Wednesday, 6 September, 13:30-14:15hrs
Press Conference Room: Rio Conventions Pavilion
UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut
Talking points
• Good afternoon everyone. We are delighted to be in China because this is the first Conference hosted by China out of the three Rio Conventions – on biological diversity and Climate Change. It is also my pleasure to welcome you to this 13th session of our Conferences.
i. I’d like to share the fourkey expected outcomes for us and why each of these outcomes matter
Outcome 1. New Strategic Plan for 2018-2030
i) This Conference is expected to adopt a new strategy for 2018-2030.This new strategy is stronger and better because it has a concrete target – land degradation neutrality – to be achieved by 2030.And the target has indicators to measure change.The LDN target provides an organizing principle that we can all rally behind and achieve a specific change.
ii) Why does this matter?
The UNCCD is the global custodian of this target and there is now a new sense of purpose and common cause. Of the 169 countries that declared in 2013 that they are affected by land degradation or drought, more than 110 have signed up to the LDN Target Setting Programme.
Outcome 2:Drought mitigation as a strategic area of action
We hope that from this Conference, drought will become an area of strategic area of focusfor the Convention. The future projections of droughtby the IPCC show that droughts will become more intense and more frequent. The recent drought in Southern Africa led to what was declared one of the worst humanitarian tragedies of the 20th Century. If affected 25 million people who lost everything. Droughts are becoming stronger all over the world, even in Latin America, and in my own country, France, we were affected by drought for the first time this year. As a result of this Conference, we hope that countries will become well-prepared for the future.
Outcome 3:Launch of the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund
We realized when we set up the target that it is meaningless to have a target when you do not have the finance to achieve your target. And often we only think about public finance. But we also have private finance. And so we have set up the LDN Fund which will be managed by the private sector. This is the largest fund that will deal with land issues and it will be launched next Tuesday. So I hope to see you there on Tuesday, after the High-level segment closes.
Outcome 4:Taking action on Emerging Issues
i) Sand and Dust Storms
As you know, the issue of Sand and Dust storms, has huge economic consequences in the countries that it affects. But it is also a complex issue to fight because the origin of sand and dust storms may be in a different country. So it has important political consequence. If we don’t take action quickly the cost of managing it can spiral out of control.
(ii) Gender Equality:Land Rights
As you know, in many parts of the world women are active in agriculture, but in many countries their rights to land are not addressed. So we hope that at this Conference the Parties will address this question.
iv) Distress Migration, security and Conflict
The final issue is to take a step and look at the links between land degradation, migration and conflict. In China, this issue may not be visible, but in huge parts of Africa, we can draw maps that show that the countries with desertification are also have the most conflicts, or food insecurity or radicalization, and are prone to conflict. A recent study, shows that more 60 million people would be have to move anyway by 2030 because of desertification.
In conclusion, the Convention is very important because it’s the convention that touches the lives of the most vulnerable people. Perhaps that’s why it doesn’t interest the rich. But history has shown before and will always show that you are never immune to the sickness of the poor. So this Convention isn’t just an environmental convention but a political and social economic one.
