Let’s celebrate World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

This year’s theme is “United for Land, Our Legacy. Our Future” will focus on the future of land stewardship. Every second, an equivalent of four football fields of healthy land becomes degraded – adding up to the loss of a total of 100 million hectares every year, it is therefore of the utmost importance to bring awareness to this issue. 

The 17th of June 2024, also marks the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), headquartered in Bonn, Germany. As the sole legally binding international treaty on land management and drought, the UNCCD stands alongside climate change and biodiversity conventions as a cornerstone of global environmental governance.

To honour this occasion, the global observance of Desertification and Drought Day 2024 will be hosted by the Government of Germany, a longstanding signatory to the convention. Collaborating with the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the City of Bonn, which has housed the UNCCD Secretariat since 1999, a series of public events will be organised to raise awareness and mobilise action for sustainable land management.

On this subject, UNEP recently released a short documentary as a part of their land restoration program Regreening Africa, which won the ‘World Restoration Flagship’ award back in March. To watch the documentary click here.  

For further information on this year’s event click here. 

Contact us for technical assistance and further support on measures to combat desertification and drought: INTPA-GREENING-FACILITY@ec.europa.eu  |  NEAR-GREENING-FACILITY@ec.europa.eu