The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has announced the selection of the members of the Science-Policy Interface (SPI).
The SPI was called for at the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP), to facilitate a science-policy dialogue and to ensure that the COP receives policy-relevant information, knowledge and advice on desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) issues.
22 May 2014: The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has announced the selection of the members of the Science-Policy Interface (SPI). The SPI was called for at the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP), to facilitate a science-policy dialogue and to ensure that the COP receives policy-relevant information, knowledge and advice on desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) issues.
The first meeting of the SPI will take place in Bonn, Germany, from 24-26 June 2014. SPI members are expected to discuss the programme of work for 2014 and 2015 at this meeting.
The members of the SPI are: Maria Abraham; Mariam Akhtar-Schuster; Nicole Edel Laure Bernex; Martial Bernoux; Annette Cowie; Hamid Čustović; Mihail Daradur; Karma Dema Dorji; Joris de Vente; Alan Grainger; Oleg Guchgeldiyev; Klaus Kellner; German Kust; Matthias Magunda; Graciela Metternicht; Barron Joseph Orr; Rajendra Prasad Pandey; Vanina Pietragalla; Uriel Safriel; and Tao Wang.
In addition, three observers were selected: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – Jonathan Davies; UN Environment Programme (UNEP) – Mohamed Foday Sessay; and Civil Society Organization (CSO) representative – Nathalie Van Haren.
In other UNCCD news, the Secretariat has announced that its online library catalog is available for the public to browse electronically. The library holds a specialized collection on DLDD and offers many full-text resources over the internet, as well as ways to help users source publications that are not available on-line.
The UNCCD Secretariat has also announced that, on 19 May 2014, South Sudan became the 195th Party to the Convention, 90 days following the deposit of its instrument of accession with the UN Secretary General, on 17 February 2014. [Land Policy & Practice coverage of the SPI][UNCCD Library] [UNCCD Press Release on South Sudan] [UNCCD Press Release on SPI]