Countries of the world will gather in Riyadh on December 2 to participate in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Here, measures and efforts to convert land degradation into restoration will be discussed.
Below are facts about desertification and why it is important to protect productive lands that are essential for life on Earth. It makes it clear that we need to stop abusing our planet immediately.
Life is not possible without land
Everyone knows that life is not possible without healthy soil. Through this humanity gets food, clothing and shelter.
It is a source of employment, helps sustain livelihoods and underpins local, national and global economies. It helps regulate climate and maintain biodiversity.
But despite the importance of life, 40 percent of the world’s land is degraded, affecting about 3.2 billion people; That means almost half of the world’s population.
From deforestation in Haiti to the gradual disappearance of Lake Chad in the Sahel and the drying up of productive land in Georgia in Eastern Europe, land degradation is affecting all parts of the world.
It is no exaggeration to say that our future is threatened if our land is not healthy.
barren land
Desertification is a process by which land is degraded, usually in arid areas. The causes of desertification include climate change and human activities such as excessive farming or deforestation.
100 million hectares (10 lakh square kilometers), i.e. healthy and productive land the size of a country the size of Egypt, is destroyed every year.
The region’s soils, which often take hundreds of years to form, are becoming more frequent due to extreme weather conditions. According to one estimate, by 2050, three out of four people in the world will face water shortages.
As temperatures rise due to climate change, extreme weather events such as droughts and floods are increasing, increasing the challenge of keeping land productive.
Land degradation and climate
There is clear evidence that land degradation is directly linked to larger environmental challenges such as climate change.
Land ecosystems help absorb one-third of human CO2 emissions that accelerate climate change. However, poor land management disrupts this ability, rendering efforts to reduce these harmful gases futile.
Rapidly increasing deforestation also increases desertification. Currently, only 60 percent of the world’s forests remain, far short of the UN’s “75 percent protected target.”
Appropriate action should be taken
The good news is that mankind has the knowledge and ability to restore land and reverse degradation.
To combat the effects of devastating droughts and floods, it is necessary to build strong economies and resilient communities.
Importantly, land-dependent people should be prioritized in decision-making roles.
The UNCCD says that to make a big difference, 1.5 billion hectares of degraded land need to be restored by 2030. And the work is already underway—farmers in Burkina Faso are adopting new technologies, environmentalists in Uzbekistan are planting trees to eliminate salt and dust emissions, and activists in the Philippine capital, Manila, are taking extreme measures to restore natural barriers. Steps to protect from weather.
Expectations from Riyadh
Policy makers, experts, private and civil society as well as youth are coming together in Riyadh with several goals:
- Accelerating efforts to restore degraded land by 2030 and beyond
- Building resilience to increasing trends in drought, sand and dust storms
- Restoring soil productivity and increasing nature-friendly food production
- Protect land rights and promote equity for sustainable land management
- Ensuring that land, climate and biodiversity continue to provide solutions
- Creation of economic opportunities for youth including land-based suitable employment
Some important facts about UN and desertification:·
Three decades ago, in 1994, 196 countries and the European Union signed the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, or UNCCD.
- Three decades ago, in 1994, 196 countries and the European Union signed the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, or UNCCD.
- The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) is the main decision-making body of the UNCCD.
- The UNCCD is the global platform for land restoration, where governments, businesses and civil society come together to discuss challenges and chart a sustainable future for land.
- The 16th meeting of the COP (also known as COP16) is being held from December 2 to 13 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- The UNCCD is one of the three “Rio Conventions”. These include the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). They came into existence as a result of the historic 1992 Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.