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The following article is part of a series to commemorate World Environment Day June 5 The writer is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) BONN, Germany, Jun 1 2022 (IPS) - Land is our lifeline on this planet. Yet ‘business as usual’ in how we manage land resources puts our own future…

Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health takes shape Soil health is crucial for tackling climate change, environmental challenges, building resilience, improving food security and meeting U.N. Sustainable Development Goals on water, human and economic health, yet each year becomes further degraded. “We cannot continue business-as-usual,” said Leigh Winowiecki, who leads Soil and Land…

Every year, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) discusses current topics and issues with global outreach. The 2022 GFFA addressed the issue “Sustainable Land Use: Food Security Starts with the Soil” and thus dealt with one of the most important challenges for the global food situation which requires worldwide cooperation. More than 90 percent of global food…

At the 2024 GFFA, the progress made regarding the commitments in this communiqué will be discussed Final communique 2022 ( excerpt) . 13. We recall that, in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we committed to combat desertification, to restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and to strive to achieve a…

When it started in 2007, the Great Green Wall (GGW) was envisioned as a tree-planting initiative to restore Africa’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in the Sahel. Initially targeted across 11 Sahelian nations, the campaign was built to halt the progress of the Sahara desert, which has grown by 10 percent since 1920. The goal was to plant billions of trees across 8…

The energy crisis arising from the war in Ukraine may lead to further setbacks WASHINGTON, June 1, 2022 — The COVID-19 pandemic has been a key factor in slowing progress toward universal energy access. Globally, 733 million people still have no access to electricity, and 2.4 billion people still cook using fuels detrimental to their health and the environment. At the current rate of…