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How water harvesting and land restoration are bringing hope to the arid heart of the country. A little-known fact is that  northeastern Brazil is home to the most populated dryland on the planet, made up of two biomes: the Cerrado, a regional water tower at the frontlines of agroindustrial expansion, and Caatinga, which is exclusive to the country and is inhabited by one in seven Brazilians.  The Caatinga is naturally dry, but the combination of overgrazing, deforestation, and climate change are creating new challenges for traditional communities living off the land, increasing the risk of food insecurity, poverty, and migration.  And the risks span beyond the Caatinga: around 38 million Brazilians are vulnerable to the impacts of desertification and drought, while arid lands are emerging for the first time and semiarid lands are projected to expand across much of the country in the coming years. The good news is that, even in the arid heart of Brazil, rural communities like Malhada da Areia, Bahia, are showing it is possible to halt and reverse land degradation and to prepare for, and adapt to, drought. That is, provided the right approaches and investments are in place. At the heart of their resilience are low-tech and nature-based solutions. For example, water harvesting roofs, deep excavation water storage, and water tanks, as well as sustainable land management practices to produce food, while reviving soils and restoring native vegetation.  In Malhada da Areia, in the Brazilian region of Caatinga, community members show one of the water storage solutions at the center of their drought resilience. In June, a delegation led by the Minister of Environment of Brazil, Marina Silva, and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Ibrahim Thiaw, visited Malhada da Areia and the nearby cities of Juazeiro and Petrolina as the country is boosting its efforts to tackle drought.  For instance, by investing in 130.000 water tanks in 2023-2024; creating a network of more than 180 scientists specialized in land degradation and drought; and launching a national campaign to build awareness on these matters. Brazil, which now chairs the G20, is the latest country to join the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA), the global coalition built on the notion that drought is a risk, but it needn’t be a disaster. “Brazil’s accession to IDRA demonstrates the government’s determination to combat drought and desertification, promote food and water security, and tackle inequalities,” said Minister Silva. “Successes here [in the Caatinga] demonstrate that, with the right strategies and collaborations, we can fight land degradation and build resilience to climate change.” The Executive Secretary of UNCCD, Ibrahim Thiaw, and the Minister of Environment of Brazil, Marina Silva, during a visit to the Caatinga with focus on drought resilience. Exportable solutions In Malhada da Areia, community members proudly showed visitors around, noting how they have transformed a land historically associated with famine and migration into a land of hope. “I am inspired by the innovative spirit of the communities in Caatinga,” said Thiaw during the visit to the area, where he noted that water capture, storage and reuse is essential to building resilience in arid environments. “These efforts in land restoration and sustainable water management are not just local solutions, but models for the world.” So far, the water tanks initiative has already reached 230,000 families as part of broader social packages, significantly reducing child mortality, increasing school attendance, improving water security, and enabling more varied and nutritious diets, thanks to the proximity of well-watered kitchen gardens. For the National Secretary for Food and Nutritional Security Lilian dos Santos Rahal the program goes beyond access to water: “It is a comprehensive approach to social development that integrates water security with food production and economic inclusion.”  The traditional community of Malhada da Areia, who lives off the land, explain the role of land use planning in restoring their lands and building resilience to drought. From barren to bountiful Locals are also engaged in a long-term initiative to restore degraded lands and the ecosystems they support, known as ‘Recaatingamento.’ The initiative is supported by the Regional Institute for Appropriate Small-Scale Farming (IRPAA), a civil society organization that has been instrumental in helping dozens of communities coexist with drought across the state of Bahia in the past three decades. Malhada da Areia is a traditional ‘fundo de pasto’ (‘back pasture’) community, where a group of families share and collectively manage an area of native vegetation as pasture for goats and to gather wild fruits and leaves. To restore a once productive land, they have fenced off 50 of the 2,000 communal hectares so it can recover out of the reach of goats.  Inside the protected area, people grow fruits and produce honey as alternative sources income, and jaguars and some plant species are making a comeback. To feed the goats, farmers grow fodder with reused water, bringing sustainable land and water management practices full circle. In the dryest months, aroeira trees drop their leaves to preserve moisture, standing like pale, denuded sentinels; hence the name Caatinga, meaning ‘white forest’ in Tupi language. Like Malhada da Areia, the aroeira is a testament to the ability of people and nature to thrive —if only given a chance — in the world’s drylands. ‘Restoring the Caatinga is necessary! The Caatinga is worth more standing than deforested,’ reads a sign of a landscape restoration initiative based on sustainable land management.

Crossing borders silently and impacting millions globally, sand and dust storms are the 'underappreciated' extreme weather events, yet they profoundly affect the environment and the lives of hundreds of millions worldwide, across all continents. According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), every year, an estimated 2 billion tonnes of sand and dust, an amount equal in weight to 350 Great Pyramids of Giza, enter the atmosphere. In recognition of these challenges, the General Assembly proclaimed 2025-2034 as the United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms. Introduced by Uganda on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China, the initiative underscores international concern over sand and dust storms and promotes proactive measures through awareness and action. In the resolution (A/78/L.88), UN Member States emphasized that sand and dust storms currently threaten the realization of 11 out of 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The announcement comes on the eve of the annual observance of the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms (SDS), 12 July, which aims to raise global awareness of the growing health and environmental challenges posed by SDS. “Sand and dust storms need to be addressed in a holistic manner. The UNCCD is working to address the negative impacts of sand and dust storms through several initiatives. We help countries set up monitoring and early warning systems and promote international partnerships to tackle the root causes,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of UNCCD. Sand dust storms cost economies hundreds of millions of dollars each year through damage to communications, energy, and transport infrastructure, increased healthcare costs, damage to farmland, and disruption to schooling, employment, and transport. Sand and dust storms have historically played a critical role in Earth's biogeochemical cycles, but human activities now contribute significantly to their increase. According to the SDS Compendium produced by UNCCD, at least 25 per cent of global dust emissions originate from human activities like unsustainable land management and water use. On the occasion of SDS Day, UNCCD and FAO are launching the “Policy guideline on the integration of sand and dust storm management into key policy areas”, helping governments and policymakers better adapt to SDS. The guidelines, aimed at policy makers globally, emphasize the need to integrate SDS management into national and regional strategies, enhancing resilience and mitigating the socioeconomic impacts of these increasingly frequent and intense events. “The Policy Guideline will support countries to develop and implement sand and dust storms-related initiatives, improve land use and management, enhance food security, and build resilience to climate change,” said Lifeng Li, Director of the Land and Water Division at FAO. Sand and dust storms will be on the agenda of the upcoming UNCCD COP16 to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 2-13 December 2024. At UNCCD COP14, the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms was launched to promote and coordinate a collaborative UN-system response this phenomenon. Currently, 19 Members of the Coalition include UN agencies and non-UN agencies. Within the framework of this coalition the UNCCD leads the efforts on the SDS Toolbox, providing practical solutions to manage and mitigate SDS. The 2024 SDS Day will be celebrated with numerous events around the world. FAO and UNCCD will jointly organize a webinar, highlighting the launch of the Policy Guidelines.

Prior the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the UNCCD, the Convention Secretariat is organizing a training session for French-speaking journalists who cover the African continent on desertification and the role of the media in promoting sustainable land management practices. This training will take place during 2-6 September 2024, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on the sideline of the 20th African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN). Journalists will have the opportunity to exchange with experts in sustainable land management and desertification, and to participate in a field visit. The workshop will address major concerns related to land degradation, desertification and drought, as well as the role of the media in this context and strategies specific to better address these subjects. Eligibility and selection criteria The call is open to French-speaking journalists interested in environmental issues. Each applicant must submit: A letter of recommendation from the editor-in-chief of the applicant's organization. Freelancers must provide a copy of the press card. A cover letter of one page maximum explaining the journalist's interest in participating in the workshop. Links or copies of the last three reports or publications on the subject. Complete application files can be sent to press@unccd.int by 11:59 pm Central European Time (CET) on 21 July 2024, indicating as subject: “Candidature pour l'atelier d’Abidjan”. Successful candidates will be informed in writing. See complete details in the attached document.

My task today is: Share some facts about Land degradation and drought and how the loss of this natural capital is affecting everything we do. Propose some solutions and options that we can consider in our development plans Share views about the UNCCD COP16, a unique opportunity for the world to turn the tide and tackle the scourge of land loss and drought.   Land degradation and its consequences: As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the UNCCD, the only universally binding treaty on land management and drought mitigation, we are breaking new world records: Never have so many people been affected by land degradation and the effects of drought never has fertile land been so degraded (in the time it takes to breathe in and out, the equivalent of 4 football pitches is sliding inexorably towards loss). This loss is mainly due to our extractions: food, cotton, mining and overgrazing Never before has one person in four, as is now the case across the world, been severely affected by drought. More than just a lack of rainwater, drought is synonymous with food and energy insecurity, the disintegration of thousands of family units and a drastic drop in economic growth Finally, never before has the combination of drought and the loss of productive land led to so much forced migration. Millions of young women and men have had no choice but to venture onto increasingly dangerous roads, or to get caught up in illegal trafficking, or even to fall easy prey to violent groups.  More than 40% of the world's land is now degraded, at a time when there has never been a greater need to produce food, cotton for an explosive fashion industry, and minerals - including rare metals - for an energy transition driven by the response to climate change. In fact, to respond to the needs of the 10 billion people, including 3 billion people in the middle class, experts estimate that two-thirds of the cities in developing countries have not yet been built and that 50% more food needs to be produced by 2050.  Food: let's take a look at our menu for tonight. Not just to check our allergies and dietary restrictions. The equation is simple: up to 99 per cent of our calories come from land. Land feeds us; it quenches our thirst; it clothes us and provides us with some of the oxygen we breathe. Therefore, our wellbeing is largely dependent on the health of our land. Contrary to certain beliefs, we did not inherit this land from our ancestors. In truth, we are borrowing it from our children. Seen from this angle, any excessive exploitation could be considered a serious abuse of future generations. This begs the question of whether or not we are robing food from the table of the yet-unborn.   So what can we do about it? Land restauration and drought resilience: The good news is that we can have a descent life on earth without sawing off the branch on which we are sitting. In other words, we can make human well-being compatible with achieving planetary equilibrium. Technically, it can be done. What we need is the collective resolve to reset our relationship with nature.  Firstly, as citizens of the earth, if we halve food waste, we will have the most positive impact on land, water and energy.  Furthermore, by giving farmers and pastoralists access to clean energy (ON or OFF-GRID), we will considerably reduce post-harvest losses. Reducing food loss and food waste increases our income while at the same time reducing loss of land and water. Food wastage is first and foremost land and water loss. It's also good for the climate, the economy and human well-being.  By reducing the cost of money (i.e. interest rates) in poor countries and facilitating the development of value chains, we can create a local economy and generate income for all. In doing so, we will have a positive impact on the land, as farmers will be better able to reinvest in their natural capital to ensure the sustainability of production, rather than continuing to raze the soil to the ground to extract the last productive sap.  The other good news is that we have a billion and a half hectares of land that we will be able to restore to a productive state and circuit by 2030, thanks to the many techniques and technologies for restoring land.  I'm talking about farmland, rangelands, conservation areas, quarries and mining sites, public and private spaces, large and small agricultural areas, and even urban and peri-urban spaces.  Land restoration is socially viable, creating millions of green jobs. Restoration is economically profitable: each dollar invested could generate up to 30 dollars in economic income.  We are witnessing the birth of a new land restoration industry throughout the world. This opens the way for PPPs and other win-win agreements with communities and other landowners.  As for drought, enormous scientific and analytical progress has been made. They all converge to the same conclusion: we need to change our approach, and move towards a proactive one rather than continue to get bogged down in reactive responses, which are ten times more expensive and just as ineffective. In other words, every dollar invested in drought resilience can generate up to 10 dollars in economic development. Droughts (often followed by floods) are amongst the most disruptive of all natural hazards. Droughts are silent killers: they kill animals or even people. Droughts disrupt energy generation, from hydro-power to nuclear power Droughts disrupt our social fabric, amplifying forced migration and even provoking surges of suicides… Less known to the general public is how droughts are affecting supply chains, as is the case in the Panama Canal this year. Some leaders and decision makers often ask me whether we can do something against drought. It is true that we can little to stop them from happening. But we can do much better in terms of preparadeness and response. Five areas need to be considered simultaneously:   Risk assessment, early warning and national planning Water supply, agricultural practices and nature-based solutions; Economic resilience and business response; Drought finance and insurance Emergency and humanitarian response The overall objective is to progressively build more resilient societies and economies, and progressively reduce humanitarian aid. Riyadh, December 2024: the moonshot moment.  Although Riyadh is the sixteenth meeting of the Contracting Parties to the UNCCD, it is more than just a traditional UN conference. The conference will mark a turning point in our perception of land and soils, a natural capital that we have always taken for granted, infinite and inexhaustible. In the words of UN SG Antonio Gutteres: « we depend on land for our survival, yet we treat it like dirt ». Realising that Riyadh is a rendez-vous with history, the Leaders' Summit to be held on 2 and 3 December should reaffirm the absolute necessity of managing our common heritage, that which the human species (a terrestrial species par excellence) has in common.  The leaders of the private sector, who will also be invited, should unequivocally align themselves with the only viable path for business and for a decent life on earth, the path, as I said, of sustainable land and water management.  Among the expectations of Riyadh COP16, two items stand out: To adopt an historic decision on managing the impacts of the recurrent and increasingly intense droughts that are affecting the world Adopting a clear stance and a clear decision to restore degraded land on a large scale, in order to maintain the natural balances that are essential to life on earth Beyond drought and land, COP will cover : Sand and dust storms Gender Youth engagement The gender gap one land ownership is incredible. While aggregate figures show that only 1 ha of land in 4 in the world is owned by women, the percentage can be as low as 4% of female land ownership in some regions. In Riyadh, COP16 is also expected to discuss youth engagement. Up to 1 billion young people in the world are ready to engage into land restauration, creating green jobs and boosting the economy. Saudi Arabia, as the host country, will provide the tens of thousands of participants expected to attend with the best possible facilities, with a tailor-made site. The UNCCD Secretariat and the host country wish to set up a COP-Legacy: the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership. This unprecedented Partnership targets the 80 least well-off countries (WB ranking) and aims to build the resilience (ecological, economic and social) of the target countries, in order to consign to history the terrible images of distress, destruction and death that our screens vomit out,  year-in year-out, as a result of droughts. As I said before, droughts are natural hazards and cannot be stopped. But we can mitigate its impact and turn off our screens those images of starving children, corpses and bones.  Ladies and gentlemen, Riyadh COP will be the moment of truth, first and foremost for the countries of the MENA region, which are hosting this Conference for the first time. This region has every right to exercise its leadership and soft power on such a crucial yet non-controversial issue. The timing couldn't be better. It's up to us to grasp it. 

The UNCCD Gender Action Plan (GAP) emphasizes the critical importance of gender equality and women’s empowerment in implementing the Convention. A key priority of the GAP is to increase women’s access to relevant knowledge and technologies. To fulfill these objectives, UNCCD and the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) joined forces in 2020 to advance gender-responsive Sustainable Land Management (SLM). This collaboration between UNCCD and WOCAT focuses on documenting, analyzing and scaling gender-responsive SLM practices by gathering gender-disaggregated data. A specialized tool, co-designed with gender and SLM experts, identifies gender-based parameters as well as the technical and socio-cultural factors that enhance the adoption of SLM by both women and men. In the initial phase of the project in 2021, WOCAT network partners in 15 countries tested the tool, showing promising results. As the Pambadeniya Women Group from Sri Lanka noted, “Women and men debated on how to guarantee equal opportunities in decision making, participation and fair distribution of benefits.” The data demonstrated that equal access to SLM technologies and approaches is both context- and technology-specific. Five technology group profiles on gender-responsive SLM were developed to show the need for further action. Building on this success and following Decision 24/COP.15, UNCCD and WOCAT are now launching a call for expressions of interest to apply the gender-responsive SLM tool. This initiative aims to gather more country-specific gender-disaggregated data on SLM practices, which will be presented at the upcoming UNCCD COP16 in Ryiadh, Saudi Arabia, this December. We are inviting up to 40 stakeholders to implement the gender-responsive SLM tool in local contexts from September to November 2024. Applications are welcome from UNCCD Parties, civil society organizations, WeCaN members and others involved in sustainable land management. The application deadline is 4 August 2024. Submissions are accepted in English, French and Spanish. For more details on the call, application requirements, and the online application form, please see the side menu. * Please note: the questionnaire is currently being reviewed and updated. The final version of the questionnaire will be available in September 2024

Gender equality is a key entry-point for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and UNCCD together with WOCAT are working to improve gender-responsiveness of SLM practices. Direct and indirect gender-related barriers prevent women from adopting SLM practices. These barriers include land tenure insecurity; land availability; education or literacy levels; access to seeds, fertilizers, or extension services; and access to technologies and financing. As a result, women adopt SLM technologies at a rate that is typically lower and slower than that of men. In line with the UNCCD Gender Action Plan (GAP) and guided by the idea to build back better, the aim of this UNCCD-WOCAT project is to: Add a gender lens to SLM technologies and appraoches and  assess their gender-responsiveness Evaluate how gender-responsiveness of SLM Technologies and Approaches can be improved, stepping up adoption and dissemination, making SLM beneficial for women and men alike. This will support project planners, designers and implementers to identify, realize and scale gender-responsive SLM Technologies and Approaches within the framework of LD/SLM and LDN projects and programmes as well as promote the implementation of gender-responsive SLM practices in the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration. Phase 1: Development of Gender-responsive SLM tool In the first phase, WOCAT and UNCCD designed a tool that helps to test the gender-responsiveness of SLM Technologies and Approaches and to identify areas of improvement to support project planners, designers, and implementers in their effort to scale up SLM Technologies and Approaches that are gender-responsive.  The gender-responsive SLM tool was reviewed during a UNCCD-WOCAT consultation  workshop with experts from different organizations and regions, resulting in the fine-tuning of the tool.  Currently, the tool is being tested with WOCAT network partners in more than 10 countries around the globe, supporting it further refinement and facilitating a first round of data collection. Data will be analysed and presented in the form of SLM Gender Profiles, showcasing women and men's involvement in different SLM Technologies and providing insights and recommendations on the improvement of SLM Technologies and related Approaches in view of gender equality and women empowerment. Phase 2: New gender tool added to WOCAT Database (May 2024 – June 2025) The Global WOCAT SLM Database will be enhanced with a gender-responsive SLM tool, enabling: Online assessment of the gender-responsiveness of SLM practices Search for gender-responsive SLM solutions Collection of gender-disaggregated data through a harmonized system Possibility to analyse and share gender-disaggregated data to support informed decision-making for gender equality in land management, particularly in relation to drought resilience Platform to discuss gender and land management related issues within communities Interested partners and institutions, including UNCCD Parties and CSOs, will be trained in its application to gain country-specific gender-disaggregated data on SLM practices.  Results will support the design and implementation of gender-responsive SLM projects and programmes and inform decision-makers. During the upcoming UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December 2024, partners will present results and country insights.