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INSUFFICIENT SCIENTIFIC INPUT:

Many lamented the fact that the immense body of technical and scientific expertise on the problem of desertification did not fully infuse the Convention as much as had been hoped. This may have resulted from the fact that the objective of most African delegates was to create a convention that would focus on development assistance and catalyze the provision of new and additional resources, not one that would focus on science.

As the negotiations shifted from the scientific to the political realm, many of the technical aspects of the causes and results of desertification got buried in a graveyard of brackets. As a result, delegates continually lost sight of the larger picture and the urgency of the problem despite the Chair's constant reminder of the 900 million people whose survival depends on the Convention. Some delegates thought that a greater infusion of scientific and technical expertise, along the lines of the IPCC in the climate change negotiations, would have maintained a better balance between science and politics. However, when the INCD was formed, many maintained that over 50 years of research had already been done on this subject, obviating the need for a new intergovernmental scientific body to support the negotiations. Nevertheless, INCD-1's information sharing segment raised the awareness of the international community of the scientific and technical aspects of desertification not only in Africa but in other parts of the world. This set the process in motion for the recognition and acceptance of the need for instruments for other regions other than Africa.