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Highlights for Friday, 6 September 2019 Latin American delegates at the Committee of the Whole (COW) On Friday morning, delegates began consideration of land tenure, one of the new and emerging themes on the Conference of the Parties (COP) agenda. Initial reactions from parties indicated that while there is broad recognition that land governance is critical in creating an enabling environment for sustainable land management and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), many governments are concerned that recommendations on this issue might infringe on their sovereignty. On a more positive note, the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) contact group completed its work. In closing remarks, Barron Orr, UNCCD Lead Scientist, commented: “I want to take my Secretariat hat off, and speak to you as a scientist. Maybe you are not aware, but what you have accomplished here by creating a bridge between science and policy decisions is huge, and I thank you for that.”During other contact group sessions, delegates made progress on budget and financing texts and began consideration of the cluster of decisions relating to UNCCD policy advocacy frameworks on gender, drought, migration, and sand and dust storms. Work also continued on the New Delhi Declaration, to be adopted at the conclusion of the Conference.In the evening, the CST adopted six draft decisions, including: items resulting from the work programme of the Science-Policy Interface (SPI) for the previous (2018-2019) and future biennium (2020-2021); interfacing science and policy, and sharing knowledge; and the programme of work for the 15th session of the CST. After electing the officers other than the Chair for CST 15, Chair Fiati lauded the successful completion of CST’s work. He said the excellent quality of decisions demonstrated parties’ determination and cooperation, and adjourned the session at 8:10 pm.The day concluded with a brief plenary session of the COP, which adopted the report of the CST as well as a procedural decision on credentials of delegations.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 For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page Committee of the Whole Marcos Montoiro, UNCCD Secretariat; Johns Muleso Kharika, UNCCD Secretariat; COW Chair Trevor Benn; Sharma Sangeeta, Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) Secretary; and Jeroen van Dalen, UNCCD Secretariat Louise Baker and Jeroen van Dalen, UNCCD Secretariat Lydia Bosoga, South Africa Marcos Montoiro, UNCCD Secretariat Tanja Gren, EU (middle) Britta Hackenberg, Namibia Bongani Masula, eSwatini Abdu Alsharef, Saudi Arabia R.B. Lal and Vijay Prakash, India Luke Mendes, Holy See Asher Nkegbe, Ghana Samuel Francke, Chile Participants during the COW Trevor Benn, Guyana Bernardo Macke, Brazil Launch of the Global Land Outlook Regional Reports Around the Venue

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 For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page 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 Nathalie Van Haren, Both ENDS Facilitator Octavio Perez Pardo, Colegio de Ingenieros Agronómicos de Santiago del Estero, and Marcos Montoiro, UNCCD Secretariat Goundo Sissoko, Reseau des Femmes pour les Droits Environnementaux Nahid Naghizadeh, CENESTA Nicolae Ciubotaru, NGO BIOS Facilitator Octavio Perez Pardo, Colegio de Ingenieros Agronómicos de Santiago del Estero Tanja Gren, EU Ana Maria Rivero, Colombia Nicolas Gauna, Argentina Pablo Mota, Mision Verde Amazonia CSO leaders assemble at the close of an open dialogue session on land tenure. Around the Venue