A threadbare discussion on land and drought management was held on the third day of the 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), reports BSS.
Some of the key highlights on day-3 of the UNCCDCOP14 include the meeting of the Committee on Science and Technology with a discussion on monitoring framework for the strategic objective on drought, official sources said. The Fourteenth Session of the COP14 began at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida here on Monday with the theme ‘Investing in Land, Unlocking Opportunities’. As many as 7200 participants including 100 ministers and 3000 delegates from the 197 countries across the globe have been participating in the mega event. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate the conference on September 9 where UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed will attend. A six-member Bangladesh delegation led by Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Md. Shahab Uddin will attend the conference. Taking part in the yesterday’s discussion, speakers from different countries highlighted the need for a specific indicator for the strategic objective on drought, which is contained in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) 2018- 2030 Strategic Framework adopted by Parties at the 13th session of the Conference.
Besides, the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) assisted in defining and identifying monitoring frameworks for the other strategic objectives, including indicators, the COP requested the CST to assist in the work relating to the establishment of such a monitoring framework. The Bureau of the CST, in collaboration with other members of the Science-Policy Interface (SPI), formed a working group to review the options and possible indicators, which are outlined in this document. The working group took into consideration relevant work within UNCCD processes and from other associated intergovernmental processes related to the monitoring of drought and the resilience of vulnerable populations and ecosystems to drought.
The working group on drought also took into consideration past decisions of the COP, providing a framework for monitoring and evaluation of UNCCD impact indicators, which allows the COP to set indicators for monitoring, while allowing for refinement, and enhance its potential effectiveness, based on national capacities and circumstances. The working group concluded that there are a wide range of approaches to defining and then monitoring drought.
The Convention recognizes the importance of women in the implementation of the Convention, and identifies critical areas for their engagement. The areas are- awareness-raising, and participation in the design and implementation of programmes, decision-making processes that men and women adopt at the local level in the governance of development, implementation and review of regional and national action programmes and capacity-building at local level through the support of local organizations.
The TERI School of Advanced Studies also conducted a panel discussion on Green Food including a case presentation and a session on Land Degradation Neutrality. The UNCCD is an international agreement on good land stewardship. It helps people, communities and countries to create wealth grow economies and secure enough food and water and energy, by ensuring land users have an enabling environment for sustainable land management.
