Eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP11)
“A stronger UNCCD for a Land-Degradation Neutral World”

The eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 11) opened on Monday afternoon, 16 September 2013, in Windhoek, Namibia. Welcoming delegates, COP 11 President, Uahekua Herunga, Minister of Environment and Tourism of Namibia, highlighted his country’s commitment to addressing desertification, land degradation and drought. Delegates also heard opening statements by COP 10 President Don Koo Lee, Minister of Korea Forest Service and UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja, as well as regional groups and civil society organizations.

Also taking place on Monday afternoon were four side events on: implementing UNCCD objectives – experiences from research; new tools to measure carbon and the GEF’s experience in applying the tools; variability matters in desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) and sustainable land management (SLM) – Namibian farming in a variable environment; and challenges and solutions to managing the spread of invasive prosopis in dryland ecosystems.