Live coverage has closed

 

Thank you for joining our live coverage from the opening day of COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

 

Visit UN News for coverage from Riyadh over the coming days.

The whole conference is also being broadcast live by our colleagues at UN WebTV

 

 

2024년 12월 2일  오후 07:26

 

Discussions and negotiations continue

 

The opening plenary has closed with an emphasis put on greater international cooperation and with calls for increased financing to adapt to drought, hold back desertification and to pay for land restoration initiatives.

 

This live blog is closing now but COP16 continues until 13 December.

 

Here are the in-depth discussions to look out for over the next two weeks.

• Land Day (4 Dec)
• Agri-food systems Day (5 Dec)
• Governance Day (6 Dec)
• People’s Day (7 Dec)
• Science, Technology and Innovation Day (9 Dec)
• Resilience Day (10 Dec)
• Finance Day (11 Dec)
• Closing Plenary (13 Dec)

 

Stay on top of the latest news:

• Follow UN News here
• Follow us on social media here
• Watch UN Web TV live here

 

2024년 12월 2일  오후 07:16

 

Land Heroes: Billie Crystal G. Dumaliang, Philippines

 

The Philippines is one of the most susceptible countries in the world to natural hazards and these hazards, like the recent spate of typhoons to hit the country are becoming more intense due to climate change.

 

UNCCD

The deforestation of lands and watersheds around the Filipino capital, Manila, has put the city at greater risk of extreme weather events.

 

Billie Crystal G. Dumaliang and the Masungi Georeserve Foundation that she leads has committed to an ambitious reforestation initiative aimed at restoring approximately 2,700 hectares of degraded watershed areas surrounding the Georeserve.

 

The project is crucial for reinforcing the natural defences of Metro Manila against the impacts of climate change.

 

“Filipinos are experiencing severe impacts of drought and land degradation to agriculture, wellbeing, and daily life,” she said, “so we need to preserve biodiversity and mitigate the impacts of drought and climate change. 

 

My organization does this through boots-on-the ground land protection, reforestation, and impactful storytelling powered by sustainable geotourism.”

 

Hear more from Billie Dumaliang in this UNCCD podcast.

 

2024년 12월 2일  오후 06:51

 

Land degradation hits rural areas hardest

 

The UN's Food and Agricultural Organization, (FAO) is at the forefront of supporting rural communities, especially farmers, to restore degraded land.

 

 

 

2024년 12월 2일  오후 06:40

 

From the field: Madagascar, cultivating a future with sisal

 

In the south of the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa, productive land has been lost at an alarming pace to sand which is driven inland across farmland by powerful seasonal winds.

 

 UN News

 

The communities that live here are amongst the most vulnerable in Madagascar and as the sandy soils they farm become ever more degraded they can no longer cultivate their land and their livelihoods are threatened.

 

But now with the support of the UN, communities have been growing sisal plants which are resistant to severe conditions and well adapted to a more arid environment.

 

When cultivated in grids, they can help to secure the topsoil and prevent further erosion.  This means fewer sandstorms and more opportunities to work the land.

 

“Before on the land where we are standing there was nothing here, just sand. So, we could not grow our crops. But now we have planted sisal which has been good for the village,” said Lydia Monique Anjarasoa.

 

Listen to The Lid is On podcast from UN News to find out more about how communities are holding back the winds of change.

 

 

2024년 12월 2일  오후 06:30

 

The myths about droughts

 

UNCCD

 

Droughts are a major factor in desertification and land degradation and today at COP16 two key pieces of research are being launched.

 

The World Drought Atlas depicts the systemic nature of drought risks illustrating how they are interconnected across sectors like energy, agriculture, river transport, and international trade and how they can trigger cascading effects, fueling inequalities and conflicts and threatening public health.

 

The Drought Resilience Observatory is an AI-driven data platform for drought resilience created by the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA), a UNCCD-hosted coalition of more than 70 countries and organizations committed to drought action, 

 

Both will help to explain in more detail the complicated nature of this natural phenomenon and correct some widely-held misconceptions.

 

Here are five myths about drought.

 

Drought is a poor farmers’ problem caused by the lack of rain

Drought is a natural phenomenon, but the current global emergency is human-made, the result of poor land management and unbridled consumption, leading to water stress.

 

Droughts are crises to be responded to 

Droughts are also becoming harsher and faster due to human-induced climate change and typically the global response to it is still reactive. More planning and adaption is required. A proactive approach can prevent immense human suffering and is far cheaper than interventions focused on response and recovery.

 

Climate change alone is to blame for the effects of drought

It’s too easy to blame droughts on climate change. They are caused not only by the lack of rain, but are a result of the way we treat our land and ecosystems. Land degradation fuels drought and climate change and vice versa, meaning that protecting, restoring and sustainably managing lands is central to drought resilience. 

 

Infrastructure is the answer to drought

Dams and other water gathering infrastructure are important and are crucial to farmers during extended dry spells. However, they are not the answer: Nature-based solutions, like planting more trees, can support healthy hydrological systems that naturally store water and slowly release it in drier times which helps to build the resilience of ecosystems and communities.

 

Business can continue as usual

No country is immune to drought, but all of them can prepare to better withstand its impacts. At COP16, participants will discuss, among others a global drought resilience framework. To succeed, humankind has to change the way droughts are tackled, building resilience before disasters occur.

 

Read more about the myths here.

 

2024년 12월 2일  오후 06:01

 

From the field: Harvesting hope in Niger

 

WFP

 

We're going to take a step away from the plenary and look at some of the solutions that local communities in various parts of the world have engaged in to stop land loss.

 

Climate change, land degradation, soaring prices, and conflict have made the already challenging lives of famers in the Sahel region of Africa even more precarious, but communities have come together with the support of the World Food Programme’s (WFP) integrated resilience programme to cultivate a better life.

 

Foureyratou Saidou, a single mother of four and recent widow from the Tilaberi area of Niger, is one of around three million people in the region who have benefitted from the initiative which promotes land rehabilitation, livelihood diversification, school meals, nutrition interventions, and improved agricultural production and market access. 

 

“In this garden, we now grow and harvest onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and other vegetables that we eat and that we can sell in the local market,” she said. “Before, we didn’t have much to live for. Now we do, and we don’t want to leave.”

 

With better access to markets Ms. Saidou is able to sell the food she does not consume at home and provide for her children.

 

2024년 12월 2일  오후 05:47

 

Planetary boundaries: Earth’s critical thresholds 

 

UNCCD

 

A number of important reports are being released at COP16 and the plenary keynote speaker, Professor Johan Rockström, spoke about the Special Report on Land, which he led.

 

The scientific study “charts an urgent course correction for how the world grows food and uses land in order to avoid irretrievably compromising Earth’s capacity to support human and environmental well-being.”

 

It focuses on nine so-called planetary boundaries which provide a framework to describe limits to the impacts of human activities on the Earth system.

 

Beyond these limits, the environment may not be able to self-regulate anymore. 

 

The report, Stepping back from the precipice: Transforming land management to stay within planetary boundaries, draws on roughly 350 information sources to examine land degradation and opportunities to act from a planetary boundaries perspective.

 

2024년 12월 2일  오후 05:12

 

Land Heroes

 

There are plenty of young and inspirational people around the world who are pioneering efforts to regenerate broken land. 

 

UNCCD has chosen ten Land Heroes to highlight how change can come from the grass roots up. We will be meeting some of them over the next couple of hours or so.

 

Rokiatou Traoré, Mali

 

UNCCD

 

Rokiatou Traoré describes herself as a “green entrepreneur” and has been working in Mali to build a social enterprise based around products from the moringa tree. 

 

Around 100 women have been trained to create products from 20,000 trees; They include organic teas, powders, oils, soaps, spices, and baby food which have been exported to more than seven countries. 

 

In 2023, she produced 150,000 drought-resistant moringa tree seedlings from seeds for 5,000 women and young farmers. 

 

“A seed is a life in dormancy,” she said. “Give it water, soil and protection and it can address desertification, women poverty and malnutrition for good. “

 

Her future plans are ambitious. By 2030, she wants to establish a network of millions of women moringa producers, plant 10 million Moringa trees, and export moringa-based products to national, regional, and international markets.

 

 “Nothing is impossible to achieve with an unwavering will.” 

 

2024년 12월 2일  오후 05:03

 

Nurturing humanity

 

UNCCD

 

Ibrahim Thiaw, the Executive Secretary of UNCCD, has told delegates that “land restoration is primarily about nurturing humanity itself,’ as the “way we manage our land today will directly determine the future of life on Earth.”

 

He spoke of his personal experience of meeting farmers, mothers, and young people affected by the loss of land. “The cost of land degradation seeps in every corner of their lives.”

 

“They see the rising price of groceries, in unexpected energy surcharges, and in the growing strain on their communities,” adding that “land and soil loss are robbing poor families of nutritious food, and children of a safe future.”

 

But he said working together the world can “reverse the trends of land degradation,” but only if “we seize this pivotal moment.”

 

2024년 12월 2일  오후 05:00

 

40 per cent of Earth affected

 

A lot of stats are being quoted by speakers during the plenary session, showing how serious the challenge is.