News & Events

New York, USA, 22 September 2011 – A historic United Nations General Assembly meeting on desertification and drought, the first times heads of state and government have met to discuss the issue, concluded in New York yesterday. Closing the high-level meeting attended by over 100 heads of state and government, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President…

More than two billion people are affected by desertification, which leads to poverty, drought, famine, demographic pressures

New York, United States, 19 September 2011 – The United Nations will convene a high-level meeting on Tuesday, 20 September to focus on actions to protect the drylands, home to two billion people. Productive lands in dry…

Bonn, Germany, 13 September 2011 – Speaking at a Press Briefing in Bonn ahead of the special UN High-level meeting in New York on 20 September, UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja said world leaders must put a cap on land degradation.

He said every year some 12 million hectares of land are degraded. 'We should work towards a land degradation…

Geneva, Switzerland, 6 September  2011 – A high-level consultative meeting held in Geneva over the weekend has issued the UNCCD Geneva Call for Urgent Action on The Implementation of The Convention to be transmitted to both the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on the theme, “Addressing desertification, land degradation and drought in…

Geneva, Switzerland/Bonn, Germany, 1 August 2011 – The latest famine in Somalia has put a spotlight on the urgent need to develop national and regional drought policies, according to the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which are jointly leading the international action to address the…

Bonn, Germany, 16 July 2011 – The World Day to Combat Desertification will be observed on Friday, 17 June 2011. The global observance event opened on Friday, 10 June, in Dakar, Senegal, with the First Africa Drylands Week that will conclude with the observance of the Day. Over 100 participants, among them policy-makers, scientists, representatives…

Bonn, Germany, 17 June 2011 – “Yesterday, the ‘First Africa Drylands Week’ ended with a simple, yet new, message: the drylands are areas with great potential for the development and sustainable growth of its populations and nations. We must translate this into reality in economic terms with regard to the costs of inaction in relation to the costs…

Bonn, Germany, 9 June 2011 – A special event expected to establish a Global Drylands Land Alliance (GDLA) is planned for the eve of the UN High level meeting to be held on 20 September 2011. The special event, to be co-hosted by the Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP) and the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat…

Bonn , Germany, 5 June 2011 – The arid zone forests are the quintessence of ‘Nature at Humanity’s Service’, the theme of this year’s World Environment Day. These forests are the “invisible” backbone of the humanity’s food security today. One in every three plants under cultivation originated here and now provides the globally-consumed crops like…

Governments and international organizations to address the challenges of desertification and biodiversity loss in the region

Bonn, Germany/Rome, Italy, 3 June 2011 – Over 100 scientists, and representatives of government, international and civil society organizations from around the world will converge in Dakar, Senegal, from 10 to 17 June 2011…

Bonn, Germany, 17 February 2011 – The UN’s top official on matters of drought, land degradation and desertification, Mr. Luc Gnacadja, claims that we are at crucial moment in history. “At the end of this year, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will, for the first time, have the tools to support national monitoring and…

Bonn, Germany, 16 February 2011 – “The international community’s battle against desertification and the effects of drought is on the threshold of a paradigm shift,” Mr. Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has said, ahead of a global conference on the Convention opening today at the World…

Bonn, Germany, 11 February 2011 – Winston Churchill once said: “If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even…

Bonn, Germany, 17 February 2011 – The UN’s top official on matters of drought, land degradation and desertification, Mr. Luc Gnacadja, claims that we are at crucial moment in history. “At the end of this year, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will, for the first time, have the tools to support national monitoring and…

Cancun, Mexico, 29 November 2010 – At launch of the Rio Conventions Ecosystems and Climate Change Pavilion on the opening day of the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP16) under way in Cancun, Mexico, participants, called for doable coordinated action at the local, national…

Seoul, Korea, 7 November 2010 – In concurrence with the G20 Seoul Summit, the international editorial cartoon exhibition “SAVE THE EARTH” will be held in Seoul from 7-14 November. A preview will take place at Artium, in COEX, on 7 November at 5 pm. The official launch, composed by a press conference and a luncheon, will be held in the Sejong Center…

​New York, United States, 11 October 2010 – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has re-appointed Mr Luc Gnacadja as the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification for another three year-term, with effect from 1 October 2010.

“It is indeed a privilege granted to me and a responsibility to further advance our collective…