On the sidelines of the 12th Conference of Parties (COP12) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) held in Ankara, Turkey, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Environment Facility (GEF) Executive Coordinator Adriana Dinu spoke to the Dhaka Tribune in an exclusive interview.
Dinu said the UNDP regards land degradation as a barrier to sustainable development that destabilises communities.
But the GEF executive coordinator is optimistic: “The UNDP believes that a reversal of current trends is indeed possible. The deterioration of our lands is, to a significant degree, anthropogenic. It has been caused by human influences and can be halted if driven by sufficient collective political will.”
“We now have an improved understanding of the kinds of actions that can reverse a great deal of the damage done. New opportunities are emerging to manage land in a fundamentally new way,” Dinu said. “In particular, land management options that sequester carbon can provide enormous ecological and economic benefits in mitigating climate change.”
When asked what the UNDP wants to see covered at COP12, she said: “What we would like to see is that the needs of countries in mitigating land degradation and rehabilitating degraded land are prioritised and linkages are made within the financial mechanisms to implement those priorities.”
“Bangladesh can seek assistance for technical support and financial support to combat land degradation and to restore degraded land. The UNDP can help Bangladesh develop programmes to combat land degradation. Bangladesh can obtain funds through the Global Environment Facility,” Dinu said.
Asked how important COP12 is for the coming 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Paris at the end of the year, she said the UNCCD conference was “critical for the success of COP21 because it will bring the importance of land management issues into the climate change mitigation and adaptation agendas.”
“Land degradation and land rehabilitation are crucial to the success of the UNFCC COP21,” she said. “Many countries have already recognised that land management systems help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Investment in land rehabilitation is very beneficial as it reduces carbon emissions, ensures food security, creates employment and can prevent disasters.”
According to a recent Food Insecurity Report, about 800 million people lacked sufficient nutritious food between 2012 and 2014. “If hunger and food insecurity are to be overcome, an estimated 60% increase in agricultural productivity will be necessary by 2050,” she said.
“By 2030, the demand for food, energy and water is expected to increase by at least 50, 45 and 30 percent, respectively, as a result of three key global mega trends – population growth, growth of the global middle class and urbanisation. These needs will not be met sustainably unless we conserve and restore the productivity of our land,” she said.
She said the UNDP already has many projects in the country and that Bangladesh’s vulnerability to climate change was one reason the country was very important to the programme.
Dinu said: “The UNDP will pursue a three-pronged approach to supporting countries on sustainable land management and rehabilitation – First, through capacity development, advocacy and policy advice; second, through support to the adoption and demonstration of locally-appropriate technologies and approaches; and third, through assisting countries access environmental finance for sustainable land management.”
“We stand ready to support countries with the rehabilitation of degraded land, contributing through the global partnership to achieving the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” she said.
“In this context, a concerted global effort is needed to halt and reverse land degradation. This has been acknowledged by the international community with the adoption of Sustainable Development Goal 15 which calls for ‘protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests, combating desertification and halting and reversing land degradation and halting biodiversity loss,’” Dinu said.
“We will step up our support to countries to adopt sustainable land management policies and practices in the context of SDG15, particularly SDG target 15.3 on ‘combating desertification, restoring degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods and striving to achieve a land degradation-neutral world by 2030,’” she added.
