25 April, 2018 – Rome, Italy – A meeting at the FAO headquarters brought together representatives of the UNCCD secretariat, FAO and WMO to explore opportunities for collaboration in the framework of the new UNCCD Drought Initiative, adopted at the COP 13 in Ordos, China. The meeting focused on…

Planning early is key to achieving drought resilience Mandate The Conference of the Parties (COP) at its thirteenth Meeting (COP13), requested the Secretariat and appropriate UNCCD institutions and bodies including the Science-Policy Interface to implement the Drought Initiative during the 2018-19…

27 April, 2018 – New Delhi, India – The four-day UNCCD Asia Pacific regional workshop that focused on building regional capacity and enabling country Parties to participate effectively and efficiently in the UNCCD reporting process, concluded today. The workshop provided a diverse and multi…

19-22 March, 2018 – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The workshop for Annex I country Parties on the reporting requirements under the new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework took place at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Conference Center. The workshop, organized by the UNCCD secretariat and the…

A successful fundraising campaign, organized by the Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats (TEMA), brought together celebrities on national television to raise funds for environmental education. TEMA is one of biggest environmental NGOs in…

3 May, 2018 – Chinsali, Zambia (IPS) – As global climate experts meet in Bonn this week to discuss how to take climate action forward, Zambia counts itself amongst the leaders as President Edgar Lungu officially launches the Plant a Million (PAM) trees Initiative. In fact, the initiative is even…

23–25 April, 2018 – Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – UNCCD discussed innovative ways to integrate science, practice and policy to effectively combat desertification as part of the three-day international workshop organized by the ministry of environment, water and agriculture (MEWA) of the Kingdom…

3 May, 2018 – Bonn, Germany – The UNCCD has actively participated in the forty-eighth session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference to demonstrate the importance of land degradation neutrality (LDN) as a…

9-12 April, 2018 – Fortaleza, Brazil – The Global Support Programme workshop for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has brought together 62 delegates from 26 countries to develop technical capacity for the UNCCD national reporting process. During the opening session, representatives of the…

Promoting sustainable land use unifies our voices for bird conservation Birds are highly sensitive to their environments. With 30 per cent of the land now degraded, the long journeys migratory birds fly every year across continents to find food, breeding and rearing grounds are becoming ever more…

4 May 2018 – Kyiv, Ukraine – The Coordination Council to Combat Land Degradation and Desertification met to discuss the implementation of national action plan (NAP) to combat land degradation and desertification in Ukraine, as well as the results of the land degradation neutrality (LDN) target…

8 May, 2018 – Tel Aviv, Israel – Focusing on the challenges and opportunities for developing sustainable agricultural practices in the arid and semi-arid regions, UNCCD Executive Secretary Ms. Monique Barbut addressed the participants of Agritech Israel 2018, one of the world’s leading exhibitions…

9 May 2018 - Bonn, Germany – The global economy will lose a whopping USD23 trillion by 2050 through land degradation, a review by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) warns. To take urgent action now and halt these alarming trends would cost USD4.6 trillion – only a…

As part of its efforts to enhance LDN implementation, the Government of Republic of Korea, in partnership with the UNCCD, will host a Global LDN Forum, designed to facilitate the exchange of information, experiences and knowledge in land degradation neutrality (LND) implementation among relevant…

The 2018 WDCD global observance was held in Ecuador, hosted by the Ministry of Environment. The country promotes the bio-economy through sustainable land management (SLM) in its 2017-2021 National Development Plan. Bio-economy, or bio-technology, is the knowledge-based production and utilization of…

The global economy will lose a whopping USD23 trillion by 2050 through land degradation, a review by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) warns. To take urgent action now and halt these alarming trends would cost USD4.6 trillion – only a fraction of the predicted losses…

Konya/Mesin, Turkey – The 14th International training on combating desertification took place between 9-14 May, 2018, bringing together 26 experts from 15 African countries. The course is organized by Turkey’s General Directorate of Combating Desertification and covers technical issues, such as…

Cairo, Egypt – A regional workshop on the reporting requirements under the new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework took place on 6–9 May, 2018, bringing together delegates from sixteen Arab States and representatives of international organizations to discuss the technical aspects of reporting. The…

Tuesday, 22 May, is the International Day for Biological Diversity. This year’s theme is "Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity." 
 
The theme was chosen to mark the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and to highlight progress made in…

On 14-15 May 2018, the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) convened an Expert Group Meeting on the Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG15) titled Life on Land. The Expert Group Meetings highlighted the key messages below, which together with their deliberations, are part…

Join us to raise awareness on the impact our everyday choices can have on the ground. Mismanagement of land, unplanned urban development, food loss and waste contribute to the depletion of resources on a major scale, including water, land, energy, labour and capital. At the same time, the greenhouse…

Ankara, Turkey – The amount of soil carried by rivers in Turkey has been reduced to 154 million tons this year from about 500 million tons per year back in the 1970s, thanks to the afforestation activities, changes of irrigation techniques in agricultural areas, improvement of rangeland and erosion…

New Delhi, India – A global outlook, released by UN Environment on the World Environment Day 2018, provides a comprehensive analysis of the world’s complex relationships with plastics. This year, the World Day is focused on beating plastic pollution under the theme: “If you can’t reuse it, refuse it…

Moscow, Russia – More than 600 scientists from all over the world attended the Thematic Conference that commemorates the centennial of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Science to discuss land issues, climate change, urban transformation and the “One Belt – One Road” initiative…

Bonn, 8 June 2018 - Ahead of the World Day to Combat Desertification to be celebrated on Sunday, 17 June 2018, Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary, UN Convention to Combat Desertification, has penned an opinion for dissemination by mainstream, alternative and social media, on this occasion. The…