Union Minister Prakash Javdekar inaugurates UN Convention to Combat Desertification, 196 nations take part

Over 6,000 participants from 196 countries are likely to attend the 14th session of the 12-day Conference of Parties (COP14), starting here on Monday.

The conference, being organised by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), will be inaugurated by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar and UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw. The theme of this COP14 is ‘Investing in the land, unlocking opportunities’.

“Close to a quarter of our land is now almost unusable. By the middle of the century, we will have to produce twice as much grain as we do today to keep up with global population growth. If we fail to act now, competition over resources, like land, may lead to hostilities as nations find it increasingly difficult to meet the demand for vital and declining resources,” Thiaw said interacting with the media.

The convention’s main aim is to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought to achieve sustainable development by taking action at all levels through international cooperation and partnership agreements.

“This session is special. It’s the first edition since the adoption of the 2018-30 strategic framework. The conference is expected to agree on about 30 decisions to ramp up and elaborate further actions needed to ensure that the 2018-30 goals are achieved,” a statement read.

Top officials from UN bodies, like UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), are expected to attend the conference.