UNCCD COP 15: A Report.

A glance at the Fifteenth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification: 9-20 May 2022

COP 15 convened in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 9-20 May 2022. Nearly 7,000 participants attended the COP, including Heads of State and Government, ministers, delegates from the 197 parties to the UNCCD, as well as members of the private sector, civil society, women, youth leaders, and the media.

UNCCD COP 15 adopted 38 decisions to improve drought resilience, reduce land degradation, and invest in land restoration efforts, including agreement to:

1. Accelerate the restoration of one billion hectares of degraded land by 2030 through improved data collection, monitoring, and reporting.

2. Boost drought resilience by improving a new partnership model for large-scale integrated landscape investment programmes.

3. Improve national policies and early warning, monitoring, and assessment, in particular as related to sand and dust storms and drought.

4. Improve efforts around capacity building, sharing of knowledge and lessons, and coordination towards these efforts at the regional level.

5. Establish an Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought for 2022-2024 to support a shift from reactive to proactive drought management.

6. Improve women’s involvement in land management through ensuring secure land tenure and collecting gender-disaggregated data on the impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought.

7. Develop policies to reduce the impact and occurrence of sand and dust storms through early warning, risk assessment and reducing man-made causes.

8. Ensure greater synergies among the three Rio Conventions, including complementarities in the implementation of these treaties through nature-based solutions and target-setting at the national level.

9. Strengthen the participation of civil society organizations and youth in the work and meetings of the UNCCD. Following the initial two-day High-Level Segment, the UNCCD’s two subsidiary bodies, the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) and the Committee on Science and Technology (CST), convened in parallel to the COP.

The CRIC developed eight decisions for COP consideration, including: improving the procedures for communication of information, as well as the quality and formats of reports; integration of Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15) and specifically target 15.3 into the implementation of the Convention, and the development and promotion of activities for targeted capacity building to further the implementation of the Convention.

The CST developed six decisions for COP consideration, including scientific reports on the potential contribution of integrated land use planning and integrated landscape management, and approaches for assessment and monitoring of resilience of vulnerable populations and ecosystems to drought, among other issues.

New commitments adopted during the COP include:

1. The Abidjan Call issued by the Heads of State and Government attending the Summit.

2. The Abidjan Declaration on Achieving Gender Equality for Successful Land Restoration, which emerged from the Gender Caucus.

3. 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.

• The Sahel Sourcing Challenge to enable communities growing the Great Green Wall to use technology to monitor progress, create jobs, and commercialize their produce.

UNCCD COP 15 Report

COP 15 opened on Monday, 9 May, at the Sofitel Hotel in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire with the opening ceremony for the two-day High-Level Segment. High-Level Segment Following a ceremonial greeting from the people of Côte d’Ivoire, Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary, provided welcoming remarks, lauding the hospitality of Côte d’Ivoire and its social and political achievements.

In the Abidjan Call, Heads of State and Government, while noting the threat posed by drought and LDN, and aware of the need to take appropriate measures to maintain healthy and productive land, reaffirm their continued commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially SDG 15.3 on achieving LDN by 2030. Countries are urged to place soil and land in the center of spatial planning policies that will establish healthy ecosystems and ensure global food security. Heads of State and Government also commit to giving the highest priority to the issue of drought and desertification, and integrating efforts to combat climate change and desertification, and halting biodiversity loss in accordance with the Rio Conventions’ objectives.

High-level interactive dialogues and round tables convened on Tuesday, 10 May.

1. Interactive dialogue 1: Land reGeneration: The role of youth in shaping the sustainable land agenda: Highlighted the need to place young people at the forefront at the local and national levels, create green jobs, and encourage collective and meaningful participation.

2. Interactive dialogue 2: Future-proofing land use: Shifting patterns in production and consumption: Emphasized the need for systemic responses, adequate enabling environments to stimulate lifestyle changes, and better consumer information; better resource use and reorientation of subsidies towards sustainable production and consumption; and improving role of regional and local markets through rural finance and nutrition-linked bonds.

3. Round table 1: Rights, rewards and responsibilities: the future of land stewardship: Emphasized the growing scientific evidence that secure land tenure is an enabling condition to avoid, reduce, and reverse land degradation, with one calling for a national-level mechanism to translate global policies to local actions.

4. Round table 2: Land restoration: A path to sustainable post-pandemic recovery: Need to address the two global challenges to land restoration: un-internalized externalities and institutions working in silos with bold, actionable decisions to restore land and ecosystems.

5. Round table 3: The Big Dry: From disaster to drought resilience: Highlighted the anthropogenic reasons behind the root cause of the biodiversity, climate, and land crises, which requires cooperation with the other Rio Conventions is central to the UNFCCC; all finance should be considered through a lens of resilience and sustainability; and the focus of UNFCCC COP 27 will be on adaptation and resilience, especially in the African context.

On behalf of the COP 14 Presidency, Bhupender Yadav, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India, opened the session on Wednesday, 11 May. Delegates from around the world outlined initiatives under the Convention, emphasised on land degradation with widespread consequences for human life and wellbeing and called for increased attention, collaboration and support to address the issues of drought, SDS, poverty, protecting biodiversity and combating climate change.

The COP adopted the agenda and organization of work, including for the subsidiary bodies’ sessions. Delegates approved the election of Vice-Presidents from various regional groups and the Chair of the Committee of the Whole (COW), Francisco Jose Avila (Guatemala).

Major decisions taken in COP 15:

1. Final Decision on UNCCD 2018–2030 Strategic Framework: Review of progress in the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification communication plan and the UN Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification (2010–2020): Calls for parties, civil society organisations, media, private sector and other relevant stakeholders to leverage international awareness-raising opportunities for outreach and to develop communication strategies to achieve LDN and drought resilience, and continue raising public awareness and youth engagement on Convention issues, incorporating gender equality and women’s empowerment in messages.

2. Final Decision on Promotion and strengthening of relationships with other relevant conventions and international organizations, institutions and agencies: Invites parties to engage at the national level to explore complementarities in the implementation of and reporting on the three Rio Conventions, and to explore complementarities between major targets. To support data acquisition, financial organisations to contribute to global partnerships, seek new partnerships with the implementation of SLM, ecosystem-based approaches, or NbS.

Follow-up on policy frameworks and thematic issues:

1. Final Decision on the positive role that measures taken under the Convention can play to address desertification, land degradation and drought as one of the drivers that causes migration: Promote sustainable territorial development to strengthen urban-rural linkages and create social and economic opportunities that reduce forced migration and displacement and increase conservation, rural resilience and livelihood stability. To support the implementation of the Sustainability, Stability and Security (3S) Initiative in Africa, and similar initiatives in other regions, which contribute to employment creation for groups in vulnerable situations by restoring degraded land and supporting the empowerment of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, women, people with disabilities, and youth by facilitating access to secure land tenure.

2. Final Decision on sand and dust storms: invites parties to make use of the SDS Compendium: Information and Guidance on Assessing and Addressing the Risks and SDS Toolbox to strengthen their preparedness for SDS, and strengthen multi-stakeholder platforms and regional initiatives that contribute to addressing SDS linked to DLDD, paying particular attention to involving Indigenous Peoples and local communities, women, youth, and other people in vulnerable situations. Invites parties to develop a voluntary policy guideline in consultation with countries affected by SDS and facilitate the organization of a science-policy dialogue on SDS including early warning, risk assessment, and anthropogenic source mitigation.

3. Final Decision on Land tenure: encourages parties to continue integrating land tenure, in line with the VGGT, in the implementation of activities to combat DLDD and achieve LDN. It encourages parties, CSOs, and other UNCCD stakeholders to raise awareness on the importance of responsible land governance for combating DLDD, and to integrate land tenure information in capacity development efforts and data analytic tools for evidence-based decision making, and eventually to identify financing opportunities to strengthen land governance and build a business case for responsible and sustainable public and private investments in land tenure within the context of activities to combat DLDD.

4. Final Decision on Gender: approves the proposed road map to guide and accelerate the implementation of the Gender Action Plan (GAP) through gender-sensitive and transformative approaches. Encourages parties, in the implementation of the GAP, to pay special attention to intersectionality (including but not limited to age, disability, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, nationality) when planning, designing, and implementing policy and programming related to DLDD, and to increase the number of women on their delegations attending the COP and invites parties to facilitate meaningful participation of women, women’s organizations, and people in vulnerable situations in UNCCD processes at all levels of decision making.

5. Final Decision on Drought: establish a new IWG on Drought during the triennium 2022-2024, for proactive drought management; invites parties to share their knowledge of and experiences with relevant, innovative and transformative tools for inclusion in the Drought Toolbox, to enhance the implementation of a wider holistic and integrated approach for improved resilience of communities and ecosystems with the assistance of regional institutions, as relevant, in conjunction with relevant stakeholders, to support and increase the utilization of information from monitoring, early warning, and action systems for decision making at national, subnational and local levels to enhance the drought resilience of ecosystems, societies, and economies.

6. Final Decision on Integration of SDG 15 and related target 15.3 into the implementation of the Convention and land degradation neutrality: invites parties, as appropriate and on a voluntary basis, to enhance the integration of the SDGs, in particular target 15.3, into their national strategies, plans, and programmes and map them with those of the other two Rio Conventions and other processes. To support parties to create an enabling environment to achieve voluntary national LDN targets to promote public-private partnerships and partnerships with CSOs, within their respective roles, to support the implementation of the Convention and achievement of LDN; and contribute to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.

Other financial decisions on programme and budget for the triennium 2022-2024 were discussed and documented, which included financial performance for the convention trust funds, participation and involvement of the private sectors, CSOs, and sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to be preferrable hold in 2024.

Committee on Science and Technology adopted the provisional agenda and appointed Abdul Hamid (Bangladesh) to the CST Bureau, replacing the Vice-Chair from Pakistan, and elected Anna Luise (Italy) to serve as rapporteur. Science was ubiquitous at COP 15, since it provides “the engine for the functioning of the Convention,” as the Chair of the Committee for Science and Technology (CST) noted during his closing remarks. There was no lack in praise for, or engagement with, the vital insights, tools, and instruments that science provides to address DLDD.

Delegates commended the important work undertaken by the SPI and highlighted: increasing and severe effects of drought in their countries; the need for financial support and capacity building; the importance of ocean phenomena when assessing drought; specific data limitations and vulnerabilities in low-income countries; and remaining gaps in assessment of drought risk and ecosystem resilience. The issue was further discussed in the CST contact group.

The progress made at COP 15 towards this goal as well as the core thematic areas mandated in Delhi: migration, land tenure, sand and dust storms (SDS), gender, and drought. The outcomes of the High-Level Summit and negotiations in Abidjan reflect the passionate attempts of the nearly 7,000 participants who braved tropical heat and torrential rains to restart and strengthen UNCCD implementation to combat desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD).

COP 15 started with a veritable firework of high-level events and calls, however despite great efforts by the COP presidency, and challenging and protracted talks in the Friends of the Chair Group, it did not succeed in getting the final COP 15 “Land, Life and Legacy Declaration” to go beyond what several insiders called the “least common denominator.” As noted by Executive Secretary Thiaw, countries have sent a united call about the importance of healthy and productive land for securing future prosperity for all, and important progress was achieved during COP 15: road maps and other important steps for implementation were decided for critical issue areas, emphasizing the vital role of women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities in addressing DLDD, a new partnership model for large-scale integrated landscape investment programmes was established, the Rio Conventions closed ranks to explore synergies and support UNCCD’s mission, and last but not least, greening initiatives in all shapes and sizes managed to attract attention and resources, showing that land restoration is really happening on the ground and very much alive.