"UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION - UNCCD"

Ahead of COP 28, being held in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December, the United Nations kept a sharp focus on the issue of climate change during the month of June. UNIFEED / FILE

Addressing a high-level event to mark Desertification and Drought Day, General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi said, “when women farmers have access to own land, they grow more, and so do their children and nations.” UNIFEED

Mountains host about half of the global biodiversity hotspots and are home to a growing number of the world’s hungriest people, according to a new study launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and partners to mark International Mountain Day 2020. FAO

“From the Sahel and Lake Chad region to war zones around the globe, millions are suffering on the frontlines of environmental degradation, climate change and conflict,” ICRC President, Peter Maurer told the Security Council in a session dedicated to the humanitarian effects of environmental degradation on peace and security. UNIFEED

Briefing via teleconference from COP14, which takes place in New Delhi, India, from 2 to 13 September, the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Ibrahim Thiaw, said land degradation is generating a “huge loss to the world economy,” estimated to be “between 10 and 17 percent of the global GDP.” UNIFEED

Briefing by Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), via video-link on COP14: UN conference themed “Investing in Land, Unlocking Opportunities”, which takes place in New Delhi, India, from 2 to 13 September.

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

Briefing on moving to a land degradation neutral world

Desertification is one of the world's most alarming processes of environmental degradation. It threatens the health and livelihoods of more than one billion people and causes an estimated $42 billion in lost agricultural production. UNTV