26 Mar 2012

UN / DESERTIFICATION

Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Luc Gnacadja warned today that 75 billion tons of fertile soil are lost forever every year, with “23 hectares of land transformed into man-made desert every minute.” UNTV / UNICEF

Posted at: March 26, 2012 1:23 pm

Duration: 02:00

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / DESERTIFICATION 
TRT: 2.00
SOURCE: UNTV / UNICEF / UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 26 MARCH 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

26 MARCH 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Wide shot, dais
3.	Med shot, journalists
4.	SOUNDBITE (English) Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD): 
"Every year 75 billion tons of fertile soil is lost forever and every year, due to land degradation and drought in the dry lands of the world, about 12 million hectares of productive land is lost on which 20 million tons of grain could grow. This is equal to 23 hectares of land transformed into man-made desert every minute."
5.	Med shot, Leila Lopes, Miss Universe 2011
6.	SOUNDBITE (English) Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD):
"The world's fertile land is essential to life on earth, but is finite. Sustainable land-use for all and by all is an imperative. It should be a cornerstone of the green economy for sustainable development and poverty eradication, and I hope that Rio + 20 Conference in Brazil will live up to this imperative."
7.	Med shot, journalists
8.	SOUNDBITE (English) Leila Lopes, Miss Universe 2011 and United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Dry Lands Ambassador:
"If we begin to create awareness for this issue, more and more people will become informed. They will know and understand what the world's land degradation of dry lands mean and how it affects our environment. Because it's simple, dry lands are not wastelands. They can be saved."
9.	Wide shot, journalists 
10. Zoom in, photo op

FILE / UNICEF / 17 AUGUST 2011, WAJIR DISTRICT, KENYA
 
13. Pan left, dead animals in front of IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) settlement
14. Wide shot, dead animals foreground with children background

FILE / UNHCR / 7, 8, AUGUST 2011, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

15. Wide shot, children in a camp
18. Med shot, woman with emaciated child in her arms

STORYLINE:

Every year, 12 million hectares of land with the potential to produce 20 million tons of grain are lost through desertification and drought alone, according to Luc Gnacadja, the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Gnacadja told reporters today (26 March) at UN Headquarters that 75 billion tons of fertile soil are "lost forever" every year. That's the equivalent of "23 hectares of land transformed into man-made desert every minute."

He also pointed out that the world's fertile lands are "finite" and that "sustainable land use for all and by all is an imperative," as well as "a cornerstone of the green economy for sustainable development and poverty eradication."

Gnacadja expressed hope that the Rio+20 Conference in Brazil in June "will live up to this imperative."

Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes, who was nominated as UNCCD Dry lands Ambassador in January 2012, told reporters that by creating awareness for this issue, more people will "know and understand what the world's land degradation of dry lands mean and how it affects our environment."

She added that "dry lands are not wastelands" and "they can be saved."

Building on her passion for the improvement of the health of women and children in her home country of Angola, Lopes has taken up the cause of protecting soil productivity globally, and in Africa in particular, as a platform to fight the food insecurity and poverty of women and children.

Desertification, along with climate change and the loss of biodiversity were identified as the greatest challenges to sustainable development during the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

Rio+20 – the 20th anniversary follow up to the Earth Summit - will focus on a land-degradation neutral future, where degradation is brought to a halt by restoring more land than is degraded and avoiding degrading new areas by using non-degraded areas more efficiently.

Established in 1994, UNCCD is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment, development and the promotion of healthy soils.