Food & Climate
The COP16 to Combat Desertification Conference will start tomorrow in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and will continue until December 13. It will seek how can world restore degraded agricultural lands and it is also representing a moonshot moment to raise global ambition and accelerate action on land and drought resilience through a people-centered approach.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 1 660 million hectares of land are degraded due to human activities. Over 60% of this degradation occurs on agricultural lands, including cropland and pasture, putting unprecedented pressure on agrifood systems and jeopardizing global food security, environmental sustainability, and social stability, according a statement that “Food & Climate” platform received.
FAO is spearheading efforts at the UNCCD COP16 to restore degraded agricultural lands. This is a crucial step towards transforming agrifood systems into sustainable and inclusive models to ensure food security for all, promote ecosystem health, and enhance human well-being.
“Healthy land, crucial for providing 95% of our food, clothing, shelter, jobs, and protection from natural disasters, is degrading at an alarming rate,” said AbdulHakim Elwaer, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa (NENA).
Relying on agrifood systems
With 3.83 billion individuals relying on agrifood systems for their livelihoods, 60 percent of the human-induced land degradation occurs on agricultural lands. Therefore, integrated approaches to managing soil, land, and water sustainably are urgently needed to nourish a growing global population.
“COP16 to Combat Desertification Conference presents a unique opportunity to galvanize global efforts towards sustainable agrifood systems that benefit both people and the planet,” Elwaer said.
FAO advocates for prioritizing the restoration of agricultural lands in multilateral environmental agreements and integrating it into national planning processes. The Organization emphasizes the need for integrated solutions at the policy, innovation, and technology levels to reach smallholder farmers.
During COP16 Desertification Conference, FAO will provide technical support to the discussion of issues including restoration of agricultural land, integrated land use planning, land tenure security, drought resilience, and sand and dust storms.
On 5 December, FAO, in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and UNCCD, will be leading the conference sessions on Agrifood Systems Day, dedicated to promoting sustainable land management to support healthy soils, productive lands, resilient crops and nutritious food.
COP29
The recent COP29 climate talks yielded a hard-won $300 billion climate finance deal those poorer nations most at risk of worsening disasters dismissed as insultingly low.
UNCCD executive secretary Ibrahim Thiaw told Agency France-Presse (AFP) he hoped COP16 would result in an agreement to accelerate land restoration and develop a “proactive” approach to droughts. “We have already lost 40% of our land and soils,” Thiaw said. “Global security is really at stake, and you see it all over the world. Not only in Africa, not only in the Middle East.”
Saudi Arabia’s high oil production, resulting in eye-watering profits for oil giant Aramco, routinely draws the ire of climate activists. But its exposure to desertification could give it more credibility during the Riyadh talks. “With the desertification fight, (Saudi Arabia is) not necessarily directly contributing to the problem, whereas with climate change, it is,” claimed Patrick Galey, senior fossil fuels investigator for Global Witness, according “Daily Sabah“.
Thousands of delegates have registered to attend the Dec. 2-13 talks in Riyadh, including “close to 100” government ministers, Thiaw said. French President Emmanuel Macron is due to attend the One Water Summit, taking place on the sidelines of COP16 on Dec. 3.