|
|
Consumers and
Private Sector critical in fighting droughts and
land degradation, says
UN 17 June 2018, Quito,
Ecuador - More than 3.2
billion people, or 2 in every 5 people, are
impacted by land degradation today and up
to 143 million people could move within
their countries by 2050 to escape water scarcity
and falling crop productivity due to the slow
onset impacts of climate change. To
avoid these threats, Monique Barbut, Executive
Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat
Desertification, has called on consumers and the
private sector to join governments to save
healthy land. She added that lack of
preparedness for future droughts in particular,
could lead to massive social and political
upheavals. “Everything we produce
and consume has a land footprint. A bicycle
requires 3.4 square meters of land. Ten square
meters of land are used to produce a laptop.
Producing one kilogram of beef takes 22 square
meters,“ but few people give thought to these
daily processes “because the losses are not
visible – or at least not accounted for - in the
products we consume,” Barbut
stated. “We are all decision-makers
because in our daily lives, our choices have
consequences. Our small decisions transform the
world,” she stressed, and called on consumers to
make choices that reward land users whose
practices protect the land from
degradation. Barbut, who heads the
international agreement that deals with
desertification, land degradation and drought
effects, also warned that it is dangerous to
reduce the true value of healthy land to its
economic value alone. She made the
remarks in observance of the World Day to Combat
Desertification on 17 June. The global
observance event is took place, in Quito,
Ecuador. Ecuador promotes a
bio-economy among its agriculturalists in order
to diffuse sustainable land management
technologies, which maintain the land’s
productivity. The country is
also pursuing the Sustainable Development Goal
target of achieving land degradation neutrality,
which means avoiding, reducing and reversing
land degradation to ensure the amount of healthy
land it had in 2015 is the same in 2030, and
stays stable thereafter. Barbut
also underlined the need to “go beyond conscious
consumerism” to engage the private sector and
governments in better land uses because “the
real value of the land is not just
economic.” “Land is worth so much
more than the economic value we attach to it. It
defines our way of life and our culture –
whether we live in the city or the villages. It
purifies the water we drink. It feeds
us. It surrounds us with beauty. But, we
cannot meet the needs and wants of a growing
population if the amount of healthy and
productive land continues to decline so
dramatically,” Barbut
said. Tarsicio Granizo, Minister of
Environment, Ecuador, said “desertification is a
matter that not only has to do with the
environment, but also with food sovereignty and
with protection of the agricultural
soil.” The
Global Land Outlook (The GLO) of 2017
states that 45% of the food consumed globally
comes from the world’s dryland areas, and that
falling productivity, food shortages and water
scarcity in these regions is creating
insecurity. The GLO warns that about 20% more
productive land was degraded from 1983-2013, and
that Africa and Asia face the greatest threats,
going forward. “We must do far more
to recognize the immense value of healthy and
productive land in strengthening the resilience
of the world’s poorest communities, which are
facing more drought and other slow-onset climate
disasters,” said António Guterres, UN
Secretary-General, in marking the
Day. Five
of the 8 slow onset events identified by the
Climate
Change Convention as potential future
sources of huge losses and damage are
manifestations of declining land productivity.
These are desertification, salinization, land
and forest degradation, biodiversity loss and
rising temperatures. Globally, about 2 billion
hectares of land are degraded. Most of it can be
restored back to health. “Science
has given us the knowledge and tools we need for
managing land to build resilience to drought and
the impacts of climate change. Governments and
the communities whose lives and livelihoods
depend on the land can take steps now to prepare
for future drought,” Guterres
said. The sustainable
land management technologies needed to
minimize and reverse many of these effects
exist, but the policy instruments and
investments to promote their spread are
non-existent. As a result, some of the most
land-dependent communities are exposed to the
growing powerful and adverse weather effects,
such as recurrent droughts, unpredictable
rainfall and disappearing ground water
sources. Barbut highlighted three
critical actions that consumers and the private
sector can take to encourage land users and
governments to save healthy land from further
degradation and to recover nearly barren
lands. First, changing consumer
behavior and unsustainable production patterns.
Second, adopting more efficient land use
planning. Third, creating mechanisms like the LDN
Fund that will motivate the private sector
to invest in land restoration. “The
public needs to be empowered. If they know
that the choices they make every day can make a
difference in terms of how the land is used –
whether it is abused or nurtured – I am sure
they will choose and consume more wisely,” she
said. “Governments must create
incentives that can encourage the private sector
to see that sustainable management of the land
and the restoration of degraded land is the
socially responsible thing to do. The UNCCD is
ready to help initiatives that can restore
degraded land at scale,” she
said. She called on countries to
formulate the targets to be achieved by 2030,
which signals that “a country has a systematic
plan to ensure sufficient high quality land is
available in the long-term to meet the demand
for essentials like food and
water.” Minister Granizo said “the
Government of Ecuador is proud to host, for the
first time in Latin America, the celebration of
this international day, which was attended by
prominent authorities of the Convention to
Combat Desertification.” World Day
to Combat Desertification is observed every year
on 17 June to raise awareness about the status
of the land resources, especially at country
level, and to mobilize required actions.
(ends) ----- About
UNCCD 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. Through partnerships, the
Convention’s 197 Parties set up robust systems
to manage drought promptly and effectively. Good
land stewardship based on a sound policy and
science helps integrate and accelerate the
achievement of the Sustainable Development
Goals, builds resilience to climate change and
prevents biodiversity
loss. Notes to
Editors For information about sustainable
land management technologies For
information on global
progress towards achieving land degradation
neutrality To learn the meaning of achieving
land degradation neutrality For
background information about the 2018
World Day to Combat
Desertification Media
Contacts For inquiries about the
World Day, contact: wwisch...@unccd.int. | | |
| |
The United
Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD) is an international agreement on good
land stewardship. It helps people, communities
and countries create wealth, grow economies and
secure enough food, clean water and energy by
ensuring land users an enabling environment for
sustainable land management. Through
partnerships, the Convention’s 197 parties set
up robust systems to manage drought promptly and
effectively. Good land stewardship based on
sound policy and science helps integrate and
accelerate achievement of the Sustainable
Development Goals, builds resilience to climate
change and prevents biodiversity
loss. | | |
Copyright ©
*|2016|* *|UNCCD|*, All rights
reserved. You are receiving this email
because you are part of the UNCCD Secretariat
mailing list
Our mailing address
is:
United
Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification
UNCCD
Platz der Vereinten
Nationen, Bonn, Germany Bonn 53113
Germany Add
us to your address
book
| | | |