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On the occasion of the Virtual meeting of the COP 14 Bureau Mr. President, Dear Bureau members, Thank you for joining this virtual meeting. I sincerely appreciate your engagement with the UNCCD, particularly during these extraordinary times as the world faces the COVID–19 pandemic. As COP bureau members, you are UNCCD’s most important voices. As the health of humanity depends on the health of the planet, we need your continued guidance and leadership for an effective response and a sustainable and inclusive recovery anchored on land-based solutions. I would like to recognize and thank our COP presidency, for its unfailing support. I would also like to seize the opportunity to congratulate Costa Rica and Carlos Manuel for his selection as the next CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It makes us proud and we look forward to continuing working closely with him in his new capacity. Mr. President, As we are meeting today, the diverse and severe impacts of the COVID–19 pandemic continue to unfold and to cause suffering. The COVID–19 has deepened pre-existing inequalities, exposed vulnerabilities in social and economic systems which have, in turn, amplified the impacts of the pandemic. And as ever, the poorest and most vulnerable suffer most. This crisis is placing development gains at risk and throwing us even more off track in our efforts to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality and the Sustainable Development Goals. Experts have acknowledged that rebuilding to pre-crisis levels of employment and output may take years.     At the same time, governments, organizations, communities, and people are stepping up in extraordinary ways. Helping address the COVID–19 crisis is also a priority of our Convention. We are committed to playing our part. The role of the COP bureau is, therefore, critical in steering us in the right direction and keeping us moving towards the global common good. I would like to briefly address three key issues which will be discussed in more depth during our discussion. First, the importance of land-based solutions for healthy people as our motto “healthy land; healthy people” is truer today than ever. Second, the concrete solutions we need to harness to help address today’s crisis, including actions taken by UNCCD. In that regard, I am very pleased that eenvironment and land degradation are central to the Saudi G20 Presidency and I look forward to Abdu Al Sharif’s presentation. Third, the importance of integrating land- and nature-based solutions as a fundamental part of our response to the pandemic through a Social Contract for Nature. Mr. President, First, allow me to underscore once more that land is the foundation for all life on Earth. This was echoed by all, throughout our very successful celebrations of Desertification and Drought Day last week. I am proud to inform you that our total outreach neared 70 million people. Thank you all for your contributions and for amplifying our voice. How land is used and managed influences nature, food, water, energy, climate, and even our health. Land degradation elevates human health and safety risks, including the emergence of novel infectious diseases. Land – and all the services ecosystems it provides, is therefore key to a more prosperous and resilient future. By understanding the true value and potential of land for people and the planet, we can safeguard and secure a more prosperous and resilient world where the needs of people and nature are in balance. Mr. President, This brings us to my second point. The pandemic has derailed many plans and programmes. It has shifted our focus away from long-term planning to immediate needs. It has also brought to the fore the importance of implementing solutions at sufficient scale. On that basis, UNCCD undertook an assessment of its work programme with a view to reflect the realities of the COVID–19 crisis. The objective was threefold: First, to better adapt our work to the changing external environment. Second, to better address the needs and priorities of our Parties and see in the current context, how to best deliver on decisions taken at COP14. And third, to ensure that we continued to have the best conditions to do our job under challenging circumstances. During this exceptional time, we have remained committed to delivering our mandate, providing high quality support to you and to all our Parties. Allow me to here to thank all of you and our Parties for your support in that process which has proven extremely useful. This is a testimony of your commitment and leadership. Mr. President, Faced with an increasingly uncertain future, as a global community, it is crucial that we take steps to reduce the risk of future pandemics and find ways to recover the lost resilience in our global systems. Protecting and restoring natural ecosystems is crucial for avoiding the well-understood risks of the emergence of novel infectious diseases. In addition, avoiding future degradation and reversing harm from the past can accelerate progress on all 17 SDGs in the face of both the COVID–19 pandemic and climate change. Poverty – SDG 1 –  is now projected to increase for the first time since 1990 (UNU-WIDER, 2020). It is of utmost important that we bring the world’s attention to the potential of land to address today’s crises by creating jobs, protecting vulnerable communities and steering the economic recovery towards a more sustainable and inclusive path. With your support, we can bring to light the concrete solutions we need to harness and take to scale. This brings me to my third and last point. As I have said earlier, COVID–19 has derailed many plans. But at the same time, the pandemic has underscored the need to think long term, build resilience and limit the impact of future crises. I firmly believe that with the COVID–19 crisis also comes an opportunity. With the world’s fragilities and inequalities so painfully exposed, we ought to build back better. We have a duty to move away from the business-as-usual mindset, to go further and take active steps to align recovery with sustainable development. Recognizing that the future of human society, economic prosperity and nature are inter-dependent, UNCCD Parties can help shape a new Social Contract for Nature. One that would allow us to build a fairer, greener and more resilient future that leaves no one behind.   The choices we make as we emerge from the COVID–19 pandemic and as the economies open again will lock in our development pathway for decades to come. To be successful, a Social Contract for Nature must enjoy the consent and engagement of the majority and offer economic choice. With the pandemic, it has become critical that we better align economic value with social value. Getting the economic and social recovery process right for the long term are part and parcel of a successful Social Contract for Nature. And a compact with future generations. This is more important than ever as big financial decisions about the future are being made at all levels. I am pleased to report that our sister Conventions – UNFCCC and CBD, have agreed to join forces on a Social Contract for Nature. It is being elaborated as an invitation to assume greater collective responsibility and action to improve human health, protect and restore nature, and mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change while providing for overall human wellbeing. It is being built around three key principles: rights, rewards and responsibilities of land management. I encourage you all to support this call for action. Mr. President, Dear Bureau members, As our Parties are listening and the whole world is watching, we need to continue advocating environmental action to drive transformative change for people and the planet. I call on you to help us seize this moment of crisis to jointly shape our future for the better. I call for a new Social Contract for Nature. Thank you again for joining us today, and I look forward to a productive meeting. Thank you. Download PDF

Dear friends, We are all living through a difficult period at the moment, so thank you for taking the time to engage in this important event. Fifty years ago today, Americans mobilized the world to demand a new contract with nature. Earth Day was born. The very name of this day, of our planet, tells us a lot about who we are as a species. We are creatures of the earth, the soil, the land. Without healthy and productive land, we could not live. Can you even imagine a planet on which nothing grew? No crops. No grass. No trees. It is unthinkable. And yet we, the people of the earth, do not treat the land with the respect it deserves. As humanity grows larger and wealthier, agriculture, urban spaces and infrastructure are eating into the land. Almost three quarters of all land has been transformed from its natural state, and the pace of conversion is accelerating. Two billion hectares of once productive land, an area larger than South America, has been degraded, adversely affecting billions of people. The health and productivity of existing arable land is declining, accelerated by climate change. This has caused many problems and is storing up more for the future. An inability to feed growing populations. Falling biodiversity and shrinking ecosystems, hitting the planet’s ability to provide basic services. Accelerating climate change. Our unhealthy relationship with the land, with nature, is also in part responsible for the COVID-19 crisis.   COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a virus that spilled over from a wild animal to humans. It has wreaked havoc on lives, livelihoods, economies and communities. It signals that our social contract with nature is a global priority now, more than ever before. It tells us that land health, ecosystem health and human health are tied together. Ladies and Gentlemen, Since Earth Day was created, we have put in place many systems and processes to try and arrest the decline of land.   We have the Rio Conventions on biodiversity, desertification and climate change, and its Paris Agreement. We have the Global Goals. These are all milestones to be proud of. If we are being honest, though, we have to say that the world has yet to deliver on the promises made under these agreements. We need to mobilize the world to forge a stronger, healthier and more productive life in harmony with nature for years to come. Today, as part of these efforts, we are going to specifically look at agriculture and climate change. In this regard, let me offer three insights. Insight one   Agriculture is hugely vulnerable to climate change, but it is also a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, when fully accounted for, emissions from agriculture are much higher than generally reported. Agricultural emissions are not 23 percent, but 37 percent, of all emissions when you add the pre- and post-production costs. Costs such as refrigeration, food transportation or fertilizer production. Insight two Globalization means that land degradation today is driven, primarily, by poor land uses to provide for distant, not local, consumers; for example, urban or foreign consumers.   This removes the oversight consumers had over their local ecosystems, ensuring they functioned well. This disconnect is aiding agricultural emissions. Insight three Land-based mitigation actions are effective now, not later because this potential falls with every year of delayed action. What’s more, harnessing that potential now brings additional benefits that go beyond mitigation. Enhancing land anywhere enhances health and life everywhere. Ladies and Gentlemen,   Fundamentally, the challenge we face with agriculture is one of land management. We need to produce more food for growing populations while reducing emissions. We need to do so without further expanding and degrading land. To do so, we need to sustainably manage the land. With this in mind, please allow me to lay out four pathways to a meaningful social contract with nature in the context of agriculture, land-use and climate change. The first pathway is treating land as a limiting factor in our development and land-use planning processes.   Much of human development has been built on the idea that the planet is limitless. A field stops producing? Slash and burn the forest to create a new one. Cities getting overcrowded? Expand out into the countryside. Roads are too busy? Widen existing roads or build new ones. We can’t keep doing this. If natural land continues to be converted for agriculture to feed a projected global population of 10 billion, only 10 per cent of natural land will be left by 2050.   Continuing with business as usual will increase land emissions while stripping the land’s capacity to sequester carbon. All development must be based on the idea that land is a limiting factor. This brings us to the second pathway, which is, improving the use of existing land As demand for agricultural land grows, tradeoffs among competing objectives in land grow too. But we must not burn our way to prosperity and damage the land systems we live off.     Instead, let us forge global partnerships that promise a more prosperous future by ensuring we plan and use our land well; doing the right things in the right place at the right scales. For example, planning urban spaces so that they don’t encroach on agricultural land. And by ensuring we only use the land we have already converted. We need to incentivize agricultural techniques that keep land heathy or recover lost productivity – such as conservation agriculture and agroforestry. Sustainable land management techniques keep land productive, produce more with less, and slow land conversion. The third pathway is recovering what has been lost.      We are gearing up for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. I have more good news. The land-degradation neutrality targets nations are setting under the convention I head foresee great restoration plans. The restoration of land is central to healthy agriculture, a cooler planet, restoring biodiversity and re-igniting economic growth at a time of great economic turmoil. Let me explain with an example. The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Initiative involves 11 African countries. It’s an 8,000-kilometer long ecosystem innovation along the southern border of the Sahara Desert: from Dakar, Senegal, on Africa’s west coast; to Djibouti by the Red Sea, on the east. This programme is sequestering carbon in the soil – up to 250 million tonnes of carbon – through new vegetation cover and increased organic matter. But it’s doing a whole lot more. It’s improving access to water, food and energy for communities that typically lived off wild plants, trees and animals. Partnerships with ethical supply chains from Europe and the United States are helping poor households to produce, sustainably, goods for local and global consumption. Local governments are creating jobs for the young people that terrorists preyed on. And rural women are owning land.   Inspired by this model, parties to our convention are replicating it widely, in what they often refer to as achieving land degradation neutrality. The fourth pathway is encouraging more responsible consumption and production What we buy, where we buy it and how we use it has a massive impact on the land. One-third of all food produced each year is lost or wasted. This is a footprint of 1.4 billion hectares, close to 30 per cent of the world’s agricultural land area. But it isn’t just food. Food with a large environmental footprint and throwaway fashion are also damaging the land. Changing our diets and shopping behaviours can free up land and lower carbon emissions. Dietary change alone can free up between 80 and 240 million hectares of land. We must change attitudes to consumption and production – as the UNCCD is doing with this year’s Desertification and Drought Day in June, by encouraging people to look at sustainable use of food, feed and fibre. But personal choices will only matter where they are backed by full transparency in the value chain, allowing consumers to make the right choices. Business must step up too. Ladies and gentlemen, Time is running on, so let me conclude with a challenge to young people, who are the torchbearers of sustainable development.   Children, young people and millennials make up 77 percent of the global population. You are the future. But even if this future is one of cities and technology, you are still people of the earth. Without land, you will have nothing. What personal choices will you make for the recovery effort from COVID-19 and for a healthier planet? I urge you, and everyone else, to recommit to what Earth Day is all about and mobilize the world to create a healthier future for all. Thank you! Download the speech

50 years ago people mobilized the world to demand a new social contract with nature. Earth Day was born. Today, our social contract is put in jeopardy. The current COVID-19 crisis is showing how much we depend on each other as well as on other species and nature for our health, food systems and livelihoods. We obtain more than 99.7% of our food from land. For many people and communities in the world, land is the source of livelihoods and the only safety net in the time of crisis. We need to protect nature and continually promote healthy landscapes. And we also need to build back stronger, and smarter, in ways that are healthy, safe, green, just and more resilient. Let us use our strength to fight COVID-19. Let us recommit to what Earth Day is all about. Let us rise again for a new social contract with nature! Happy Earth Day everyone. Read the keynote statement of Ibrahim Thiaw on agricultural and climate change at the Earth Day's 50th anniversary online event.

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished vice-chairs, Dear colleagues and friends, As we gather here today, the world is in crisis. Over the past weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved into a complex emergency, with significant human, health and socio- economic dimensions, at global level. The gravity and scale of the situation calls for an unprecedented level of international action and solidarity. Governments, organizations, communities, and people are stepping up in extraordinary ways. If we don't take care of the pandemic now, we are going to see fallout and secondary effects from this that will have ramifications for a long time, above and beyond the lives that will have been lost. Helping address the COVID-19 crisis is also a priority of our Convention. We all have a role to play. Like all organizations, our Convention faces a fundamental test of our collective strength and will. The role of the CRIC is perhaps today more than ever critical in steering us in the right direction and keeping us moving towards the global common good. Mr. Chairman, I would like to express my deep appreciation for the long-standing support that the CRIC has offered to this Convention. First, allow me to underscore the excellent work you have accomplished at COP 14. Your deliberations and take-aways have guided the work of UNCCD over the past months. It has helped us produce better results for the people we serve. There is now a clear understanding that land restoration is the most cost-effective solution to address the global crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. This was outlined at the Climate Action Summit and at the UNFCCC COP 25. We have continued to boost ambition and accelerate actions for the sustainable use of our land resources, to deliver a land degradation neutral world. We have also been able to make a business case for land restoration through sustainable value chains, calling both on Parties and the private sector to invest and to scale up the impact of individual and collective action. We have invested in the blossoming of a global movement of land restoration, anchored in nature-based solutions. All this, with a renewed commitment to placing people, especially young people and women, at the centre of our efforts. Mr. Chairman, This brings us to my second point, your work schedule. Building on our remarkable achievements, the Secretariat will brief you on the work programme of the CRIC for this biennium. This is a significant reporting round. First, we will take stock of the baselines reported on during the 2017- 2018 reporting process. Second, and for the first time, we will talk about trends and see whether, with the assistance of our monitoring framework, we are going in the right direction. Third, we will introduce a technical review of national reports that were submitted during the last reporting process. Our objective is to support country reporting system and enable our Parties to report credible and robust data. Lastly, you will be briefed on the upcoming intersessional meeting of the CRIC, CRIC 19 with a view to inform COP 15 on a way that better reflects the implementation needs of your process. Mr. Chairman, During this exceptional time, we remain committed to continue delivering our mandate. Rest assured of my and the entire Secretariat’s commitment to continue to provide high quality support to you and to all our Parties. In these trying times, I would also like to thank you for taking on the additional responsibility to work with us to implement the Convention. This is a testimony of your commitment and leadership. Mr. Chairman, This brings me to my third and last point. COVID-19 is the most urgent threat facing humanity today. We remain convinced that land restoration and sustainable land management are among the best long term responses to the socio-economic crisis facing humanity. The science is clear. Land is the basis for human health, livelihoods, food security, and for our social, economic, cultural and spiritual well-being. The COVID–19 crisis reminds us how much we depend on each other. It also reminds us how much we depend on nature for our health, our food systems and our livelihoods. A healthy and well-functioning land plays a pivotal role in supporting people. For many, this the only safety net there is. In the current context, the pursuit of public health, at all levels from local to global, depends on careful attention to the processes of land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss. I am confident that soon, the world will restart. This is a chance for our Parties to recover better and come out stronger. Building on our motto – healthy land; healthy people – we must bring the world’s attention to the potential of land to address today’s crises by creating jobs, protecting vulnerable communities and steering the economic recovery towards a more sustainable and inclusive path. Mr. Chairman, We stand at a difficult moment – facing an unprecedented crisis – but it is also an exceptional moment. As leaders are listening and the whole world is watching, we need to continue advocating environmental action to drive transformative change for people; to call for a new social contract with nature. One that allow us to rebuild in ways that are healthy, safe, green, just and more resilient to deliver a land degraded neutral world, the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. Returning to “business as usual” is no longer an option. Your role as CRIC Bureau members is critical in that regard. The dialogue you will start today, must expand, flourish, be enriched by your constituencies, and set the stage for a UNCCD COP 15 that meets the new challenges of the 21st century. I wish you productive discussions over the course of your two-day meeting. My team and I remain at your service. We look forward to receiving your inputs and guidance. Let us pledge to maintain our commitment and our solidarity for the people and for the planet. Thank you. Download the speech.  

Some international agreements emerge quickly. But the birth of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification was a long tortuous journey. In particular, it was undermined by the perception that it was a development Convention. Yet the evolution of its sister Rio Conventions on Climate Change and on Biological Diversity shows that a purist approach to environmental conservation is at best misguided, and at worst dangerous.

It is my experience that ecological restoration creates jobs, spurs innovation, and offers new opportunities in the green economy. The growing recognition worldwide that there is a connection between healthy robust ecological processes and a healthy robust economy will continue to spur the demand for ecological restoration, which demand businesses are poised to meet