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Mr Ibrahim Thiaw, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), paid a three-day visit to Mauritania from 15 to 17 April. This strategic visit coincides with Mauritania's current role as Chair of the African Union and sets the stage for the upcoming 16th Conference of the Parties (COP 16) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, later this year. During his stay, Mr Thiaw  held high-level talks with the Mauritanian authorities, focusing on strengthening cooperation between Mauritania and the UNCCD. These discussions are particularly important as they come at a time when Mauritania is not only leading the African Union, but also facing serious environmental challenges that are at the forefront of the international sustainable development agenda. Mauritania is facing severe environmental degradation, with 1.28 million of its total population of 4.3 million exposed to land degradation, covering 60 per cent of its total land area. The country has been severely affected by recurrent droughts since the late 1960s, making desertification control a national priority and a key concern of successive governments.  In 2021, Mauritania experienced the most severe drought in its history, resulting in 20 per cent of the population facing acute food insecurity. This  degradation has not only led to physical and economic impacts, but has also increased social vulnerability, particularly among low-income households and women who rely heavily on natural resources for their livelihoods. “Mauritania is a country severely affected by desertification, and it is crucial to rethink the country's development policies in the light of climate change. This includes adopting new and renewable energy sources, formulating more appropriate agricultural and fisheries policies, combating drought and implementing environmental programmes adapted to these arid conditions. The development of a tailor-made strategy is essential, with Mauritania charting its own course to address these complex issues”, said Ibrahim Thiaw. Mauritania is one of 22 countries participating in the Great Green Wall initiative. This ambitious project aims to restore 100 million hectares of currently degraded land, sequester 250 million tonnes of carbon and create 10 million green jobs by 2030. Through this initiative, Mauritania is seeking both environmental and economic benefits, demonstrating its commitment to both local and global sustainability efforts After ratifying the UNCCD in June 2001, Mauritania launched the National Action Plan to Combat Desertification (PAN-LCD), which takes an integrated, participatory approach. This plan has been instrumental in integrating poverty reduction into desertification control programmes, working with grassroots communities, local authorities and non-governmental organisations.  

The 19th meeting of the Science-Policy Interface (SPI) will take place on 19-21 March 2024 in Bonn, Germany.

Nairobi, 1 March 2024 – Healthy land’s contribution to addressing global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable development was the focus of the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 6), which concluded today in Nairobi. The week-long meeting saw the adoption of the first-ever UNEA resolution on land degradation as well as the announcement of the logo and slogan for the 16th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP16), to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 2 to13 December 2024. Speaking at the high-level event on combating land degradation for climate and biodiversity, UNEA 6 President and Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development for the Kingdom of Morocco, Leila Benali, noted: “Land is the only common denominator among the three Rio conventions, and it is only through land restoration that we can achieve their objectives. We need to build on what unites us rather than what divides us and start with working and credible solutions when it comes to land and soil health”. Announcing the slogan for COP16, “Our Land. Our Future.”, UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw said: “COP16 will be a moonshot moment for land, the Paris equivalent for UNCCD. It is crucial that there is convergence and synergy among the three COPs – biodiversity, climate change, and desertification, all taking place this year". For the first time, UNEA adopted a resolution calling for strengthening international efforts to combat desertification and land degradation, restore degraded lands, promote land conservation and sustainable land management, contribute to land degradation neutrality and enhance drought resilience. These issues will be front and center at UNCCD COP16. On behalf of the COP16 Presidency, Osama Ibrahim Faqeeha, Deputy Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia, said: "Land is not only important for human life but also crucial for biodiversity and maintaining the delicate balance of our environment. We have to recognize the importance of land and other natural elements of our planet, as 24 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions are associated with various land use schemes." Through the Saudi Green Initiative, the Saudi government aims to plant 10 billion trees and protect 30 per cent of the Kingdom’s land. Additional quotes: Aziz Abdukhakimov, Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which hosted the meeting to review progress in UNCCD implementation last November, said: "Every minute Uzbekistan loses nine square meters of fertile land, and this is a big problem for any country facing land degradation. It is important to bring together political will, science, and finance to address the challenges of climate change, land degradation, and biodiversity loss". Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said: “Land is where food begins, and without land, we cannot produce food or feed the planet. We need a holistic approach, avoiding fragmentation, and investing in sustainable transformations of our agri-food systems to ensure food security and address climate change and biodiversity loss”. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, President of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT), said: “Indigenous peoples, who make up 5 per cent of the world's population, protect 80 per cent of the world's biodiversity. They are the guardians of ecosystems and masters of restoring land using traditional knowledge. Direct access to finance, policy coordination, and inclusive decision-making are essential to empowering communities and implementing successful land restoration projects”. UNCCD Land Hero Patricia Kombo from Kenya, who moderated the high-level event at UNEA 6, concluded: “Land degradation is a global challenge that requires concerted action at all levels. It is only by working together that we can restore our land ecosystems, ensure food security, and mitigate the effects of climate change”. For more information: UNCCD Press Office, press@unccd.int, +49 228 815 2820, https://www.unccd.int/, @unccd Recording and photos available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_oSZoVZJF8 https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1QhHqfX_pOFWBuot0ET5hGTogyrWDsq6Q For more information about UNEA 6 and UNCCD COP16 visit: https://www.unep.org/environmentassembly/unea6 and https://www.unccd.int/cop16 About UNCCD The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the global vision and voice for land. We unite governments, scientists, policymakers, private sector and communities around a shared vision and global action to restore and manage the world’s land for the sustainability of humanity and the planet. Much more than an international treaty signed by 197 parties, UNCCD is a multilateral commitment to mitigating today’s impacts of land degradation and advancing tomorrow’s land stewardship in order to provide food, water, shelter and economic opportunity to all people in an equitable and inclusive manner.

Madame President, Dear UNEP Executive Director, Excellencies, Presidents and chairs of COPs Ministers, Dear colleagues Executive Secretaries of MEAs, Honorable Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to start by thanking the President of UNEA (my sister Leila Ben Ali) and the Executive Director of UNEP (my other sister Inger Andersen) for dedicating an entire day of UNEA6 to the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). This is a real credit to UNEP. UNEA is one of the important platforms to discuss these issues. Thirty years after the signing of the Rio conventions, and more than fifty years after the creation of some of the MEAs represented here, we must face the facts: the implementation of these treaties cannot be done in silos. We cannot be effective if the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Even less so if all the work done by the national focal point for one convention is ignored, or worse, brushed aside by another focal point. Putting things in order therefore begins at home, at the national level. International partners and development agencies, where appropriate, should play their part. MEA secretariats should help engineer cooperation and technical support. In this respect, institutions such as UNEP and Assemblies such as UNEA have a historic responsibility and a critical role to play in harmonizing the work and focus of the various MEAs as we face a multitude of interconnected crises. About the triple planetary crisis, indeed we face a climate crisis, a pollution crisis and a nature crisis. I would be remiss, as head of the UNCCD, not to insist that the nature crisis includes the immense crisis of land and drought, which is currently affecting more than 3 billion people, causing food insecurity, water scarcity and forced displacements. Action on the land is a powerful force for unity. The health of the land determines the food we eat, the water we drink, the quality of the air we breathe, the clothes we wear and many other services that contribute to our well-being. But the damage we inflict on our land poses a serious threat to world peace, and to the global economy. Similarly, the links between land and pollution are obvious. Air pollution is amplified by sand and dust storms. While plastic pollution affects rivers, lakes and oceans, the bulk of the stock stays in land affecting food production, people and the earth system as a whole. The good news is that there are solutions to these serious problems. They are well within our reach and this is literally in our hands. Make no mistake: the best solutions are those that tackle several challenges at once. We must slow down and adapt to climate change, protect and restore nature and biodiversity, reverse land degradation and desertification, and end pollution and waste. We don’t have the luxury of dedicating Monday to climate or pollution, Tuesday to biodiversity and only think that we can wait until Wednesday to tackle Land degradation. These issues are like communicating vessels and we have to address all these challenges at once! The scientific community is increasingly moving from sounding the alarm to signposting solutions that require concerted efforts. However, progress on turning commitments into transformative action must accelerate. Rapidly. Coherently. Consistently. Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, 2024 represents a new opportunity for us all: The three Rio conventions will hold their COPs consecutively at the end of this year. We already had a successful CMS COP a few days ago. At the UNCCD COP16 in Saudi Arabia - in December – we will embark on a unique journey – one that brings all communities of policy and practice to join forces towards a common goal: that of making land healthy again. Parties assembled in Riyadh at UNCCD COP16 will present a groundbreaking action agenda for all MEAs to reverse degradation and to accelerate efforts to restore 1.5 billion hectares of land by 2030. Healthy and productive land is the operational link between climate action and biodiversity conservation. Linking up action on land will allow us to take advantage of the synergies that build resilience, mitigate the impacts of climate change, safeguard biodiversity, provide food security for billions around the world, and transform the way we manage the environment and consume its bounty. And this is everyone’s effort. We must ensure that the work on each MEA commitment dovetails with and amplifies the work of the others. By forging synergies with UN entities and conventions, we can amplify our impact, leverage resources, and foster greater coherence in our collective response to global environmental challenges. For example: aligning land degradation neutrality targets with nationally determined contributions and the new biodiversity targets can maximize the impact of nature-positive investments and significantly diminish the huge gap between commitment and action. After all, we are facing one single global challenge – the sustainability of the planet and striving for an environment of peace and prosperity. Martin Luther King Jr once said: “We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now”. So, while MEAs have individual mandates, they ultimately have the same ambition: protecting the people and the planet. Let us make 2024 a pivotal year for environmental multilateralism. The science is clear and sobering. Long-term planning and cooperation are of the essence. But urgent action is needed. Recent years have proven that environmental multilateralism is working. It remains our best shot at tackling the complex and interconnected environmental challenges. Let’s take it! Thank you.

Бонн, Германия, 21 февраля 2024 г. – В этом году в центре внимания Дня борьбы с опустыниванием и засухой, отмечаемого 17 июня, окажется будущее рационального управления земельными ресурсами. Каждую секунду мы теряем плодородную землю, равную по площади четырем футбольным полям, что в общей сложности составляет 100 миллионов гектаров в год. Чтобы остановить и обратить вспять эти тревожные тенденции и выполнить глобальные обязательства по восстановлению 1 миллиарда гектаров деградированных земель к 2030 году, вовлечение нынешнего и будущих поколений важно как никогда. Тема, выбранная для Дня борьбы с опустыниванием и засухой в этом году – "Объединенные во имя земли: Наше наследие. Наше будущее" – призвана мобилизовать все слои общества в поддержку рационального управления земельными ресурсами. 17 июня 2024 года исполнится 30 лет с момента основания расположенной в Бонне Конвенции ООН по борьбе с опустыниванием (КБО ООН) – единственного юридически обязывающего международного договора по управлению земельными ресурсами и засухе, и одной из трех конвенций Рио-де-Жанейро, наряду с Конвенциями по изменению климата и защите биоразнообразия.  По словам Ибрагима Тиау, Исполнительного секретаря КБО ООН "До 40 процентов мировых земель уже деградировало, что непосредственно отражается на почти половине человечества. Тем временем решения проблемы существуют. Восстановление земель избавляет людей от нищеты и повышает устойчивость к изменению климата. Пришло время объединиться в защиту земли, показав штрафную карточку потере и деградации земель во всем мире." Глобальное мероприятие, организованное правительством Федеративной Республики Германия, пройдет в Bundeskunsthalle (Художественный и выставочный зал Федеративной Республики Германия) в Бонне в понедельник, 17 июня 2024 года. "Около четверти населения Земли страдает от засухи. Состояние почв в Европе также стремительно ухудшается. Защита почв и земель – это глобальная задача. Мы должны принять совместные меры уже сегодня, чтобы грядущие поколения имели доступ к жизненно важным природным ресурсам. Мы сможем прокормить человечество и справиться с климатическим кризисом и кризисом биоразнообразия, только если у нас будут здоровые почвы," заявил Йохен Фласбарт, статс-секретарь Федерального министерства экономического сотрудничества и развития Германии.  Глобальное мероприятие, объединяющее лидеров всего мира, молодежь и видных деятелей науки, гражданского общества, спорта и развлечений, продемонстрирует стремление к единству в борьбе за землю в преддверии крупнейшей в истории конференции ООН по проблемам земли и засухи, которая пройдет в Эр-Рияде (Саудовская Аравия) в декабре 2024 года (КС16). В течение мая и июня КБО ООН в партнерстве с Федеральным министерством экономического сотрудничества и развития Германии (BMZ) и городом Бонн начнут кампанию по информированию общественности #UNited4Land, представляя различные мероприятия в Бонне и его окрестностях, посвященных будущему рационального использования земельных ресурсов. Катя Дёрнер, леди-мэр Бонна, отметила: "Будучи домом КБО ООН и городом, стремящимся к достижению климатической нейтральности к 2035 году, Бонн может воспринимать и добиваться защиты климата, природы и земли только как единого целого. Земля – включает в себя всё. Это гораздо больше, чем территория, на которой построен наш город. Земля – это почва, на которой растут наши урожаи, среда обитания растений и животных, хранилище воды, свободное пространство и охлаждающий коридор – а также наследие, которое мы передаем будущим поколениям." Страны по всему миру собираются отметить День борьбы с опустыниванием и засухой множеством образовательных, культурных и спортивных мероприятий – от кинопоказов до футбольных турниров, от посадки деревьев до конкурсов садоводов. Полная программа мероприятий будет доступна на сайте: https://www.unccd.int/events/desertification-drought-day. О Дне борьбы с опустыниванием и засухой День борьбы с опустыниванием и засухой, официально объявленный Генеральной Ассамблеей ООН в 1994 году (A/RES/49/115) и отмечаемый ежегодно 17 июня, преследует следующие цели:    Повысить осведомленность общественности о проблемах, связанных с опустыниванием, деградацией земель и засухой Продемонстрировать решения, основанные на человеческом факторе, для предотвращения опустынивания и обращения вспять усиливающихся засух Усилить реализацию Конвенции ООН по борьбе с опустыниванием Примите участие в праздновании этого года: чтобы узнать больше о Дне борьбы с опустыниванием и засухой в этом году, нажмите здесь: /events/desertification-drought-day/2024 Чтобы получить доступ к материалам кампании #UNited4Land, нажмите здесь: https://trello.com/b/VdJGolcp/desertification-and-drought-day-2024 Чтобы узнать больше о мероприятиях в рамках Дня борьбы с опустыниванием и засухой по всему миру, нажмите здесь: https://www.unccd.int/events/desertification-drought-day/2024/events-around-world По вопросам онлайн-участия в глобальном мероприятии в Бонне обращайтесь по адресу: communications (at) unccd.int За дополнительной информацией обращайтесь: UNCCD: Ксения Скэнлон, +49 152 5454 0492, xscanlon@unccd.int или Яннис Умлауф,  +49 178 285 8629 yumlauf@unccd.int с копией на press@unccd.int BMZ: Отдел прессы, Федеральное министерство экономического сотрудничества и развития Германии, +49 30 18 535-2451, Email: presse@bmz.bund.de, www.bmz.de  

Your Excellency Minister Abdulrahman Al-Fadley, Honorable Ministers and Deputy ministers, Dear Colleagues and friends, It’s an honor for me to sign this agreement, on behalf of the United Nations, with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as host to the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). I would like to thank Minister Al-Fadley, and through you, the Government and people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The moment could not be more solemn: today we have signed more than a Host Country Agreement. We are sealing the commitment between two Parties, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Nations, to join forces, to forge daily relationships, to build bridges across oceans and continents in order to make Riyadh, from 2 to 13 December 2024, the Multilateral Capital of the World, as far as our relations with the land are concerned. We are building an umbrella under which vulnerable populations around the world will find protective shelter to build their resilience in the face of severe and destructive droughts. Indeed, Saudi Arabia, its people and its Leadership will welcome tens of thousands of participants to the sixteenth session (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Land Degradation and Mitigate the Effects of Drought. Between the time we sign this agreement and the time we actually hold the Conference of the Parties, humanity will have degraded some 100 million hectares of fertile land. Over the same period, it is feared that hundreds of millions of people will be hit by severe droughts, with no safety valve or protective cushion. During the same period, women, children and other vulnerable groups will find themselves forced to flee from poverty, often venturing on extraordinarily perilous odysseys. Unless exceptional measures are taken, the loss of soil and productive land will lead to further conflicts over access to land and water, further food insecurity and, in some cases, a total loss of food sovereignty. Ladies and Gentlemen, COP16 will put a human face on these so-called natural or ecological phenomena. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of this global treaty, COP16 will take place at a pivotal moment for our Convention. It is the time to move from strategies, plans and other methodological visions to action. It is the time to transform pledges into operations on the ground. Having realized how much we have scarred the face of the earth, we need to heal the wounds, not only to make the earth more beautiful, but to enable it to provide us with more vital services. We need the land. Land does not need us. We live off the land, it feeds us, clothes us and waters us. COP 16 gives humanity the opportunity not only to review its relationship with nature, but also to save itself from the perils it is inflicting on itself. Riyadh, in December, will be this nurturing and refreshing oasis in the middle of the desert. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be offering the representatives of the 197 Contracting Parties to the UNCCD and many other stakeholders not only its legendary hospitality but also a strong sense of solidarity and shared commitment.   We hope the world will heed our urgent call and this generous invitation from our hosts to come together in Riyadh for COP16 and secure our land's future. Thank you. Shukran.