European Union

UNCCD COP 13 participants reconvened during parallel morning and afternoon sessions, and discussed agenda items in the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) and the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC). Contact groups met in the afternoon and evening to discuss draft decisions related to the COP, CRIC and CST agendas. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from the UNCCD COP 13. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. Committee on Science and Technology (CST) L-R: Hamid Čustović, Bosnia and Herzegovina, CST Chair, and Carmen Margina, UNCCD Secretariat Fortunée Worou, Benin Mustafa Abdullah Yurtoglu, Turkey María Angelica Fernandez, Colombia Luca Montanarella, Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) Mariam Akhtar-Schuster, Science-Policy Interface (SPI) Jean-Luc Chotte, SPI Lu Qi, China Mandakh Nyam, Mongolia Francis Inganga, Kenya Randolph Antonio Edmead, Saint Kitts and Nevis Saida Rivero, Venezuela Alexander Erlewein, EU Tshering Dorji, Bhutan Gudrun Schwilch, Switzerland Maxime Thibon, France Jeff Herrick, US Anne Larigauderie, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) View of a presentation by Jeff Herrick, US Robert Scholes, Co-Chair, IPBES Thematic Assessment of Land Degradation and Restoration (LDRA) Graciela Metternicht, SPI Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) Aliyu Bananda, Nigeria, CRIC Chair Pradeep Monga, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary Raymond Baptiste, Grenada, CRIC Rapporteur Satu Ravola, UNCCD Secretariat Markus Repnik, Managing Director, Global Mechanism (GM) Emmanuel Seck, Enda Energie Ana Di Pangracio, Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN) Alberto Limo Segura, Peru Biyana Kilibarda, Montenegro Louisa Karika, Cook Islands Abdu Al Assiri, Saudi Arabia Jozef Buys, EU Imad Almaree, Syria Trevor Benn, Guyana Ralalarimanana Herivololona, Madagascar Chadi Mohanna, Lebanon Andrei Kuzmich, Belarus COP 13 Snapshots L-R: Jozef Buys, EU, in a conversation with Barbara De Rosa-Joynt and Jeff Herrick, US L-R: Mohammed Alzuhari, Iraq, in a discussion with Andrés David Córdova, Ecuador L-R: Akiko Nakano and Atsushi Tsunekawa, Japan Demonstration of a traditional Chinese block printing Kelly Sharp, IISD Reporting Services/ENB, tries her hand at block printing Chen Yishi, award winning master of block carving Fatiha Sallahi, UNCCD Secretariat, with her team of local staff

The thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 13) opened in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China, on Wednesday morning, 6 September. Cemal Noğay, on behalf of COP 12 President Veysel Eroğlu, Minister of Forestry and Water Affairs, Turkey, opened COP 13 and highlighted the food security, biodiversity and climate change co-benefits of combating land degradation especially for the rural poor. Delegates then elected Zhang Jianlong, Minister of State Forestry Administration, China, as COP 13 President. Bu Xiaolin, Chair, Inner Mongolia People’s Government, highlighted the achievements of Inner Mongolia in combating desertification in recent years. Monique Barbut, UNCCD Executive Secretary, expressed fears that the window of opportunity created from aligning the Convention with the 2030 Agenda is limited and that expectations are “huge,” therefore efforts at this COP and thereafter need to focus on implementation, and translating the LDN targets into action. She outlined COP 13 needs to take decisions on issues that have not been dealt with, including on drought and sand storms, gender, land tenure security, and acceleration of knowledge and strategic communication. The China Exhibition on Desertification was opened after the morning plenary. In the afternoon, delegates established a Committee of the Whole and considered organizational matters and the programme and budget, among others, while the Committee on Science and Technology (CST), after an opening plenary, considered the scientific conceptual framework for land degradation neutrality, among others. In the evening, delegates attended a reception by the host country, and a contact group met on matters related to the CST. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from the UNCCD COP 13. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. Colorful topiary greeted COP 13 participants as they walk through the entrance of the Ordos International Convention and Exhibition Center Cemal Noğay, Deputy Undersecretary, Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, Turkey, on behalf of the President of COP 12 Zhang Jianlong, President of COP13 Monique Barbut, UNCCD Executive Secretary Bu Xiaolin, Governor, Inner Mongolia, China View of the plenary with Monique Barbut, UNCCD Executive Secretary, making her opening address María Florencia Grimalt, Argentina Taimar Ala, EU Karma Dema Dorji, Bhutan Andrés David Córdova, Ecuador Jiajia Luo, China Green Foundation Kennedy Ondimu, Kenya Anna Luise, Italy Committee of the Whole (COW) L-R: Pradeep Monga, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary; Interim Chair Skumsa Mancotywa, South Africa, standing in for COW Chair Nosipho Ngcaba, South Africa; and June Budhooram, Secretary of the COW Interim Chair Skumsa Mancotywa, South Africa, standing in for COW Chair Nosipho Ngcaba, South Africa Lyndle Lindow, UNCCD Secretariat Pradeep Monga, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary Melchiade Bukuru , UNCCD Secretariat Jones Muleso Kharika, UNCCD Secretariat Markus Repnik, Managing Director, GM L-R: Ahmet Şenyaz, Turkey and Stephen Muwaya, Uganda, IWG Co-Chairs Atsushi Iwasaki, Japan Cindy Ehmes, Micronesia Trevor Thompson, Grenada Alfredo Blum, Uruguay Angel Enriquez, the Philippines Alfred Prospere, Saint Lucia Barbara De Rosa-Joynt, US Jozef Buys, EU Nahid Naghizade, the Centre for Sustainable Development and Environment (CENESTA) L-R: Martin Kebs and Christina Blank, Switzerland Committee on Science and Technology (CST) Hamid Čustović, Bosnia and Herzegovina, CST Chair Barron Orr, SPI Annette Cowie, SPI Plenary view of the SPI presentation Pedro Lara, GM Victor Castillo, UNCCD Secretariat Anne Larigauderie, IPBES Executive Secretary Fortunée Worou, Benin Maria Angelica Fernandez, Colombia Mustafa Abdullah Yurtoglu, Turkey Ahmed Abdel-Ati Ahmed, Egypt Flavia Witkowski Frangetto, Brazil Pablo Viegas Aurelio, Argentina Jorge Ernesto Quezada Díaz, El Salvador Akiko Nakano, Japan Pedro Berliner, Israel Raed Bani Hani, Jordan Photos from the Opening of the Combating Desertification in China Exhibition VIPs at the opening of the exhibition VIPs pressing a virtual button to officially open the exhibition Delegates from Argentina and Uruguay Fredua Agyeman, Ghana, with local staff in traditional costumes