People in Gansu province work together to combat desertification in the Tengger Desert. (PHOTO: VCG)

Edited by QI Liming

The 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was held in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire this May, agreeing to prioritize a global commitment to drought preparedness and resilience.

UNCCD's COP15 is the first Conference of the Parties of three Rio Conventions taking place in 2022, ahead of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change COP27 and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP15.

Future meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD and its subsidiary bodies will be held in Saudi Arabia (COP16 in 2024), Mongolia (COP17 in 2026), and Uzbekistan (Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention in 2023).

Drought an urgent issue for humanity

Humanity is "at a crossroads". When it comes to managing drought and accelerating mitigation, it must be done "urgently, using every tool we can," said the report Drought in Numbers, 2022, issued by UNCCD.

The report, an authoritative compendium of drought-related information and data, helps inform negotiations of one of several decisions by UNCCD's 196 member states.

"The facts and figures of this publication all point in the same direction: an upward trajectory in the duration of droughts and the severity of impacts, not only affecting human societies but also the ecological systems upon which the survival of all life depends, including that of our own species," said Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of UNCCD.

New commitments made among delegates

Speaking at the closing ceremony of UNCCD COP15, Patrick Achi, Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire, said: "Each generation faces this thorny question of how to meet the production needs of our societies […] without destroying our forests and lands and thus condemning the future of those on whose behalf we endeavor."

Highlights among the new commitments:

1) Accelerate the restoration of one billion hectares of degraded land by 2030, through improving data gathering and monitoring to track progress against the achievement of land restoration commitments, and establishing a new partnership model for large-scale integrated landscape investment programs;

2) Boost drought resilience by identifying the expansion of drylands, improving national policies and early warning, monitoring and assessment; learning and sharing knowledge; building partnerships and coordinating action; and mobilizing drought finance;

3) Establish an Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought for 2022-2024 to look into possible options, including global policy instruments and regional policy frameworks, to support a shift from reactive to proactive drought management;

4) Address forced migration and displacement driven by desertification and land degradation by creating social and economic opportunities that increase rural resilience and livelihood stability, and by mobilizing resources, including from the diaspora, for land restoration projects.

Carry out concrete actions with sufficient funding

German media outlet DW described the COP15 conference as a meeting to address issues of land degradation, advancing deserts and deforestation. Experts and activists hope that this will not be just another high-level conference with no concrete results.

The Chadian environmentalist and Indigenous rights advocate Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, said that she has seen progress in the promise of involving local communities in all projects implemented. "This is a positive aspect," she said, adding that, "We will see in two years, before the next COP, what will happen and if the promises will have concrete implementation."

Funding the fight against desertification remains a problem. "It would take more than 30 billion USD to achieve the objectives of UN Convention to Combat Desertification, if we want to avoid the impacts of inaction that could cost even more," said the Chadian environmentalist.

And according to UNCCD's senior coordinator for partnerships, Camilla Nordheim-Larsen, the 30 billion USD investment estimated by her convention could generate 400 million new jobs.