May 12, 2022

The Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is being held in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) from May 9 to 20. The theme of the meeting is "Earth. Life. Legacy: from Scarcity to Prosperity." The conference is about a call to action aimed at reviving and preserving terrestrial ecosystems, such as agricultural lands, meadows, forests, wetlands and peat lands for future generations.

The Conference began with a summit of heads of State and a high-level segment for the purpose of giving some political impetus to efforts to prevent land degradation, which occurs under the influence of various factors, including climate change and human activities.

Degradation of 40 percent of all soils in the world 

To date, 40 percent of all soils in the entire Earth have suffered from erosion, sealing and salinization, leaching of organic substances, acidification, pollution, soil compaction and other causes.

Addressing the conference participants, Chairman of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly Abdullah Shakhid stressed that efforts to revive ecosystems will help restore their ability to accumulate carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, prevent a rapid decline in flora and fauna, increase soil fertility and reduce water scarcity. He stressed that land degradation already affects the well-being of approximately 3.2 billion people.

"Provided that we achieve worldwide restoration of degraded lands, we will be able to annually retain three billion tons of atmospheric carbon in the soil. This would offset about 10 percent of the current annual emissions that fall on the energy sector, "said the Chairman of the UN General Assembly. He added that by "taking measures to prevent, reduce and reverse land degradation, we can contribute to mitigation of climate change, which is necessary to make sure that the rate of global warming does not exceed two degrees Celsius by 2030.

Abdullah Shakhid recalled the proclamation by the General Assembly of the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.

Restoration of one billion hectares of degraded land by 2030

The current Conference participants are discussing ways to restore one billion hectares of degraded land, improve land use efficiency by taking into account the effects of climate change, and overcome growing risks of natural disasters such as droughts, sand and dust storms and forest fires to 2030.

More than 12 heads of state and governments, ministers and at least 2,000 delegates from 196 countries and the European Union are attending this Conference, which is scheduled to end on May 20. The First Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations Amina Mohammed is among the participants of the conference.

In her speech, Amina Mohammed stressed that the losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic are approaching 12 trillion US dollars. According to her, the war in Ukraine has led to huge upheavals in food, energy and development finance, affecting 1.7 billion people worldwide. And, the countries of the Horn of Africa are experiencing the worst drought in the last 40 years. Ten million children are at risk in this region. The First Deputy UN Secretary General also recalled the intense heat in South Asia and the recent floods in South Africa.

"These interconnected crises remind us of the reason the world came together in 2015 to take on the responsibility of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. Fulfilling these commitments requires large-scale investments, prioritization of the issues and, in many cases, financial support," Amina Mohammed said.

According to her, investments in combating desertification and land degradation are among the most effective. Half of global GDP and half of grain reserves depend on whether the land degradation issue is resolved or not.

Representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences are taking part in the work of the conference.  The Russian delegation is headed by Ruslan Edelgeriev, Adviser to the President of Russia, Special Representative of the President of Russia on climate Issues. During a high-level segment round-table discussion within the Conference work, the Russian delegation proposed the initiative to expand the mandate of the UNCCD in order to include the problems of land degradation in it.

"In the context of global warming, humanity's responsibility for the state of these territories is of special importance, since this is where, according to the forecasts of climatologists, a surge in economic activity can be expected in the coming years. Therefore, the world community should seriously consider expanding the mandate of the UNCCD, and to address this issue, the Russian delegation proposed to create an intergovernmental group to study this problem and develop an appropriate actions program, "said Ruslan Edelgeriev.

Land degradation is a serious issue for Russia and many other countries with humid, boreal and Arctic territories, for the problem of their adaptation to climate change is becoming more urgent.

"Russia holds the world's largest land resources, so adequate management of these resources is the most important task, which is of not only national, but also of global importance," Ruslan Edelgeriev emphasized.

Russia takes an active part in the work of the Convention, including within the framework of the UNCCD project on the study of the interaction in migration, land degradation and climate change in Central Asian countries. The project was initiated by the Russian side and is under implementation on the basis of regional cooperation between Russia and five Central Asian countries with financial support from Russia and under the guidance of Russian scientists from the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

For reference:

28 subjects of Russia face the problems of desertification and land degradation. Of these, the lands of the Republic of Kalmykia, Astrakhan, Volgograd, Rostov oblasts, as well as certain regions of the Voronezh, Kursk, Saratov, Samara, Orenburg, Belgorod, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Tyumen, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo oblasts, Transbaiсal, Krasnodar, Stavropol, Altai and Krasnoyarsk territories, the Republics of Dagestan, Bashkortostan, Ingushetia, Khakassia, Tyva, Buryatia and Chechnya.

Sources:

https://news.un.org/ru/story/2022/05/1423452

https://mnr.gov.ru/press/news/rossiyskaya_delegatsiya_prinyala_uchastie_v_rabote_15_y_konferentsii_storon_konventsii_oon_po_borbe_/

Translated in English by Muhiddin Ganiev

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