News & stories

What are the true consequences of poverty and climate change? What are the economics behind both? What is the UNCCD’s role in addressing these problems in the wake of COVID19 pandemic?   These topics with be discussed by a virtual panel hosted by UNCCD Capacity Development and Innovations Office, featuring the following experts: Ibrahim Thiaw – UNCCD Executive Secretary Yanis Varoufakis – economist, professor and prominent politician  Dr. Olivier de Schutter – UN Special Representative for Extreme Poverty Ahmed Aziz Diallo – member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union – United Nations Affairs Commission  Jann Lay – head of research programme "Growth and Development" 5 June World Environment Day 2020 Berlin 2:00 pm (UTC+2) Beijing 8:00 pm (CEST) New Delhi 5:30 pm (IST) New York 8:00 am (EDT) We seek your active participation – register here {"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/default/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/gDhHOTQjwKA.jpg?itok=dYeLeTeV","video_url":"https://youtu.be/gDhHOTQjwKA","displayed_as_thumbnail":0,"image_style":"","settings":{"responsive":1,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":1},"settings_summary":["Embedded Video (Responsive, autoplaying).",[]]}

There is a lot of talk about getting back to normal after the COVID-19 crisis is over. And yet normal – business as usual – is what has made our planet and our societies vulnerable to crises in the first place.

The  new installment of the UNCCD Science-Policy blog presents Chefs' Manifesto: a network of 700 chefs from 70 countries who are championing a better food future, inspiring people to make changes in their kitchens and communities and empowering them to call on governments and companies to play their part on the topics that chefs are most passionate about. The blog focuses on links between consumption and land, highlighting the importance of soil health, reduced food waste and under-utilized ingredients. It also features the work of chefs who go above and beyond to transform the health of our soil, the planet and the people, mobilizing stakeholders to coordinate global campaigns and advocacy to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger.  Read more:  UNCCD Science-Policy weblog Desertification and Drought Day 2020 Short film series for Desertification and Drought Day 2020 Land and Sustainable Development Goals

UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw speaks with Deutsche Welle on 06.04.2020 Pour certains environnementalistes et experts, le nouveau coronavirus est l'une des conséquences de la destruction de l’environnement. Dans ce magazine, Ibrahim Thiaw, le secrétaire exécutif de la Convention de l'ONU sur la lutte contre la désertification, explique que la majorité des nouvelles maladies infectieuses humaines sont transmises par des animaux dont nous détruisons l’environnement.  Nature reacts to call us to order. For some environmentalists and experts, the new coronavirus is one of the consequences of the destruction of the environment. In this magazine, Ibrahim Thiaw, the executive secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, explains that the majority of new human infectious diseases are transmitted by animals whose environment we destroy. Click to listen...

When populations experience economic growth, their appetite for more food and more resource intensive food grows. While this is welcomed in many parts of the world in which communities suffer malnutrition and hunger, the gap between the haves and have nots is growing. The Chefs’ Manifesto is championing a better food future, inspiring people to make changes in their kitchens and communities and empowering them to call on governments and companies to play their part.

The UNCCD secretariat is issuing a call for an alternate observer of the Science Policy Interface (SPI) representing the civil society organizations (CSOs) accredited to the convention.