Desertification is one of the main drivers of migration and food crises. Along with the UN negotiating processes on Climate (UNFCCC) and Biodiversity (CBD), since 1992 there has been a dedicated track (COP, Conference of Parties) exclusively on desertification (UNCCD). However, this COP receives less media and political attention, although for Italy desertification is a fundamental issue impacting relations with Africa and the Middle East and regional stability in the Mediterranean. We interviewed the president of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Alain-Richard Donwahi who explained the importance of the "forgotten COP".

What’s the current trend of desertification in 2024 and what are the forecasts for 2050?

For too long, desertification has been considered a problem specific to the Global South. However, desertification and drought are among the greatest environmental challenges of our time and concern us all. It is estimated that 3.2 billion people currently live on degraded land, a number that represents more than 10% of the total land on our planet. 168 countries are directly affected by this phenomenon  and the situation is getting worse by the day. In recent years, desertification and droughts have intensified significantly. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the number and duration of drought episodes have increased by 29% since 2000. Every year, 55 million people worldwide are directly affected by drought and, according to the UNCCD, more than three-quarters of the world's population will be affected by desertification by 2050.

There are many reasons for this decline. Climate change, which is leading to an increase in temperatures, is contributing to accelerated desertification. Also to blame are various practices, including intensive farming methods, deforestation and some activities such as mining, which are very harmful to the soil. There are numerous consequences: ecosystem destabilization, water scarcity, food insecurity, conflicts between local communities, migratory phenomena, political instability and loss of biodiversity. The World Bank estimates that more than 200 million people could be forced to migrate by 2050, mainly due to drought and other factors such as water scarcity and reduced harvests.

The UNCCD Conference of the Parties will meet in Riyadh in December this year. What is the goal of the negotiation?

This COP must be an opportunity to rally behind a common ambition and go beyond uncoordinated voluntarism. In 2022, COP15 set a series of goals, one of which is particularly important: to restore 1.5 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030. But this is mainly a reactive goal, while I am convinced that, given the importance of the issue, we must be proactive and more ambitious. However, before setting objectives, we must be able to take stock of the situation. And, in my opinion, we are not able to do that today. We are not dealing with a single reference indicator, but with a multitude of indicators to assess the state of the soil. We don’t have a unified methodology, nor a reference tool recognized by the international community. Sure, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) proposes that countries set targets for land degradation neutrality, but this is a voluntary approach where each country adopts a different target. The current system does not allow for a harmonized assessment at a global level, whereas, as in the case of global warming, such an assessment would allow for setting a clear and shared ambition, paving the way for greater international cooperation and solidarity. This step is essential to develop a clear plan of action and define the role that public authorities, companies and communities can play, beyond paying attention to the land in their proximity. I hope that COP16 will be an opportunity to collectively recognise that such an assessment is essential, that we need a more complete and precise picture of the current situation. This will allow us to have a discussion on the methodology to be used for this assessment and to set a common goal, defining the role that each of us must play.

COP Desertification has very limited visibility compared to climate and biodiversity, yet it addresses a critical issue, which affects migration and food security. Does the UNCCD have any strategy to attract more media attention?

Since the beginning of my mandate in May 2022, I have had the opportunity to travel around the world and talk to many political and economic decision-makers, entrepreneurs, organisations, communities and citizens engaged in the fight against desertification. What I have learned from these discussions is that there is a strong urge to act, but also a lack of understanding of the phenomenon of desertification and its consequences, as well as a lack of coordination on the role that each of us can play. Beyond media attention, first we need to raise awareness, educate and share information. I am convinced that most of the time we don’t act because we do not know what to do. That is why I attach great importance to education and information. They are absolutely essential in the fight we are waging against climate change, desertification and biodiversity loss. This is why I decided to support the creation of Desertification Fresco, an educational card game that helps to understand the causes and consequences of desertification and to propose solutions that can then be shared. It’s a free game, designed for schools, companies, organisations and institutions. It’s available online for free, currently in English and French, on the Desertification Fresco website. Anyone can use it, at school or at work.

How can we mobilise the necessary funds to fight desertification?

Our fight against desertification cannot advance without funding. This is the reality on the ground and, in my experience as Minister of Water and Forests of Côte d'Ivoire [from 2017 to 2022, ed.], current funding is inadequate to address the emergency. That’s why, in order  to achieve convincing results, we need new funding, but also greater political will. The problems related to land degradation and desertification will have greater consequences than wars. However, as we have seen with the war in Ukraine, as soon as conflicts affect national security, countries are able to mobilise the necessary resources in the blink of an eye. This shows that these resources exist and can be deployed quickly. It is just a question of will, honesty and courage to change things. We all have a role to play: international institutions can disseminate information and educate people about the reality of desertification, the private sector can provide funding and support to those who promote innovative projects and who struggle on the ground every day, and governments must adopt strong national measures to curb desertification and land degradation.

Saudi Arabia will host COP16. Do you expect the host country to play a key role?

Countries hosting the COP on Desertification play a key role: they dictate the pace of this necessary international meeting. They ensure that businesses, policymakers and public officials, NGOs, young people and civil society are brought together in the same place and in a context conducive to exchanges, thus acting as a catalyst for partnerships between the public and private sectors and between countries. In addition, Saudi Arabia will be able to highlight the specific challenges it faces in terms of desertification and land degradation, offering a unique platform to share experiences, knowledge and solutions implemented at the local level with the international community. Sharing good practices and experiences is essential to move in the right direction. When it comes to desertification, as in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss, a holistic approach is essential. We need to create greater synergies between the three COPs and strengthen international solidarity, ensuring that rich countries support countries with fewer resources and less affected territories help the most affected ones.

Can you name a couple of projects successfully addressing desertification?

I would like to name a few: the Great Green Wall in Africa, the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program in China, and the Saudi & Middle East Green Initiatives, a regional initiative led by Saudi Arabia.

The Great Green Wall is one of the most ambitious environmental initiatives ever undertaken. Stretching for 8,000 kilometers across 8 African countries and with a width of 15 kilometers, the Great Green Wall aims to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land, capture 250 million tons of carbon, and create 10 million green jobs, especially in agroforestry. It brings together a multitude of projects of various scales, many of which are initiated and led by local communities. According to the latest available data, around 30 million hectares of degraded land have been restored to date and 3 million jobs have already been created. It is a start, but to achieve our goals we need to move much faster. We need to be even more ambitious. The key issue remains, as always, financing. The project was supposed to receive over 14 billion dollars in international funding. However, if you look at the reality on the ground, these pledged funds are spread across several projects dedicated to international development, but not exclusively to the Great Green Wall. Furthermore, at the local level, before the funding can be provided, the project must be integrated into the national development plans of the involved countries. The UNCCD has taken this issue very seriously and recently launched a Great Green Wall Observatory, a digital platform that will allow more detailed monitoring of the project's progress. 

In China, faced with the concerning expansion of the Gobi Desert, national authorities are mobilizing to transform the desert into forest. The Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program was launched in 1978 to combat desertification along the northern border, with the specific goal of planting 35 million hectares of forest, creating an area 4,500 kilometers long and 550 kilometers wide by 2050. Today, the progress is incredible. Over the past four decades, this program has increased forest area by 30.14 million hectares, according to data collected in 2018, and 66 billion trees have already been planted. 

Finally, the Saudi & Middle East Green Initiatives are exciting projects whose progress is worth following. These initiatives aim to reduce the region’s carbon emissions by planting 50 billion trees and restoring 200 million hectares of degraded land. In 2021, more than 80 initiatives had already been launched, for an investment of over 705 billion Saudi riyals, equal to more than 175 billion euros.

This article is also available in Italian / Questo articolo è disponibile anche in italiano

Cover image: Alain-Richard Donwahi © CHOCOVISION Conference via Flickr

This interview was originally published by Oltremare