High-level UN conference debates precious commodity: Land

High-level UN conference debates precious commodity: Land

YAMOUSSOUKRO — The 15th session of the Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), kicked-off on Monday, in the Ivorian capital. Against the backdrop of a UNCCD warning that up to 40 per cent of all ice-free land has already degraded, threatening dire consequences for climate, biodiversity, and livelihoods, world leaders are meeting in Abidjan under the theme of “Land, Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity”. “We are faced with a crucial choice,” Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told the participants. “We can either reap the benefits of land restoration now or continue on the disastrous path that has led us to the triple planetary crisis of climate, biodiversity and pollution”. Land, the lifeline on this planet Every year 12 million hectares of land are lost, according to recent data. “The Global Land Outlook report just issued by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification shows that our current approach to land management is putting half the world’s economic output — $44 trillion — at risk”, said Mohammed. “We must ensure that funds are available for countries that need them, and that those funds are invested in areas that will have a decisive impact and create