Land degradation tops agenda at major UN conference, China

The European Union and its Member States attended the 13th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Ordos, China (UNCCD CoP13), 6-16 September. The COP adopted a strategic framework for 2018-2030 to guide global efforts to achieve a Land Degradation Neutral world and committed parties to address the role of land degradation as a cause of migration. Moreover, Parties agreed to advance gender equality and women's empowerment in action to promote sustainable land management.

Outcome strengthens global efforts against land degradation

The UNCCD was established in 1994 and is the sole legally binding international agreement on sustainable land management. With 195 parties, UNCCD is the most ratified environmental convention in the world. The parties work together to improve the living conditions for people in drylands, to maintain and restore land and soil productivity, and to mitigate the effects of drought.

The 13th Conference of the Parties to UNCCD was the first major multilateral event on the environment to take place in China. China seized the opportunity to showcase the large-scale land restoration investments it has made in Inner Mongolia and the rest of the country. The Conference adopted a strategic framework for 2018-2030 to guide global efforts to achieve a Land Degradation Neutral world in line with target 15.3 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and helped set clear objectives and a roadmap for the implementation of the Convention. It also committed parties to address the contribution of land degradation as a driver of migration and step up efforts under the Convention to address drought, an increasingly acute hazard that undermines the food security, incomes and resilience of millions of people in Africa and worldwide. Moreover, Parties advanced international policy dialogue on gender equality and women's empowerment for achieving sustainable land management.

Land is central to the 2030 Agenda: its sustainable management is key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals on poverty, hunger, climate change and terrestrial ecosystems notably. In recent years, close to 120 countries around the world have developed voluntary national targets for achieving Land Degradation Neutrality. This objective needs to be mainstreamed into land-related policies and investments, and resources need to be mobilised from all sources to achieve these targets as part of the implementation of the Convention and the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. During the COP, the UNCCD launched the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund, a new financial instrument that uses public finance to leverage private investment. The goal is to scale-up investments in sustainable land management, and achieve a land-degradation neutral world.

The Conference concluded that working across silos on integrated sustainable land management approaches will help achieve Land Degradation Neutrality, as well as the overall Sustainable Development Agenda.

The event also marked the launch of the newly-funded EU initiative, “Addressing Land Degradation in Africa by Scaling-up Evergreen Agriculture”. The programme includes measures aiming at the sustainable management of land in order to improve livelihoods, food security and resilience to climate change, and restore ecosystem services in eight African countries.