News & stories

Biodiversity is our life insurance, but it is under threat. The COVID19 crisis has dramatically changed our lives; and it has also brought to the forefront the crucial need to better preserve biodiversity. Our lives and economies rely on nature. France, together with the United Nations and the World Bank, is organizing a "One Planet Summit" for biodiversity on 11 January 2021 in Paris. The Summit will bring together heads of state and government, leaders of international organizations, financial institutions, companies and NGOs, all ready to demonstrate that their commitments are leading to concrete actions to preserve and restore biodiversity, and to lead systemic transformations of our economies. This high-level meeting is a major milestone for the political mobilization for nature in 2021, the year that should lead to an ambitious new international agreement on biodiversity. At the summit, UNCCD presents the Great Green Wall Initiative – a game-changing African-led project that aims to restore degraded landscapes and improve millions of lives in one of the world’s poorest regions, the Sahel. The Great Green Wall Initiative is regreening the Sahel, restoring degraded lands and providing decent livelihoods for its people, snaking the Sahel all the way from Senegal in the West to Djibouti in the East, restoring degraded lands and providing jobs and opportunities for millions of people in Africa.  In a post COVID context where Sahelian countries are struggling with budgets and funding, the new commitments launched at One Planet Summit will help meet financial requirements and turbo charge the achievement of GGW goals. To complete the Wall, it is estimated that USD 33 billion US dollars of investment – from private, national and international sources will be needed.  Read more: Great Green Wall Request for interviews

The negative image of the Sahel is a stranglehold on the great potential for development in the region. A more balanced narrative can trigger action for a productive Sahel and can be based on innovative approaches and a conducive policy environment to value natural resources. Despite a rich set of information, the potential of the Sahel is still not flagged with sound knowledge that can be opposed to the conspicuous depressed perception. Positive transformation pathways require many improvements in the governance, finance and equity issues with a particular reference to the youth and women. The Sahel can sustain its sustainable development if transformation occurs in natural resources management. The new paper co-authored by the UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw and published by ScienceDirect analyses: The opportunities related to natural resources The potential and challenges for deep rapid transformation based on sound resources management practices Areas for job creation and livelihood protection; and New models for financing these developments. Read more... 

On 12 April the Team of the Capacity Building Marketplace (CBM) visited the high school students of the CJD Christophorusschule in Königswinter, Germany. The main purpose of this visit was to raise awareness about the importance of engaging the youth in sustainable development and the value of the land to our lives. The multinational/multicultural CBM Team comprising Anna Berecz (Hungary), Lina Pérez (Colombia), Jorge Sanz (Spain), Raissa Tadia (Cameroon) and Ines Belhous (France) engaged around 80 students between the ages of 15 and 18 on several issues including the importance of proper land management, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the work being done under the Convention, and the opportunities that  the Marketplace offers, such as scholarships, university programs, vacancies, and much more. They also demonstrated through video and stories of personal experiences what it means to be an intern at the UNCCD, and doing daily work at the Marketplace.

Brazil has committed US$100 million dollars raised from domestic environmental fines to finance activities to reverse land degradation in an initiative known as the URAD model that combines social inclusion, local development and environmental sustainability. The results are amazing, with activities being completed well ahead of schedule and behaviour change in the communities evident long before reaping the expected long-term fruits.