UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP 14

(Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change)

 

WHAT

The 12-day 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) held recently in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

India among other nations have agreed to make the Sustainable Development Goal of achieving land degradation neutrality a national target.

 

REASONS FOR DESERTIFICATION IN INDIA

• Water erosion: Responsible for 10.98% desertification.

Loss of soil cover mainly due to rainfall and surface runoff. Water erosion is observed in both hot and cold desert areas, across various land covers and with varying severity levels.

 

• Vegetation degradation: Responsible for 8.91% desertification.

It includes deforestation, shifting cultivation and degradation in grazing, grassland and scrub land. Destruction of vegetation, most often by humans, accelerates desertification.

 

• Wind erosion: Responsible for 5.55% desertification.

It denoted the spread of sand by various processes, even up to lofty altitudes of Himalayas. It removes the topsoil, which is rich in all plant nutrients and bacterial activities.

 

• Salinity: Responsible for 1.12% desertification.

This occurs mostly in cultivated lands, especially in the irrigated areas. Soil salinity refers to the water-soluble salt present in the soil. Salinity can develop naturally, or human-included.

 

• Human-made/settlement: Responsible for 0.69% desertification.

All land degradation process which are included directly or indirectly by human intervention. It includes developmental activities such as mining and urbanisation.

 

• Others: Responsible for 2.07% desertification.

They include waterlogging, frost shattering mass movement, barren and rocky land types.

 

 

UN CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION

• The UNCCD is an international agreement on good land stewardship.
• Established in 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement.
• 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.
• Through partnerships, the Convention’s 197 Parties set up robust systems to manage drought promptly and effectively.

 

UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework

• It is the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).
• The framework has committed to restore the productivity of vast expanses of degraded land, improve the livelihoods, and reduce the impacts of drought on vulnerable populations.

 

CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES

• The COP was established by the Convention as the supreme decision-making body.
• It has been meeting biennially since 2001. COP13 took place in 2017 in Ordos, China.
• One of the main functions of the COP is to review reports submitted by the Parties detailing how they are carrying out their commitments.
• COP can guide the Convention as global circumstances and national needs change.

 

Source: PIB

 

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