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Land

Land and its soil are vital to humankind. Soil resources are a complex mixture of eroded rock, minerals, ions, partially decomposed organic material, water, air, roots, fungi, animals, and microorganisms, formed over thousands or even millions of years. Land degradation—the deterioration or loss of the productive capacity of soil—is a global challenge that affects everyone through food insecurity, higher food prices, climate change, environmental hazards, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Globally, approximately 25% of total land area is already degraded. As land becomes degraded, carbon and nitrous oxide are released into the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. Approximately 24 billion tons of fertile soil is lost each year, largely due to unsustainable agriculture practices. If this trend continues, 95% of the Earth’s land areas could become degraded by 2050. Land degradation is particularly severe in the drylands, which cover approximately 40% of the world’s land area and support two billion people, especially women and children.

Events and Articles

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How to Make Hybrid Meetings Work

All three Rio Conventions announced in-person meetings for the final quarter of 2021. The trio of organizations—UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)—all seem to be going ahead full steam. The UNFCCC Bureau just announced it will hold three weeks of informal talks in June and agreed decision making is an in-person affair, to occur at the next formal meeting. (The day after this article was originally published, the UNCCD announced its COP will take place in 2022. A virtual ExCOP will adopt an interim budget this year.)
Article

59th Meeting of the GEF Council

The Council meetings included extensive discussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, deliberating the pandemic’s impact on project management, and considered a white paper by the GEF COVID-19 Task Force outlining how environmental action can reduce future threats of disease outbreak. The GEF Council also endorsed a new private sector engagement strategy, outlining how the GEF will work in a systematic manner with industry groups, companies, and investors to reverse unsustainable global trends and deliver global environmental benefits.
Event 4 December 2020 - 12 December 2020

Soils as Keystone for Food Security and Ecosystem Restoration

Virtual event discusses role of smallholder farmers in promoting land restoration activities, with subsessions on: soils and the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration; soil organic carbon, and how smallholder farming communities benefit from carbon sequestration projects; and measuring progress on gender and land tenure. 
Event 3 June 2020

58th Meeting of the GEF Council

The Global Environment Facility Council's 58th meeting appointed a new CEO and Chairperson. Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Costa Rica's Environment and Energy Minister, will lead the GEF, with Naoko Ishii leaving after eight years. The GEF Council also agreed a work program with resources totaling USD 645.4 million. The GEF Council met online for the first time due to COVID-19. 
Event 2 June 2020 - 3 June 2020

57th Meeting of the GEF Council

The 57th meeting of the Global Environment Facility Council adopted a Work Program, comprising 48 projects and five programs, with total resources amounting to USD 588.5 million. The Council discussed a proposed private sector engagement strategy and heard updates by the Conventions on activities leading up to “super year 2020."
Event 16 December 2019 - 19 December 2019

15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF)

At the meeting, which was organized on the theme of “Mining in a Changing Climate," delegates discussed ways mining companies are starting to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from mining, as well as how they are learning to adapt to changes in climate and the environment, water scarcity, and increased disaster risk. They considered what mining will look like in the future as digital technology changes the way that work is done, the digital economy changes the way that resources may be taxed, and consumers increasingly seek out ethically sourced products.
Event 7 October 2019 - 10 October 2019

14th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD (COP 14)

The Conference of the Parties ended on a note of optimism that there is a growing alignment of the land, climate, and biodiversity agendas, and, with its sharpened focus on land restoration, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification can offer cost-effective and sustainable solutions to some of the most entrenched global challenges today.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 2 September 2019 - 13 September 2019