20 October 2011: The Rio Conventions Pavilion was organized during the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), to showcase actions to stop land degradation and save biodiversity while meeting the challenges of climate change.

The Pavilion is organized by the Secretariats of the three Rio Conventions – the UNCCD, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – as well as by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

It was first held during CBD COP 10, in October 2010, in Nagoya, Japan, with a subsequent programme at the Cancun Climate Change Conference in November – December 2010. The UNCCD COP 10 exhibition featured presentations on several facets of sustainable development, including: sustainable forest management and REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, as well as conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of carbon stocks); contribution to the implementation of the Rio Conventions; ecosystem-based approaches to climate change: addressing adaptation and mitigation; sustainable land and water management; food security and combating hunger through sustainable land management (SLM); gender and the Rio Conventions; engaging indigenous peoples and local communities (ILCs) in sustainable land management; and poverty reduction and the Rio Conventions.

The Pavilion organized a closing event on 20 October, hosted by the Korea Forest Research Institute and the CBD Secretariat. Luc Gnacadja, UNCCD Executive Secretary, noted that the Pavilion has enhanced awareness on the interlinkages among biodiversity, climate change and SLM to combat desertification, land degradation, and drought (DLDD). An informal discussion brought together presenters from the various sessions to talk about the outcomes of the sessions and how to move forward. Many speakers agreed that the Pavilion is an important outlet for bilateral discussion as, unlike regular side events, themes run over several days. Some participants also noted that it is useful to have actual sessions devoted to exploring the linkages between the three Conventions and how to achieve synergies. They cited the gender day as a good example of how specific presentations on different approaches to gender mainstreaming by the three Conventions had provided the basis for developing a forward-looking perspective for enhancing synergies during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) and beyond. The Pavilion will convene again at the Durban Climate Change Conference. [Rio Conventions Pavilion Website] [CBD Press Release] [IISD RS Sources]