​Stockholm, Sweden, 1 September 2016 – On the occasion of the world water week in Stockholm, the UNCCD coordinated a panel discussion event together with the German Development Institute (DIE), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)…

The Russian Federation has joined the Northeast Asia Network for DLDD (DLDD-NEAN) as of 13 July 2020. DLDD-NEAN, an official reporting entity, is a sub-regional cooperation platform for the implementation of the UNCCD in Northeast Asia. The network was launched at the UNCCD COP10 in Changwon, with…

A statement by the UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw Plants, animals and humans – all forms of life on Earth depend on healthy soil. Soil is the basis of all terrestrial ecosystems, supporting our food and water security while playing an important part in reducing the impacts of climate change…

(French text follows) Alarmed by the dangerous effects of climate change especially on fragile and unstable communities, African governments meeting at the Climate Change Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, agreed on practical measures to set the region on a path towards security, stability and…

We, the Ministers and Representatives gathered for the high-level segment at the fourteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held on 9–10 September 2019 in New Delhi at the invitation of the Government of the Republic of…

Beijing, China, 17 June 2016 – China and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification today launched the Joint Action Initiative to combat desertification, rehabilitate degraded land and mitigate the effects of drought (JAI). The initiative aims to make the whole region along the “Silk Road”…

Georgetown, Guyana – Momentum to repair degraded lands and to manage droughts more effectively has picked up, according to reports released for review by an inter-governmental meeting that opened today in Georgetown, Guyana. An assessment of land degradation in 127 countries revealed that close to…

The UNCCD secretariat is deeply saddened by the news that Mr. Philbert Brown, UNCCD National Focal Point (NFP) for Jamaica for many years, passed away on 1 May 2021. His contributions to the convention over the years touched every aspect of the UNCCD process and included serving as a Chair of the…

Joint Press Statement of Mr. Prakash Javadekar, President COP 14 and Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD New Delhi, 13 September 2019 – The global community has long recognized that land degradation/desertification is a major economic, social and environmental problem of concern to many…

Remarks by the Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw on UNCCD Commitment on drylands in Africa and the Sahel To speak about land is to speak about life in all its complexity. Whether wet, dry, or severely degraded, the land is humanity’s common treasure that we must protect. So, allow me to debunk five…

The two-day stakeholders' virtual meeting on “Land-Solar Plus” : Integrated solution combining solar-powered Land Degradation Neutrality for food, water and energy security, and ecosystem services organized by UNCCD Secretariat took place on 16 - 17 September 2020 in collaboration with Tsinghua…

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran – Around 100 representatives of UN organizations, Iranian national institutions and government agencies from the countries of Asia and the Pacific gathered on 5-6 November 2018 for an expert consultation meeting on regional cooperation to build disaster resilience…

The Award recognizes excellence and innovation in efforts towards a land in balance, in line with achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 15.3 Life on Land. Since UNCCD celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary this year, we focused on organizations and individuals qualifying…

Santiago, Chile – The annual Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) on Sustainable Development opened on April 24 at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). More than a thousand people, including representatives of government…

Bonn, Germany, 18 April 2013 – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) today signed an agreement to collaborate in the nuclear technologies to strengthen the assessment of soil erosion and monitor improvements over time. The…

Brasília, Brazil – Progress towards land degradation neutrality (LDN) became the focus of the recent national conference organized in partnership with UNCCD and UNDP on 26–27 November to discuss strategies, challenges and results of combating desertification, recovering degraded areas and reducing…

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Ramsar Convention, the intergovernmental treaty which unites 171 countries to protect and use wisely the wetlands and the resources they provide. The Ramsar Convention is the oldest of the modern global intergovernmental environmental agreements. In…

What is the Great Green Wall? The Great Green Wall is a symbol of hope in the face of one of the biggest challenges of our time – desertification. Launched in 2007 by the African Union, this game-changing African-led initiative aims to restore Africa’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of…

Bonn, Germany – How will the use and condition of land change worldwide over the next few decades? What drives those changes, and what will be the effects on agriculture, water, climate and biodiversity? How will they influence the challenge to achieve global sustainability ambitions? Which regions…

Rome, Italy – Around 500 participants from over 100 countries attended the Global Symposium on Soil Erosion (GSER19) that took place on 15-17 May to discuss catalyzing efforts for reducing soil erosion – one of the processes of land degradation. Addressing the forum, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary…

Land sustains life on the planet. Land provides us with food, clean water, and energy. Healthy land is the basis for our own health. Yet, one in five hectares of land is no longer usable. Land degradation is affecting 40% of the world’s population and costing more than 10% of the annual global GDP…

Nearly 6 000 participants from all over the world took part in UNCCD COP14. The Parties to the Convention agreed on the actions each will take over the next two years and beyond to get us on a sustainable development path. The UNCCD COP 14 ended on 13 September 2019, after ten days of meetings, 11…

This UNCCD-SPI technical report provides well-established scientific evidence for understanding the strong linkages between land use and drought and how management of both is connected through water use. It introduces a new concept of Drought-Smart Land Management (D-SLM) and organizes relevant…

Top sustainable land management prize totaling USD 70,000 goes to development organizations in Afghanistan and Republic of Korea Washington D.C., United States, June 17 2014 – For the third year running, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has announced the winners of the…

Monique Barbut, the United Nations Under Secretary-General and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and Noriko Suzuki, Senior Vice President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) met today at the JICA Headquarters in Tokyo to discuss…