19 October 2015: The Institut de la Francophonie pour le Développement Durable (IFDD), a subsidiary body of the International Organization of the Francophonie (IOF), under the chairmanship of Senegal and in cooperation with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Secretariat, organized a discussion on the topic of how to use the fight against climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as leverage for soil preservation. The event took place on the sidelines of the 12th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 12) to the UNCCD.

Speakers at the event included: Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary, UNCCD; Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP); Xavier Sticker, Head of French delegation; Markus Repnik, Managing Director, Global Mechanism of the UNCCD; Abdoulaye Dia, Executive Secretary of the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall; Maxim Thibon, Observatory of the Sahara and the Sahel; Jean-Marc Sinnassamy, the Global Environment Facility (GEF); and Patrice Burger, CARI.

Speakers underlined that, with the Paris Climate Change Conference and the SDGs both incorporating land issues, land is well positioned on the international agenda. They called on the UNCCD COP to send strong and clear messages about these linkages. The land degradation neutrality (LDN) target was highlighted as an important decision to drive UNCCD action. This target was compared with the climate change goal of keeping temperature increases below 2˚C above pre-industrial levels, and the Aichi targets for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Participants were encouraged to become a community of action, and to keep in mind that land is at the heart of sustainable development solutions.

Also during COP 12, the IFDD launched the ‘Guide for COP 12 Negotiations’ and ‘Summary for Policymakers.’ These publications review past UNCCD sessions and decisions, and offer summaries of proposals for action that are under discussion at COP 12. [Institut de la Francophonie pour le Développement Durable (including links to French and English versions of the ‘Guide for COP 12 Negotiations’] [IISD RS Coverage of UNCCD COP 12]