The 14th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP-14) under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) concluded on September 13, 2019. This event, held in Greater Noida, marked the first time India hosted the UNCCD COP. Reiterating its responsible stance towards the environment, India thus becomes one of the select countries to have played host to all three Rio conventions on climate change: biodiversity, land, and now desertification. The theme for this conference was ‘Restore land, Sustain future’ and its significance was further accentuated as India took over the COP Presidency from China for the next two years, until 2021.
The Delhi Declaration
A significant commitment made at the COP-14 is expressed through the Delhi Declaration. It affirms support for various priority areas, spanning from gender and health, ecosystem restoration, tackling climate change, private sector engagement, and the Peace Forest Initiative. Moreover, it sets a goal to recover five million hectares of degraded land in India. The Sustainable Development Goal target of achieving land degradation neutrality by 2030 has been agreed upon as a national endeavor by the participating nations.
Peace Forest Initiative
This South Korean initiative aims to utilize ecological restoration as a means of peace-building. The core objective is to mitigate land degradation in conflict-affected border regions, which is anticipated to alleviate tensions and build trust among local communities and especially between adversarial nations.
Drought Toolbox
Launched at the COP-14, the Drought Toolbox serves as a comprehensive resource for all drought-related actions. This knowledge bank encompasses tools that bolster the capacity of countries to efficiently anticipate, prepare for, and mitigate the impacts of droughts. It also provides communities with the resources to identify land management strategies that can build resilience to drought conditions.
| Program | Description |
|---|---|
| International coalition for action on Sand and Dust storms (SDS) | The coalition aims to create an SDS source base map to improve monitoring and responses to these storms. SDS affects approximately 77% of UNCCD country Parties or almost 151 countries. |
| Initiative of Sustainability, Stability and Security (3S) | Launched by 14 African countries to counter migration driven by land degradation, the initiative looks to restore land and create green jobs for migrants and vulnerable communities. |
| Youth Cooperation | The global Youth Caucus on Desertification and Land held their first meeting during the UNCCD COP14 to unite youth advocates from around the world for capacity building, knowledge sharing, networking, and meaningful engagement in the UNCCD processes. |
High-Level Segment Meeting of the COP-14
The Prime Minister of India inaugurated the high-level segment meeting of the COP-14. India’s focus was on proposing initiatives for greater South-South cooperation in tackling issues of climate change, biodiversity, and land degradation. The country plans to increase its ambition of the total area to be restored from its land degradation status from twenty-one million hectares to twenty-six million hectares by 2030. Furthermore, India proposed setting up a global technical support institute for UNCCD member countries to aid in capacity building and support with regard to the Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Program. India urged the UNCCD leadership to consider a global water action agenda central to the Land Degradation Neutrality strategy and also advocated for eradicating single-use plastic.
