restore 240 M ha of degraded land across the Kingdom and the Middle East region. We are in contact with Saudi Arabia to better understand their plans and provide as much support as we can. The implementation of the Land Degradation Neutrality is ongoing in 104 out of the 127 countries that submitted their national commitments.  The Global Mechanism is developing a new business model to cope with the growing and complex demands from Parties. Madam President, Land restoration is clearly gaining momentum. Itis low-tech and a cheap solution to climate from the perspective of carbon sequestration. We will need to continue to make the case, and convince major players, notably from the private sector for a more sustainable production. Of particular importance are the producers of food, feed, and fiber. We also need to see major improvements on the consumption side. One imminent opportunity we have is the High-Level Dialogue at the UN General Assembly on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought which is scheduled to take place on 20 May. The President of the UN General Assembly is fully committed to working with all Members States, at the highest level, in order to make this event a success, with a lasting legacy. We need your full support to make this Dialogue a successful one. On 17 June, the world will celebrate the Desertification and Drought Day, with Costa Rica as the global host. The theme focuses on the contribution of Land Restoration to the Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery. I am very pleased with the positive response we have received so far both from the public and the private sectors. At our next Bureau meeting, I intend to inform you about great progress being made in improving the reporting tools, including through the establishment of a geo-spatial platform. There are also important development shaping up in other sectors, such as the Science Policy Interface as well as Capacity Building and Innovation. Our staff have been very busy and creative, despite the lockdown. But in the interest of time, I will have to come back to these on another occasion. Madame President, Covid-19 has revealed the world’s vulnerabilities, many of which intersect with the land crisis. At the same time, it has highlighted the importance of expertise and science, cooperation, information and solidarity. And it has also, in many cases, demonstrated that land is part of the solution and can help steer the recovery towards a safer, more sustainable, and inclusive path. We stand ready to continue supporting Parties, now and beyond COVID-19. This brings me to today’s agenda. We will discuss the date and place of COP15, a key decision for the Convention. You will also hear a report by the Chair of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC). I would like to take this opportunity to warmly welcome Mr. Andrew Bishop. Mr. Bishop is not new to the UNCCD process as he served as Guyana’s national focal point in the past. Finally, you will hear a report by the Chair of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST). Madame President, Parties had requested us to organize COP15 in Bonn, or another venue, in autumn of this year. Considering the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP15 in 2021 may no longer possible. The pandemic has disrupted our plans. You have in front of view, under agenda item II, a note on the status of preparations for COP15 to inform your decision on the best course of action for a successful COP, moving forward. The note includes options for rescheduling COP15. Rescheduling will ensure all Parties can focus on the issues to be discussed at this key conference and allow more time for the necessary preparations to take place, taking into account safety and security. We will continue to work with all of you and hope to be able to get your views and guidance on: The postponement of COP15 to 2022 The organization of an online process for Parties to decide on an interim budget for 2022 Your decision today will help us engage further our host country with regard the rescheduling of COP15 in 2022. This, of course, does not exclude the possibility of a third party expressing interest to preside or host COP15, regardless of your decision on the date of the COP. We know that many countries are already in the process of developing their Post-Pandemic recovery plans. It would be strategic for our Conference of the Parties to be held on time, to actively contribute to policy making and guide pro-land investments and policies. The Second Edition of the Global Land Outlook is designed to serve as a good reference in that respect. On CRIC19, while I will leave the details to our able Chair, let me just say how pleased I was with the outcomes. The meeting confirmed that the work we do under this Convention is essential to protecting, managing, and restoring healthy land. And that we can only fulfill the land’s full potential if we do it together. Thanks again to all of you, a total of 138 Parties, 9 UN agencies, 15 Intergovernmental Organizations, and 63 civil society organizations took part in the debates, over a course of five days. Regarding the report by the CST Chair, there are a lot of important activities and updates that the Chair will be presenting. It is always heartening to see collaboration, both internal and external. And this struck me as a key positive note of the report. As I said earlier, we must all seek to reach beyond the confines of our Convention to engage every ministry, business, investor, UN agency and process that impacts on the land. So, the CST coordination with the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is most welcome and much appreciated. Madame President, The Secretariat is very much looking forward to a successful and productive meeting. Thank you.

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.

The nineteenth session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 19) to the UNCCD will be conducted online from Monday, 15 March to Friday, 19 March 2021. The five daily online meetings will last for two hours from 12:30 – 2:30 pm Central European Time (11:30-1:30pm GMT/UTC). The meetings will be conducted in the six UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

This year's Desertification and Drought Day theme has been announced. "Land restoration can contribute greatly to post-COVID19 economic recovery. Investing in land restoration creates jobs and generates economic benefits, and could provide livelihoods at a time when hundreds of millions of jobs are being lost," says UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw. Check our the event page and see how you can support the campaign. Let's build back better with healthy land! Read more: Role of land in COVID19 response 17 June: Desertification and Drought Day

2021 must be the year to reconcile humanity with nature

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.