UNCCD COP15 opening: Speech by Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw

His Excellency Alassane Dramane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire,

H.E. Mr Alain-Richard Donwahi, President of the UNCCD COP15,

Excellences, Ministers and Heads of Delegations,

CEO of the Global Environment Facility,

Dear Delegates,

Representatives of International Organisations internationales et de la Société Civile,

Chers collègues des Nations-Unies,

Mesdames et messieurs les Ambassadeurs de la Terre de UNCCD

Honorables invités,

Mesdames et messieurs,

First, let me offer, on behalf of the Secretariat, my warm congratulations to our new President of COP15, Mr Alain Donwahi after his brilliant election today. We are truly looking forward to working with you and benefiting from your wisdom.

Jennifer Richard Jacobson, a Children’s author once said “Elephants love reunions; they recognize one another after years and years of separation and greet each other with wild, boisterous joy.”

After a tough - more than - 2 years of separation and difficulty for the whole planet, allow me to greet you and welcome you to Abidjan - and to COP15 - with genuine joy.

I mention elephants today because in addition to being magnificent animals and the symbol of our generous hosts - Cote d’Ivoire - they are also the national animal of our outgoing COP President India, whom I would like to thank for their inspirational leadership.

Indeed, it is not just our past and current hosts. Many cultures around the world see the elephant as a symbol of strength, intelligence, determination, wisdom, and success.  All useful characteristics in the UNCCD process!

Elephants resonate with UNCCD on many other levels too. 

The elephant is the largest land animal.  Like humans, elephants need extensive land areas to survive and meet their ecological needs - food, water and space. On average, an elephant can feed up to 18 hours and consume a hundred kilograms of food and 100 litres of water in a single day.  So, like us, elephants rely on healthy and productive terrestrial ecosystems.  Like us, the elephant can survive only if the land survives.

And like us, though led by a matriarch, elephants are organized into supportive, complex social structures. The elephant thrives when the herd is resilient and thrives. 

Dear Parties,

Since our last COP in India, the world has changed. COVID19 has been a major disruptor. Conflicts, disasters and economic crisis have created multiple consequences, including more land degradation in the world.

However, the UNCCD family has proved to be remarkably resilient.

While it is not the time to trumpet success, I am happy to note major progress achieved in different parts of the world, thanks to you, Parties to, and Partners of the UNCCD.

First, we note a remarkable increase in visibility and interest on the issues of Land Degradation and Drought; the issue has risen on the political agenda. The world is looking at this COP15 is an epitome, and this is largely due to President Alassane Ouattara and his Government. 

Second, the launch -under the Saudi Presidency- of the G20 Initiative on Reducing Land Degradation and Enhancing the Conservation of Terrestrial Ecosystems - to halve the amount of degraded land by 2040 - is an important milestone.  We are delighted to host the initiative coordination unit.

Third: Large-scale land restoration programs are growing across the world, a clear recognition of their importance as providing multiple solutions to a world in crisis. Take the example of the Africa’s GGW. Last year, while the world was still looking for a vaccine to the COVID19, the Programme received a major political and financial support with USD 19 billion dollars pledged to 2025 at the One Planet Summit in Paris.

Similar large-scale initiatives have also been launched in the Middle East, in India, China, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Central America and Pakistan, to name just a few. The Launch of the Abidjan Legacy Programme just two days ago comes as a timely addition to an already impressive list.

Other potentially game-changing initiatives are being shaped.

Fourth: The launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is galvanizing partners around a common and revitalized agenda. We are happy to see UNEP and FAO playing a lead role.

Countries and few companies seem to be making determined progress towards the achievement of a Land in balance, otherwise known in the UNCCD as Land Degradation Neutrality.

Ladies and Gentlemen,  

The case for land restoration made by the UNCCD report, the Global Land Outlook, is convincing. From rates of return on investments in restoration at between 7 and 30 USD to the unequivocal evidence on the relationship between land AND climate, biodiversity, food, energy, water, jobs and economy - the case of land has never been clearer.

Partnerships with critical technical and financial partners are emerging or evolving to turn these voluntary commitments into action. I congratulate the GEF and its partners for the recent highly successful GEF8 replenishment. 

But I also warmly welcome those partners increasingly committing to work with the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD.

So, despite the challenges of the last 2 years, we have made incredible progress. I thank all of you, dear Parties and partners, for that.  But, of course, we there is still much left to do. 

Excellence monsieur le Président de la République,

Honorables délégués,

L’autre sujet de grande préoccupation est la sécheresse. Au moment où se tient cette conférence, vingt millions de personnes font face à une sécheresse jamais enregistrée en 40 ans en Afrique de l’Est.

Des États-Unis d’Amérique à l’Europe, de l’Afrique à l’Asie, du Moyen-Orient à l’Amérique Latine, les sécheresses entraînent pertes économiques et dommages écologiques, pertes de production et fissures sociales. Dans des cas extrêmes, sécheresse rime avec crise humanitaire, voire pertes en vies humaines.

On estime à 650’000, le nombre de décès directement causés par la sécheresse au cours des 40 dernières années.

En effet, dans un rapport que nous publions sur la sécheresse à l’occasion de la COP15, les conclusions sont sévères. Au cours des vingt dernières années, le nombre et la durée des sécheresses ont augmenté de 29%.

Selon certaines estimations, les sécheresses pourraient affecter trois-quarts de la population mondiale d’ici la moitié du siècle courant.

Ces phénomènes climatiques deviennent ainsi de plus en plus violents. Dans les pays plus vulnérables, les sécheresses sont à l’origine de catastrophes humanitaires majeures.

Le Groupe de travail inter-gouvernemental que la COP14 avait constitué à produire un rapport, qui est soumis à votre attention. Je tiens à remercier les membres du Groupe de Travail qui, malgré le COVID, ont pu fournir à votre attention un rapport de qualité, destiné à soutenir les Parties dans leurs délibérations.

Votre Secrétariat reste naturellement mobilisé pour continuer à faire le plaidoyer à sensibiliser les acteurs politiques et le grand public, sur les multiples conséquences de la sécheresse. Nous encourageons les Parties à développer et surtout mettre en œuvre, leurs plans nationaux de lutte contre la sécheresse.

Cette année, dans le cadre de la célébration de la Journée internationale sur la Désertification et la Sécheresse prévue le 17 juin de chaque année, le thème central est justement la Sécheresse. Nous remercions l’Espagne pour avoir offert d’abriter les célébrations globales de la Journée. L’Espagne, à l’instar d’autres pays d’à travers le monde, devriendrait, le temps des célébrations, un «DroughtLand». Des passeports et des visas seront émis pour tous ceux qui souhaitent faire le voyage vers ces pays imaginaires. Merci à l’Espagne et à tous les pays qui offriront des passeports «DroughtLand»

Je vous souhaite une très bonne Conférence.

Merci.