12th Session of the Conference of the Parties
to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 12)

The twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 12) will convene in Ankara, Turkey, from 12-23 October 2015. Delegates from the UNCCD’s 195 Parties will discuss agenda items and develop decisions on issues related to desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD), including how to pursue the target to achieve land degradation neutrality (LDN) and how to align the UNCCD’s goals and Parties’ action programmes with the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Parties will also consider messages for the Paris Climate Change Conference, which will convene one month after the conclusion of UNCCD COP 12.

COP 12 will open on 12 October with an opening plenary. From 20-21 October, a high-level segment will convene ministers and other heads of delegation, who will participate in round-table discussions and special plenary sessions focused on topics related to water scarcity and land degradation and desertification. The UNCCD’s two subsidiary bodies, the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) and the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC), will also convene in parallel to the COP.

Among other issues and events during the two-week meeting, participants will discuss the in-progress publication titled “Global Land Outlook,” review a report from the Economics of Land Degradation initiative, and attend events at the Rio Conventions Pavilion, the Business Forum, side events and exhibitions.