What to study?
For Prelims: UNCCD.
For Mains: Land Degradation- issues, challenges and solutions.
Context: The 14th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 14) begins in New Delhi.
India took over the Presidency of the COP from China.
About UNCCD:
- Established in 1994.
- It is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
- It is the only convention stemming from a direct recommendation of the Rio Conference’s Agenda 21.
- To help publicise the Convention, 2006 was declared “International Year of Deserts and Desertification”.
- Focus areas: The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.
- Aim: Its 197 Parties aim, through partnerships, to implement the Convention and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The end goal is to protect land from over-use and drought, so it can continue to provide food, water and energy.
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the nodal Ministry for this Convention.
Need of the hour:
Responsible land governance is key to provide an enabling environment for ecosystem restoration, biodiversity protection, land use-based adaptation and for improving the livelihoods of many small-scale farmers.
At the UNCCD COP 14, parties to the convention have the opportunity to adopt an ambitious resolution on land tenure for Land Degradation Neutrality. They must use this opportunity to empower communities to better adapt to the impacts of the climate emergency.
Sources: the Hindu.
