ANOTHER COP OUT
Parties from 196 countries and the European Union failed on Saturday to reach an agreement on how to respond to drought at UN talks in Saudi Arabia.
Issued on: 14/12/2024 -
By: NEWS WIRES
A COP16 delegate walks past a giant poster of a Saudi archaeological site at the start of the UNCCD talks. © Fayez Nureldine, AFP
Negotiators failed to produce an agreement on how to respond to drought at Saudi-hosted UN talks, participants said on Saturday, falling short of a hoped-for binding protocol addressing the scourge.
The 12-day meeting of parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), known as COP16, concluded early on Saturday morning, a day later than scheduled as parties tried to hammer out a deal.
Prior to the talks, UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw said the world expected negotiators "to adopt a bold decision that can help turn the tide on the most pervasive and the most disruptive environmental disaster: drought".
But addressing the plenary session before dawn, Thiaw acknowledged that "parties need more time to agree on the best way forward".
A press release on Saturday said the parties -- 196 countries and the European Union -- had "made significant progress in laying the groundwork for a future global drought regime, which they intend to complete at COP17 in Mongolia in 2026".
The Riyadh talks came after the partial failure of biodiversity talks in Colombia, the failure to reach a UN deal on plastics pollution in South Korea, and a climate finance deal that disappointed developing nations at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Growing threat
Droughts "fuelled by human destruction of the environment" cost the world more than $300 billion each year, the UN said in a report published on December 3, the second day of the talks in Riyadh.
Droughts are projected to affect 75 percent of the world's population by 2050, it said.
A delegate at COP16 from a country in Africa, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, told AFP that African nations had hoped the talks would produce a binding protocol on drought.
That would ensure "every government will be held responsible" for devising stronger preparation and response plans, the delegate said.
"It's the first time I've seen Africa so united, with a strong united front, with respect to the drought protocol."
Two other COP16 participants, also requesting anonymity, told AFP that developed countries did not want a binding protocol and instead were pushing for a "framework", which African countries deemed inadequate.
Indigenous groups were also pushing for a protocol, said Praveena Sridhar, chief technical officer for Save Soil, a global campaign backed by UN agencies.
This would allow for better monitoring, early warning systems and response plans, she said.
Yet the absence of a protocol from COP16 "shouldn't delay progress", as national governments can still allocate "budgets and subsidies to financially support farmers in adopting sustainable soil and land management".
Funding needs
Ahead of the Riyadh talks, the UNCCD said 1.5 billion hectares (3.7 billion acres) of land must be restored by decade's end and that at least $2.6 trillion in global investments was needed.
The first week saw pledges of more than $12 billion from bodies such as the Arab Coordination Group, a collection of national and regional institutions, and the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, which is meant to mobilise public and private money to help at-risk countries.
Activists accused Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, of trying to water down calls to phase out fossil fuels at last month's COP29 UN climate talks in Baku.
However, desertification is a major issue for the Gulf kingdom.
Along with the drought resilience partnership, Saudi Arabia launched initiatives to promote early warning for sand and dust storms and to get the private sector involved in land preservation, Saudi Environment Minister Abdulrahman AlFadley said in his closing remarks.
Saudi Arabia is dedicated "to working with all parties to preserve ecosystems, enhance international cooperation to combat desertification and land degradation, and address drought", he said.
Sridhar of Save Soil said Saudi Arabia had succeeded in raising the profile of land-related issues, which she described as more "unifying" than the climate talks in Baku.
"Attending to land, agriculture lands, farmers, livestock –- it's not a contested subject. Nobody's going to say 'I don’t want food'," she said.
"The use of fossil fuels or not is a very polarising subject. This is not."
(AFP)
Negotiators failed to produce an agreement on how to respond to drought at Saudi-hosted UN talks, participants said on Saturday, falling short of a hoped-for binding protocol addressing the scourge.
The 12-day meeting of parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), known as COP16, concluded early on Saturday morning, a day later than scheduled as parties tried to hammer out a deal.
Prior to the talks, UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw said the world expected negotiators "to adopt a bold decision that can help turn the tide on the most pervasive and the most disruptive environmental disaster: drought".
But addressing the plenary session before dawn, Thiaw acknowledged that "parties need more time to agree on the best way forward".
A press release on Saturday said the parties -- 196 countries and the European Union -- had "made significant progress in laying the groundwork for a future global drought regime, which they intend to complete at COP17 in Mongolia in 2026".
The Riyadh talks came after the partial failure of biodiversity talks in Colombia, the failure to reach a UN deal on plastics pollution in South Korea, and a climate finance deal that disappointed developing nations at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Growing threat
Droughts "fuelled by human destruction of the environment" cost the world more than $300 billion each year, the UN said in a report published on December 3, the second day of the talks in Riyadh.
Droughts are projected to affect 75 percent of the world's population by 2050, it said.
A delegate at COP16 from a country in Africa, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, told AFP that African nations had hoped the talks would produce a binding protocol on drought.
That would ensure "every government will be held responsible" for devising stronger preparation and response plans, the delegate said.
"It's the first time I've seen Africa so united, with a strong united front, with respect to the drought protocol."
Two other COP16 participants, also requesting anonymity, told AFP that developed countries did not want a binding protocol and instead were pushing for a "framework", which African countries deemed inadequate.
Indigenous groups were also pushing for a protocol, said Praveena Sridhar, chief technical officer for Save Soil, a global campaign backed by UN agencies.
This would allow for better monitoring, early warning systems and response plans, she said.
Yet the absence of a protocol from COP16 "shouldn't delay progress", as national governments can still allocate "budgets and subsidies to financially support farmers in adopting sustainable soil and land management".
Funding needs
Ahead of the Riyadh talks, the UNCCD said 1.5 billion hectares (3.7 billion acres) of land must be restored by decade's end and that at least $2.6 trillion in global investments was needed.
The first week saw pledges of more than $12 billion from bodies such as the Arab Coordination Group, a collection of national and regional institutions, and the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, which is meant to mobilise public and private money to help at-risk countries.
Activists accused Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, of trying to water down calls to phase out fossil fuels at last month's COP29 UN climate talks in Baku.
However, desertification is a major issue for the Gulf kingdom.
Along with the drought resilience partnership, Saudi Arabia launched initiatives to promote early warning for sand and dust storms and to get the private sector involved in land preservation, Saudi Environment Minister Abdulrahman AlFadley said in his closing remarks.
Saudi Arabia is dedicated "to working with all parties to preserve ecosystems, enhance international cooperation to combat desertification and land degradation, and address drought", he said.
Sridhar of Save Soil said Saudi Arabia had succeeded in raising the profile of land-related issues, which she described as more "unifying" than the climate talks in Baku.
"Attending to land, agriculture lands, farmers, livestock –- it's not a contested subject. Nobody's going to say 'I don’t want food'," she said.
"The use of fossil fuels or not is a very polarising subject. This is not."
(AFP)
UN report warns increase in permanently dry land is 'redefining life on Earth'
Just over 75 percent of the world's land has been left "permanently drier" over the previous three decades, a UN-backed report has found. The data coincides with Cop16 talks on desertification held in Saudi Arabia until Friday.
Issued on: 10/12/2024 -
By:RFI
Dry land now covers around 40 percent of the Earth's land mass, excluding Antarctica, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) study found, cautioning the shift could affect up to five billion people by 2100.
"Some 77.6 percent of Earth's land experienced drier conditions during the three decades leading up to 2020 compared to the previous 30-year period," the report said.
It indicates an "existential threat" posed by the seemingly irreversible trends and showed that dry land - regions where agriculture is difficult -- increased by 4.3 million square kilometres between 1990 and 2020, an area a third the size of India.
The warning comes during a 12-day meeting in Riyadh, which began last week, for the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (Cop16) under the UNCCD and seeks to protect and restore land and respond to drought amid ongoing climate change
Aridity, a chronic shortage of water, now extends over 40.6 percent of the Earth's land mass, again excluding Antarctica, compared with 37.5 percent 30 years ago, the report warns.
Unrelenting transformation
It also cautions the areas most affected include the nations bordering the Mediterranean, southern Africa, southern Australia and certain regions of Asia and Latin America.
"For the first time, the aridity crisis has been documented with scientific clarity, revealing an existential threat," said Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary.
"Unlike droughts – temporary periods of low rainfall – aridity represents a permanent, unrelenting transformation," he said.
Saudi Arabia hosts Cop16 to combat desertification crisis
"The drier climates now affecting vast lands across the globe will not return to how they were and this change is redefining life on Earth," he added.
The changes are largely attributed to global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, which alter rainfall and increase evaporation, the report said.
Jean-Luc Chotte, president of the French Scientific Committee on Desertification, told RFI that the UN report will allow countries to anticipate and react to the effects of desertification in the medium and long term.
Chotte says the new data from the report enables a projection of aridity, in the face of global development and "reinforces the need to find solutions and adapt," be it in terms of agricultural practices and the varieties of plants adapted to drought conditions.
France makes declaration
However, he warns that as new land becomes progressively arid, "today's solutions may no longer be effective tomorrow".
France for the first time, officially declared itself "affected by desertification, land degradation and drought", bringing the total number of nations to 170.
For Thani Mohamed-Soilihi, the Secretary of State for Francophone countries and International Partnerships, France's announcement at Cop16 "sends a message of solidarity to the most vulnerable countries", overriding the view that desertification is predominantly an African issue.
Crippling drought forces drastic water cuts in French territory Mayotte
According to the French scientific committee on desertification, around 1 percent of the country's territory is affected, notably the Mediterranean rim and southern Corsica, as well as the overseas territories of Reunion Island, Guadeloupe and Mayotte.
In Mayotte, where drought has been rife for years, water cuts have been extended to cope with an increase in consumption.
Mainland France notably experienced an unprecedented drought in 2022, with a rainfall deficit of 25 percent, making it the second least rainy year since 1959.
Forced migration to increase
"For the first time, a UN scientific body is warning that burning fossil fuels is causing permanent drying across much of the world," lead UNCCD Chief Scientist Barron Orr said.
He added this could have "potentially catastrophic impacts affecting access to water that could push people and nature even closer to disastrous tipping points".
Nearly 68 million suffering from drought in southern Africa, says regional bloc
The effects of the chronic water shortages include soil degradation, ecosystem collapse, food insecurity and forced migration, according to the scientists.
Already, 2.3 billion people live in expanding dry areas, according to the report, with projections showing a "worst-case scenario" of five billion people living in the conditions as the planet continues to warm.
To counter this trend, the scientists urged members to "integrate aridity metrics into existing drought monitoring systems", improve soil and water management, and "build resilience in vulnerable communities".
(with newswires)
Just over 75 percent of the world's land has been left "permanently drier" over the previous three decades, a UN-backed report has found. The data coincides with Cop16 talks on desertification held in Saudi Arabia until Friday.
Issued on: 10/12/2024 -
Workers look after trees planted in the "green belt" area, trying to prevent worsening desertification and sand storms, on the outskirt of Kerbala, Iraq 12 May, 2022.
© REUTERS - ALAA AL-MARJANI
By:RFI
Dry land now covers around 40 percent of the Earth's land mass, excluding Antarctica, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) study found, cautioning the shift could affect up to five billion people by 2100.
"Some 77.6 percent of Earth's land experienced drier conditions during the three decades leading up to 2020 compared to the previous 30-year period," the report said.
It indicates an "existential threat" posed by the seemingly irreversible trends and showed that dry land - regions where agriculture is difficult -- increased by 4.3 million square kilometres between 1990 and 2020, an area a third the size of India.
The warning comes during a 12-day meeting in Riyadh, which began last week, for the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (Cop16) under the UNCCD and seeks to protect and restore land and respond to drought amid ongoing climate change
Aridity, a chronic shortage of water, now extends over 40.6 percent of the Earth's land mass, again excluding Antarctica, compared with 37.5 percent 30 years ago, the report warns.
Unrelenting transformation
It also cautions the areas most affected include the nations bordering the Mediterranean, southern Africa, southern Australia and certain regions of Asia and Latin America.
"For the first time, the aridity crisis has been documented with scientific clarity, revealing an existential threat," said Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary.
"Unlike droughts – temporary periods of low rainfall – aridity represents a permanent, unrelenting transformation," he said.
Saudi Arabia hosts Cop16 to combat desertification crisis
"The drier climates now affecting vast lands across the globe will not return to how they were and this change is redefining life on Earth," he added.
The changes are largely attributed to global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, which alter rainfall and increase evaporation, the report said.
Jean-Luc Chotte, president of the French Scientific Committee on Desertification, told RFI that the UN report will allow countries to anticipate and react to the effects of desertification in the medium and long term.
Chotte says the new data from the report enables a projection of aridity, in the face of global development and "reinforces the need to find solutions and adapt," be it in terms of agricultural practices and the varieties of plants adapted to drought conditions.
France makes declaration
However, he warns that as new land becomes progressively arid, "today's solutions may no longer be effective tomorrow".
France for the first time, officially declared itself "affected by desertification, land degradation and drought", bringing the total number of nations to 170.
For Thani Mohamed-Soilihi, the Secretary of State for Francophone countries and International Partnerships, France's announcement at Cop16 "sends a message of solidarity to the most vulnerable countries", overriding the view that desertification is predominantly an African issue.
Crippling drought forces drastic water cuts in French territory Mayotte
According to the French scientific committee on desertification, around 1 percent of the country's territory is affected, notably the Mediterranean rim and southern Corsica, as well as the overseas territories of Reunion Island, Guadeloupe and Mayotte.
In Mayotte, where drought has been rife for years, water cuts have been extended to cope with an increase in consumption.
Mainland France notably experienced an unprecedented drought in 2022, with a rainfall deficit of 25 percent, making it the second least rainy year since 1959.
Forced migration to increase
"For the first time, a UN scientific body is warning that burning fossil fuels is causing permanent drying across much of the world," lead UNCCD Chief Scientist Barron Orr said.
He added this could have "potentially catastrophic impacts affecting access to water that could push people and nature even closer to disastrous tipping points".
Nearly 68 million suffering from drought in southern Africa, says regional bloc
The effects of the chronic water shortages include soil degradation, ecosystem collapse, food insecurity and forced migration, according to the scientists.
Already, 2.3 billion people live in expanding dry areas, according to the report, with projections showing a "worst-case scenario" of five billion people living in the conditions as the planet continues to warm.
To counter this trend, the scientists urged members to "integrate aridity metrics into existing drought monitoring systems", improve soil and water management, and "build resilience in vulnerable communities".
(with newswires)
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