The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is currently holding the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 to 13 December.
The UN describes this COP16 as “a moonshot moment to raise global ambition and accelerate action on land and drought resilience through a people-centered approach”.
A Commonwealth Secretariat team is in Riyadh to support this ambition because drought and desertification are worsening for many Commonwealth countries, including Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Zambia. Through the Living Lands Charter, we are committed to enhancing resilience to drought and addressing increasing desertification.
At UNCCD COP16, we hosted a side event titled, Sustainable land management and climate resilience: addressing drought and land degradation, which was attended by high-level stakeholders, including Lesotho’s Minister of Environment and Forestry, the Hon Letsema Adonts'i.
Speakers included representatives from Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Zambia, as well the African Risk Capacity Limited, the restoration and sustainability group TMG Research and the science-for-humanity group CGIAR, as well as COP delegates.
Highlights of the event included discussions of the following:
- The need to use anticipatory approaches like nature-based solutions to enhance resilience
- Importance of including local communities in developing and implementing solutions
- Respecting and harnessing local and Indigenous knowledge
- Scaling-up sovereign insurance schemes, including increased coverage and uptake as well as other innovative financial mechanisms
- Involving private sector as active stakeholders
- Securing Land Tenure for communities which is an effective incentive for better stewardship of land.
At the event, the UNCCD announced a pilot project, in collaboration with the UN Capital Development Fund, to examine the feasibility of a sustainability-linked insurance scheme in several countries, including Namibia, Malawi, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Papua New Guinea.
See also:
