Power capacity from renewables increased by 9% from 2015 to 2016 3 billion people will be using unsustainably produced biomass energy by 2030 Recovering the more than 500 million hectares of degraded land to meet growing demand for renewables is urgently need and possible Bonn, 17/11/2017 - Newly…

The Thematic Scientific Conference of the International Geographic Union (IGU) “Practical Geography and XXI Century Challenges” dedicated to the Centennial of the Institute of Geography of Russian Academy of Sciences will take place on 4-6 June 2018 in Moscow, Russian Federation. The conference will…

Soil degradation and desertification is severe in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). While the degree of land degradation in the CEE region varies from country to country, evidence shows that the problem is getting worse. The CEE region experiences various forms of land degradation caused by…

Two-thirds of the African continent is desert or drylands. This land is vital for agriculture and food production, however nearly three-fourths of it is estimated to be degraded. The region is affected by frequent droughts, which have been particularly severe in recent years in the Horn of Africa…

Desertification manifests itself in many different forms across the vast region of Asia and the Pacific. Out of a total land area of 4.3 billion hectares reaching from the Mediterranean coast to the shores of the Pacific, Asia contains some 1.7 billion hectares of arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid…

Ordos, September 11, 2017 – Up to 2 billion hectares of land are degraded. On average, 12 million hectares are lost every year and 169 countries are affected by land degradation, desertification and drought. In an unprecedented global campaign to save productive land, 112 countries, as of today…

Ordos, September 12 – “Consumption of the earth's natural reserves has doubled in the last 30 years, with a third of the planet's land now severely degraded. Each year, we lose 15 billion trees and 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil. Smallholder farmers, women and indigenous communities are the most…

Video file Today, there are 1.8 billion people in the world between the ages of 15 and 35 — a quarter of the global population and the largest generation of youth the world has ever known. These young people are also the most educated generation ever. Young women and men are invaluable assets that…

By the end of the 13th meeting of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Ordos, China, 113 countries had agreed to specify concrete targets with clear indicators, to rehabilitate more land and reverse degradation, which currently affects over a third of the world’s…

New York, USA, 22 September 2011 – A historic United Nations General Assembly meeting on desertification and drought, the first times heads of state and government have met to discuss the issue, concluded in New York yesterday. Closing the high-level meeting attended by over 100 heads of state and…

12 September 2017 – Ordos, China – “Consumption of the earth's natural reserves has doubled in the last 30 years, with a third of the planet's land now severely degraded. Each year, we lose 15 billion trees and 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil. Smallholder farmers, women and indigenous communities…

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), through its operational arm - the Global Mechanism – together with Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to responsible investing, have signed an agreement to structure the first global fund dedicated to…

11 September 2017 – Ordos, China – Up to 2 billion hectares of land are degraded. On average, 12 million hectares are lost every year and 169 countries are affected by land degradation, desertification and drought. In an unprecedented global campaign to save productive land, 112 countries, as of…

Keynote speech by the UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw Excellencies, Distinguished guests, Dear friends and colleagues, I would like to thank FAO and Director-General Qu Dongyu for the kind invitation and for our cooperation as we kickstart the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Dear…

FR | SP | AR | CH | RU A statement by UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw With the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use, the world has put nature and sustainable land use at the heart of the global battle against climate change and biodiversity loss. And not a moment too soon! At…

This year on World Day to Combat Desertification, we think about the real value of land. Not just its economic value. Land is worth so much more than that. It defines our way of life and our culture – whether we live in the city or the villages. It purifies the water we drink. It feeds us. It…