Land, Life, Legacy: From scarcity and prosperity

A report on UNCCDCOP-15

Shweta Tyagi*

15^th Session of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) – Land Life Legacy: From Scarcity to Prosperity

The biennial meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP), the main decision making body of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification was held from 9^th-20^th May 2022 in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. The 15^th session of the Convention comprising of group of governments, organizations the private sector, civil society, youth other key stakeholders and the European Union was held to review commitments made to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and plan and make recommendations for the future. The theme of the 15^th COP of the UNCCD was ‘Land Life Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity’. It represented a global call to actionto ensure land, the lifeline ofthe planet, continues to benefit present and future generations. It aims to bring togetherleaders from governments, the private sector, civil society and other key stakeholders from around the world to drive progress in the future sustainable management of landand galvanize sustainable solutions for land restoration and drought resilience.​Drought, land restoration, and related enablers such as land rights, gender equality and youth empowerment were among the focus of the 15^th COP agenda.

The 15^th Convention of Parties held from 9^th-20^th May 2022 included multiple sessions of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and its subsidiary bodies: the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) and the Committee on Science and Technology (CST); Discussions with Committee of the Whole (COW); High-level segment meetings; Dialogue platforms with Civil Society and Plenary Sessions. 

High Level Segment: 9^th & 10^th May, 2022

The 15^th Conference of Parties (COP) began with an Opening Ceremony of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on 9^th May, 2022. The opening ceremony included a Presidential Summit and was attended by the President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire Alassane Ouattara; UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw; Indigenous Peoples, Hindou Oumarou and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed; UN leaders; Heads of state; Government Delegations and representatives of Indigenous Peoples Groups and Youth. The Presidential Summit outlined the theme of the Conference with most delegates highlighting economic risks from continued loss of fertile land; vulnerability of small producers, women and youth to environmental degradation; transformation of food systems; sustainable land management; development of drought policies and inclusion of women, girls, youth and indigenous people.

The Presidential Summit was followed by a Gender Caucus held on 9^th May 2022. Attended by Heads of State, Departments and Delegation comprising of many women led states and departments; the Gender Caucus served as an effective platform to discuss role of women in agriculture value chains; gender equality in sustainable land management and inclusion of women in agricultural extension services and rights to land.

The High Level Segment of 15^th Conference of Parties (COP) to the UNCCD began with an opening plenary; a series of Interactive Dialogues and roundtables. The opening plenary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) included an address by Shri Bhupender Yadav Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and a special address by Sadhguru, spiritual leader and founder of ISHA Foundation. While, the Minister acknowledged the essential role of land in achievement of Sustainable Development Goals; he encouraged the adoption of soil conservation; sustainable agricultural production and Soil Health Cards as innovative examples of scientific land management. This was supported by Sadhguru call to save soils and the adoption of a global target of 3% soil organic carbon content. 

The 1^st Interactive Dialogue on Land reGeneration was marked by discussions on role of youth; land based entrepreneurship development;approaches to the inclusion of youth in sustainable land management and implementation of UNCCD; and linkages with sustainable production and consumption. The 2^nd Interactive Dialogue on Future Proofing Land Use was marked by discussions on food security, future risks to value chains; land restoration and sustainable land management; sustainable livestock development;sustainable consumption and production and the role of markets.

Conference of Parties (COP) and Committee of Whole (COW): 11^th– 20^th May, 2022

The 15^th Conference of Parties began with the official handing over of the Presidency from COP 14 host India to COP 15 host and President Côte d’Ivoire’s. This was followed by opening statements of representatives of regional and interest groups, UN agencies, civil society and the private sector. The main events of the session were discussions and finalization of a Work Programe (2022-2025) and budget (2022-2023).

The 2^ndmeeting of the Conference of Parties began with a follow up for the mid-term review of the UNCCD Strategic Framework 2018-2030 scheduled for the 16^th Conference of Parties in 2024.This included setting criteria, priorities and terms of reference for the midterm evaluation. India along with China requested the convention to be part of the Intergovernmental Working Group overseeing the evaluation of the UNCCD Strategic Framework. This was followed by a review of international policies and frameworks addressing the following:-

• Migration: International instruments like Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and organizations like International Organization for Migration were found relevant to address migration issues due to land degradation/desertification and drought. Members supported assessing desertification-migration links; rural-urban migration trends etc. Members continued to emphasize on the potential of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and Ecosystems Restoration in addressing land degradation and out migration.
• Gender: A separate session was organized for members of the 15^th COP to support the gender-responsive implementation of the UNCCD 2018−2030 Strategic Framework. With preparation of Gender Action Plans (GAP), Gender Caucus and capacity building on gender issues some of the main approaches adopted under the UNCCD, additional support included design of gender-responsive tools and guidelines; capacity building, strengthening of data collection

• Land Tenure: During the session on policy frameworks to address land tenure Delegates welcomed the technical guide on integrating the VGGT into the implementation of the UNCCD and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), and related efforts on awareness raising and capacity building.

The 3^rd meeting of the Committee of the Whole (COW) began with a Review of progress in the implementation of the UNCCD communication plan; Promotion and strengthening relationships with other relevant conventions and international organizations, institutions and agencies; and Participation and involvement of the private sector in meetings and processes of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the business engagement strategy.

The 4^th meeting of the Conference of the Partiesbegan with the release of the 2^nd Global Land Outlook (GLO2) and an open dialogue onAgro-ecologicalapproaches and regenerative agricultural practices as solution toachieving land degradation neutrality (LDN) and addressing desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD). The 5^th Meeting the Conference of the Parties began with the presentation of the CRIC report, summarizing the recommendation to adopt eight draft decisions and its adoption by the members.

Committee for the Review & Implementation of the Convention (CRIC): 11^th– 13^th May& 16^th – 18^th May, 2022

The 1^st session of the Committee for the Review and Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) began with the adoption of the agenda including a review of the effective implementation of the Convention at national, sub regional and regional levels; Multi-year work plan and Performance of Convention Institutions and Subsidiary bodies; Integration of Sustainable Development Goal 15 and 15.3; andImproving procedures for communication and capacity building for implementation of the Convention. Since 129 countries have committed to set Land Degradation Neutrality Targets, the committee considered some of the main gaps identified by members for strengthening the implementation of LDN including the need for customized support, guidance and capacity building- LDN assessments, data collection, monitoring and national reporting including the use of high resolution Earth observation data on LDN especially in drylands.

The Committee for the Review & Implementation of the Convention resumed its sessions from 16^th May 2022. One of the main agenda of the 2^nd meeting of the Committee was improving the procedures for communication of information as well as the quality and formats of reports to be submitted to the Conference of the Parties. The main suggestions supported by the Committee include the adoption of e-learning tools to support national reporting; adoption of online spatial database based land-change monitoring platforms; creation of national level technical expertise to ensure high quality reports. Potential areas for capacity building requested by the Parties include scientifically robust technical classification of land use types, and of types and severity of land degradation and the identification of tools and indicators for monitoring progress of LDN. Other agendas of the Committee were Integration of Sustainable Development Goal 15 and related target 15.3 into the implementation of the Convention and land degradation neutrality;Development and promotion of activities for targeted capacity building to further the implementation of the Convention.

The 4^th meeting of CRIC was initiated with discussions on financial mechanisms and securing equitable access to additional investments. Reports by the Global Mechanism and the Global Environment Facility were discussed. Here India supported China in the development of balanced funding mechanisms and funding through national focal points.

Committee on Science & Technology: 11^th– 13^th May& 16^th – 18^th May, 2022

The 1^st session of the Committee on Science and Technology began with appointment of the Chair of the Session and opening remarks Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary. The session emphasized on basing work programmes on solid scientific knowledge including comprehensive analysis of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. The opening session of the Committee on Science and Technology was followed by a review of SPI Report on Integrated Land Use Planning and Integrated Landscape Management and their role in addressing Land Degradation/Desertification and Drought and achieving Land Degradation Neutrality.Another report by SPI on assessment and monitoring of the resilience of vulnerable populations and ecosystems to drought was reviewed by the Committee. The report provided the global community with an inventory of drought resilience indicators and a road map for regional drought resilience assessments.

The 2^nd Session of the Committee on Science and Technology was held on 12^th May, 2022. The session included a review of coordination activities of the Science Policy Interface with other intergovernmental scientific panels; the effectiveness of the UNCCD Knowledge Hub on dissemination of best practices; Finalization of a Work Programme for the Science Policy Interface 2022-2023; Reporting mechanisms on the UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework; and inclusion of Civil Society Organizations in the official work programme.The 3^rd session of the Committee on Science and Technology was held on 13^th May, 2022.

Conclusion & Final Decisions

Following two weeks of high-level discussions and negotiations, UNCCD COP 15 adopted 38 decisions to improve drought resilience, reduce land degradation, and invest in land restoration efforts, including agreement to:

• Accelerate the restoration of one billion hectares of degraded land by 2030 through improved data collection, monitoring, and reporting; Integrate satellite data include data analytic tools for evidence-based decision making through integrated land use plans (ILUP)and Integrated Land Management (ILM)
• Integration of SDG 15 and related target 15.3 into the implementation of the Convention and LDN and development and promotion of activities for targeted capacity building
• Boost drought resilience by identifying the expansion of drylands, improving national policies and early warning, monitoring and assessment; learning and sharing knowledge; building partnerships and coordinating action; and mobilizing drought finance.
• Improve national policies and early warning, monitoring, and assessment, in particular as related to sand and dust storms and drought;
• Improve efforts at capacity building, sharing of knowledge and lessons, and coordination at the national and regional level on systematic approaches to land conservation, sustainable land management etc
• Establish an Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought for 2022-2024 to support a shift from reactive to proactive drought management;
• Address forced migration and displacement driven by desertification and land degradation by creating social and economic opportunities that increase rural resilience and livelihood stability, and by mobilizing resources for land restoration projects;
• Improve women’s involvement in land management through ensuring secure land tenure; collecting gender-disaggregated data on the impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought; integrating Gender Action Plans into LDN
• Develop policies to reduce the impact and occurrence of sand and dust storms through early warning, risk assessment and reducing man-made causes;
• Promote decent land-based jobs for youth and land-based youth entrepreneurship and strengthen youth participation in the UNCCD process;
• Promotes access to financial resources through approval of special fund amounting to EUR 24,646,354
• Ensure greater synergies among the three Rio Conventions, including complementarities in the implementation of treaties like UNFCC, Convention on Biological Biodiversity, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction etc and through nature-based solutions and target-setting at the national level;
• Continue raising public awareness on Convention issues using online communication tools and traditional and social media
• Strengthen the participation of civil society organizations,media, private sector, Indigenous peoples, local communities, as well as sub national and local governments and youth in the work and meetings of the UNCCD. 

New commitments adopted during the COP include:

• The Abidjan Call issued by the Heads of State and Government attending the Summit;
• The Abidjan Declaration on Achieving Gender Equality for Successful Land Restoration, which emerged from the Gender Caucus; and
• The Land, Life and Legacy Declaration, including the Abidjan Legacy Programme, a five-year, USD 1.5 billion comprehensive and innovative approach to fight against deforestation through forest restoration, and aims to restore 20% of the Ivorian forest cover by the end of the decade.

Other initiatives launched during the COP include:

• the Business for Land Initiative, to showcase commitments made by participating companies towards land degradation neutrality, both in supply chains and corporate social responsibility activities; and
• The Sahel Sourcing Challenge to enable communities growing the Great Green Wall to use technology to monitor progress, creates jobs, and commercializes their produce.

Future meetings of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD and its subsidiary bodies will be held in Saudi Arabia (COP16 in 2024), Mongolia (COP17 in 2026), and Uzbekistan (Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention in 2023).

For details on declarations and outcomes of individual events: The Earth Negotiations Bulletin summary and analysis of COP 15 at https://enb.iisd.org/convention-combat-desertification-unccd-cop15

*Chief Functionary, India Water Foundation