Yadav hails UNCCD member countries for work on climate change, biodiversity

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday hailed the member countries of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) for working in close coordination with other two UN conventions on climate change and biodiversity.

The minister said this after a virtual meeting with the members of the UNCCD COP (Conference of Parties), of which India is the current President.

"Attended the meeting of @UNCCD COP Bureau members virtually. Appreciated the work being done by UNCCD countries that have worked in close coordination with the other two conventions i.e., @UNFCCC and @UNBiodiversity for synergy of the three Rio Conventions," Yadav, who chaired the meeting, tweeted.

The three Rio Conventions are UNCCD, UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) and CBD (Convention on Biodiversity).

Sharing the insights of the meeting, an official said Jigmet Takpa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, welcomed all the COP Bureau members on behalf of the COP President and the meeting was attended by 11 Bureau members representing regions around the globe.

"The proposal for the extension of the term of Ibrahim Thiaw, as Executive Secretary, UNCCD, was discussed with all the COP-Bureau Members for recommendation to the UN Secretariat," the ministry official said.

India, which presently has the COP Presidency of UNCCD, had hosted the 14th COP of the UNCCD in 2019. It was attended by more than 6,000 international and national delegates and experts wherein Sustainable Land Environment Management was discussed in detail with associated aspects.

"India has volunteered many significant commitments beyond the Bonn Challenge. Several programmes and schemes have been initiated by the Government of India to deal with the issues of land degradation and achieve the targets by 2030. The Ministry of Environment is the nodal agency and is co-ordinating the efforts and monitoring the progress of these schemes on a regular basis.

"Green India Mission, National Afforestation Program and Watershed development component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna (PMKSY) are some of the schemes which are on-going to meet the target in close coordination with State Governments," the official said.

During the meeting, Yadav highlighted the initiatives taken at the global level, providing direct and indirect support to the objectives of the UNCCD.

"The launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Work towards the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework Strengthened resolve towards meeting the Paris Agreement on Climate Change reflected through the Glasgow Climate Pact 2021.

"Such initiatives will play a significant role towards the fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goals on land, climate change and biodiversity," the minister said.

He said the COP Bureau has been successful in holding 7 COP-Bureau meetings wherein important discussions were held on leveraging multilateral platforms on the road to Rio.

The UNCCD's 15th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 15) is scheduled to be held in May this year at Cote d' Ivoire.

The prime minister during his keynote address to UN High Level Dialogue on Desertification on June 14, 2021, had highlighted the success models of restoration of degraded land of Banni Gujarat and establishment of Centre for Excellence for Sustainable Land Management for better knowledge sharing and capacity building under South-South Cooperation.

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