Highlights and images for 13 September 2019

India

Summary

Highlights for Friday, 13 September 2019

Family photo of the COP Presidency and the UNCCD Secretariat at the end of the meeting 

The Committee of the Whole (COW) contact group convened in the morning to finalize negotiations of draft decisions on drought, and integration of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. In the afternoon the COW convened its closing plenary and adopted the final set of 11 decisions prepared by the group.Thereafter, delegates convened the final plenary of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to adopt the outcomes of the conference.In his closing remarks, COP President Prakash Javadekar expressed India’s commitment to contribute to the implementation of the UNCCD, through, among other actions: establishing a center of excellence to promote knowledge on core themes of the Convention and contribute to South-South Exchange; raising its 2030 land restoration target from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares; and steering the land agenda at the global level.UNCCD Executive Secretary, Ibrahim Thiaw, highlighted four messages from COP 14:

  • Delivering a clear message to the upcoming Climate Week New York 2019 that land restoration is one of the cheapest solutions for climate change, biodiversity loss and multiple SDGs;
  • Making a clear business case for investing in land restoration and sustainable value chains, while underscoring that attracting the private sector will require regulatory frameworks and market incentives;
  • Recognizing the importance of drought and the need to support affected parties to better mitigate and manage risks; and
  • Putting people at the heart of the Convention’s agenda through the decision on land tenure.
  • Following closing statements by representatives of regional groups and civil society, COP President Javadekar declared COP 14 closed at 6.50 pm.

    IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB meeting coverage, provided daily web coverage and daily reports from UNCCD COP 14. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary and analysis report from this session, which is now available in HTML and PDF.

    Photos by IISD/ENB | Ángeles Estrada

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    Committee of the Whole
    Pradeep Monga, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary; Committee of the Whole (COW) Chair Trevor Benn; Sharma Sangeeta, COW Secretary; and Jeroen van Dalen, UNCCD Secretariat
    Marioldy Sanchez Santivañez, AIDER, Peru
    Franz Breitwieser, Austria
    Imad Almaree, Syria, and Abdul Rahim Loulou, Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands, Syria
    Juan Riet, Interdisciplinary Center for Studies on Development, Uruguay, and Octavio Pérez Pardo, Colegio de Ingenieros Agronómicos de Santiago del Estero
    Sharma Sangeeta, COW Secretary, and Jeroen van Dalen, UNCCD Secretariat
    View of the room during the closing of the COW
    José Felix Pinto-Bazurco, IISD-RS, Peru, and Edgar Gutiérrez Espeleta, Costa Rica
    Closing Ceremony
    COW Chair Trevor Benn; Pradeep Monga, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary; Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD; COP 14 President, Prakash Javadekar; Carmen Margina and Rajeb Boulharouf, UNCCD Secretariat
    COP 14 President, Prakash Javadekar
    Carmen Margina and Rajeb Boulharouf, UNCCD Secretariat

    Participants during the closing plenary
    Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD, and COP 14 President, Prakash Javadekar
    Anna Luise, CRIC Rapporteur
    Enid Chaverri, Costa Rica
    Jigmet Takpa, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, India
    The COP applauds the UNCCD Secretariat staff

    Noel Oettle, Environmental Monitoring Group; Nicolae Ciubotaru, NGO BIOS; and Nathalie van Haren, Both ENDS
    Press Conference
    Around the Venue