UN Decade for Deserts and the Fight Against Desertification

Monday, 16 August 2010

Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification gets under way

The United Nations Decade for Deserts and Desertification was launched in Fortaleza, Brazil, yesterday, during the Second International Conference: Climate, Variability, Sustainability and Development, ICID 2010, and at the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya.

Luc Gnacadja - © Photo courtesy Angeles Estrada
Vigil and IISD

Speaking during the ceremony in Fortaleza, Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the Convention said the international community is at a cross-roads. “The path of business-as-usual will worsen the speed of degradation with devastating impacts on livelihoods, families and communities,” adding that the alternative path “is the one that will embrace and undertake the formidable challenges of sustainability implying that we choose to channel our collective action towards it.”

Highlighting the special history between the Convention and the ICID Conferences, which in the 1990s contributed to the creation of the Convention and was now the launching pad of the Decade, Mr. Gnacadja called on the participants, as stakeholders to the issue, to take the vision of the Decade and lead so that by 2020, land issues move “higher on national and global development agendas; with drylands viewed as assets and not liabilities in the global vision of sustainability, and a prerequisite for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”

The full statement is available here

Signing of the Record Marking the Event

Antônio Magalhães, Director, ICID 2010, and Luc
Gnacadja - © Photo courtesy Angeles Estrada Vigil
and IISD

Present to witness the event were the over 2,500 participants drawn from 100 countries participating at the ICID 2010 Conference taking place from 16-20 August 2010. The dignitaries who signed the Decade’s Record of the Launch included several ministers from Brazil, as well as ministers from Niger, Senegal and Switzerland, governors and high-ranking officials from various institutions.
In addition, the Ministers from Argentina, Germany, Algeria and Bhutan also sent messages to the launch and in support of the Decade campaign, as did the heads of United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, United Nations Environment Programme, UN Department of Public Information, United Nations Development Programme, World Meteorological Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Convention on Biological Diversity, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Global Mechanism, and the UNCCD’s Greening Ambassador Byong Hyon Kwon.

To access any of these statements, visit:
http://unddd.unccd.int/messages.htm

UN Secretary General’s Message

Mr. Gnacadja also presented the message of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the Conference. In his message, Secretary-General Ban drew attention to the challenges faced by the poor in the drylands and the costs of the land degradation to society, and stated that while the challenges are formidable, they are not intractable.
“As we begin the Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification, le us pledge to intensify our efforts to nurture the land we need for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and guaranteeing human well-being,” the Secretary-General advocated.

To read the full statement of the UN Secretary General, click here:
http://newsbox.unccd.int/2.4/index.htm#Anchor-35882

Keynote Statements

Child Mayor of Fortaleza - © Photo courtesy
Angeles Estrada Vigil and IISD

Speaking at the opening ceremony, a child Mayor from Fortaleza, said “even though I am a child, I have a message for the adults. I am concerned about the world, especially my country Brazil.” He expressed concern about the environmental situation in Brazil, and globally, and expressed the hope that today’s adults would not damage the planet, but it should be sound for the next generations. “I would like my children and grand children to have a better environment and conditions than those that I have,” he said.
Vice-Minister of Environment José Machado highlighted various initiatives undertaken by the Government of Brazil to combat desertification. The Vice-minister highlighted the challenges faced in the drylands in Brazil, and said there is a need to strengthen the institutional framework to address the problems. He highlighted the government’s annual contributions to the cause of about 1billion Brazillian Reales (equivalent to US$500 million), the legal measures under development in Congress to ensure the institutions in Brazil bound to implement the laws and regulations.

ENB reports of the Event: http://www.iisd.ca/ymb/climate/icid2010/
Links to media reports:
http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/d/15709.html
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=35633&Cr=desert&Cr1=
These Reports have been compiled by UNCCD Staff, Wagaki Mwangi and Heitor Matallo, reporting from Fortaleza, Brazil.

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