United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is an international agreement aimed at addressing the pressing issues of land degradation and desertification, particularly in vulnerable dryland ecosystems. Adopted on June 17, 1994, the convention emerged from earlier discussions at the 1992 Earth Summit, where global leaders recognized the urgent need to combat these environmental challenges. The UNCCD has since been central to raising awareness about the impacts of desertification, which can lead to significant social and economic consequences, including mass migrations and the emergence of environmental refugees.
By 2023, the convention has garnered participation from 197 countries, reflecting a broad commitment to sustainable land management practices. It emphasizes the need for countries to develop National Action Programs that detail local desertification issues and strategies for mitigation. The UNCCD also acknowledges the complex interplay of factors—such as poverty, climate change, and trade liberalization—that exacerbate land degradation. With a dedicated secretariat and support from the United Nations Global Environment Facility, the UNCCD continues to facilitate cooperation among member nations, fostering sustainable development to protect fragile ecosystems and enhance the well-being of affected populations worldwide.
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
THE CONVENTION: International agreement intended to address the problems of land degradation and desertification around the world
DATE: Adopted on June 17, 1994
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification has brought to the attention of decision makers some of the most vulnerable ecosystems in the world: drylands and deserts. The degradation of these ecosystems has affected some of the most vulnerable people on earth, causing massive migrations and creating environmental refugees. The convention has helped bring increased attention also to particular issues related to desertification, such as climate change and trade liberalization.
It has been widely acknowledged that land degradation and are serious problems in many regions of the world, with significant impacts on the economic, social, cultural, and environmental well-being of the populations they affect. Scientists and policy makers had been talking about how to address the problems of land degradation and desertification for many years before the United Nations Conference on Desertification in 1977 finally began strong international efforts to address these problems.
Participants at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, known as the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, discussed the issue of desertification and decided to call on the U.N. General Assembly to establish a committee to prepare a convention addressing desertification by June, 1994. On June 17, 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was adopted in Paris and subsequently opened for signature on October 14 of the same year. The convention entered into force on December 26, 1996, after it was ratified by 50 countries. The first Conference of the Parties (COP), the convention’s governing body, was held in Rome, Italy, in October, 1997. By 2023, the number of countries that were parties to the convention had grown to 197.
A permanent secretariat is responsible for providing support to affected UNCCD member countries, assisting in the preparation for sessions of the COP, distributing information as it becomes available, and coordinating programs and activities with relevant international nonprofit environmental organizations. The United Nations Global Environment Facility is the official financing mechanism of the UNCCD. Since 2001 the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention has assisted the COP in conducting regular reviews of signatory nations’ implementation of the convention.
At the country level, the desertification issues that a member nation faces must be detailed in a National Action Program, along with the measures being taken to address them. The UNCCD’s approach is to support sustainable development at the level, with the reasoning that in turn this will lead to overall reductions in land degradation and the protection of fragile ecosystems.
The UNCCD recognizes that human activities are the primary causes of land degradation and desertification. It further recognizes that land degradation and desertification result from a number of complex factors—political, physical, economic, social, cultural, and biological—and the interactions among them. Factors such as poverty, lack of food security, and lack of proper nutrition also play important roles, influencing human activities in ways that often contribute to land degradation and desertification.
Bibliography
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Middleton, N. Global Desertification: Do Humans Cause Deserts? Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2004.
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