The 16th meeting of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which gets underway in Riyadh this week, is a “critical moment to address land degradation, drought and desertification,” Saudi Arabia’s deputy environment minister has said.
Dr. Osama Faqeeha, deputy minister for environment and advisor to the UNCCD COP16 presidency, was commenting as the largest-ever UNCCD meeting commenced with the launch of the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Initiative, a scheme to accelerate international action on drought resilience.
One Water Summit
COP16, which is themed ‘Our Land. Our Future’, runs from 2 to 16 December, with the first few days playing host to a number of high-profile summits and ministerial dialogues, including the One Water Summit on 3 December, to address global water scarcity and water challenges.
French president Emmanuel Macron will be taking part in these discussions, along with Kazakhstan president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and the president of the World Bank, Ajay Banga.
Elsewhere, the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) Forum will run alongside COP16 on December 2–3, while the Second International Forum on Greening Technologies will take place from December 6–8.
“For too long, [land degradation, drought and desertification] have not received the attention they deserve on the international stage,” Faqeeha added. “As hosts, we welcome the world to Riyadh to help find lasting solutions. We will deliver the largest UNCCD COP to date, to mobilise multilateral action on land restoration and drought resilience.”
Land degradation
According to the UNCCD, land degradation affects nearly 40% of the planet and impacts the lives of over 3.2 billion people. Every year, 100 million hectares of land are degraded, with drought frequency and intensity increasing by nearly a third since 2000.
The event in Riyadh will also look to strengthen the ‘Action Agenda’, aimed at encouraging governments and non-state actors to champion initiatives that deliver lasting solutions for land degradation, desertification and drought.
“The Action Agenda under COP16 sets out an ambitious vision and goals to harness the collective energies of non-state actors, including businesses, farmers, regions, cities, financial institutions, investors, civil society and indigenous people, to catalyse practical solutions and drive measurable progress towards the goals of the UNCCD,” commented Nigel Topping, Ambition Loop founder and former UN Climate Change High-Level Champion at COP26. Read more here. [Photo: UNCCD]
