United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) UPSC Perspective
The most comprehensive global commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in order to restore the productivity of vast expanses of degraded land, improve the livelihoods of more than 1.3 billion people, and reduce the impacts of drought on vulnerable populations to build.
Need for United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification ( UNCCD )
- Globally one fifth of Earth’s land area more than 2 billion hectares is degraded.
- It including more than half of all agricultural land.
- Each year more than 12 million hectares of land are lost to desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD).
- The world loses 24 billion tons of fertile soil annually due to dryland degradation with significant negative impacts on food production and economic activity.
About
- The Convention’s 197 parties work together to improve the living conditions for people in drylands, to maintain and restore land and soil productivity, and to mitigate the effects of drought.
- The UNCCD is particularly committed to a bottom-up approach, encouraging the participation of local people in combating desertification and land degradation.
- The UNCCD secretariat facilitates cooperation between developed and developing countries, particularly around knowledge and technology transfer for sustainable land management.
- The new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework is the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)
Role of the secretariat
- Increasing the political momentum
- Moving to meet global targets
- Improving conditions for national implementation