Highlights and images for 5 September 2019

Summary

Highlights for Thursday, 5 September 2019

An artist paints next to the dias of UNCCD Science Day as researchers grapple with the challenge of communicating their work

Delegates attending the 14th Conference of the Parties (COP 14) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) reviewed progress in implementing policy advocacy frameworks on drought, sand and dust storms, gender and migration, that were adopted at COP 13 in 2017.Delegates also addressed the role of the Science-Policy Interface (SPI) and the UNCCD Knowledge Hub in analyzing and disseminating knowledge and best practices.In the afternoon, the COP held the first of two open dialogue sessions with civil society, which focused on how to enhance land tenure security in the context of land degradation neutrality (LDN). The dialogue highlighted, among other issues:

the contribution of land tenure security to the achievement of the Convention’s 2030 objectives, especially on land restoration;

mechanisms for legally recognizing the collective and customary tenure rights of indigenous peoples and local communities; and

how to strengthen gender-responsive processes in land-related decision making.

Many delegates commended the tireless efforts of CSOs to ensure that land tenure is recognized as one of the new and emerging themes on the official agenda of COP 14.

The fourth day of COP 14 also coincided with the Science Day at the Rio Conventions Pavilion, taking place on the sidelines of the Conference. This created a natural link between discussions at the two settings, providing an opportunity to showcase how scientific collaboration can enhance synergies across the three Conventions.

One of the sessions of the Day presented the recent scientific assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) exploring how land-based solutions can contribute to, respectively, combating climate change and strengthening biodiversity conservation.For more details on the day’s negotiations and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB).

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB meeting coverage, is providing daily web coverage and daily reports from UNCCD COP 14. In addition, IISD Reporting Services will publish a summary and analyrs report from this session on Monday, 16 September 2019.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Ángeles Estrada

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Committee of the Whole

Utchang Kang, UNCCD Secretariat; COW Chair Trevor Benn

View of the room

Rawea Mizel Mahmood Al-Azawi, Iraq

Moussa Samarou, Togo

Ajith Silva, Sri Lanka

Trevor Thompson, Grenada

Troy Torrington, Guyana

Sharma Sangeeta, CRIC Secretary; and Johns Muleso Kharika, UNCCD Secretariat

Participants during the Committee of the Whole session

Hemantha Withanage, Civil Society representative, India

Abeer Alabri, Kuwait

Naiim Moselhy, Egypt

Anvar Eshonov, Tajikistan

Committee on Science and Technology

Jeroen van Dalen, UNCCD Secretariat, Barron Orr, UNCCD Lead Scientist, CST 14 Chair Carl Kojo Fiati, and Carmen Margina, UNCCD Secretariat

Participants during the Committee on Science and Technology session

Civil Society Dialogue

Pradeep Monga, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary; Chandra Kishore Mishra, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Carmen Margina, UNCCD Secretariat

Nicolae Ciubotaru, NGO BIOS; Naghi Zadeh, Centre for Sustainable Development and Environment (CENESTA); Pablo Mota, Mision Verde Amazonia; and Goundo Sissoko, Reseau des Femmes pour les Droits Environnementaux