25 April 2013: In his keynote speech to the sixth Global Assembly of Members of the International Land Coalition (ILC), the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Luc Gnacadja, stressed that, “If we really want inclusive, sustainable and resilient territories, we must endeavor to build a land-degradation neutral world.”

The Global Land Forum and Assembly met from 23-27 April 2013, in Antigua, Guatemala, on the theme ‘Inclusive and Sustainable Territorial Governance for Food Security: Sharing Lessons Learned from around the world.’

Gnacadja told assembled delegates that, “Land degradation neutrality is a tool for action and a powerful principle for advocacy, for amending relevant public policies and fixing the market failures.” He stressed the need to agree on a target date for land-degradation neutrality, noting that this objective “is about the long-term sustainability of the land and about our common food energy and water security.”

He said that land restoration should also be at the center of the global post-2015 development agenda, and highlighted that “2015 seems set to be a landmark year for humanity as the international community endeavors to conclude by that date agreements on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), on a post-2015 global development framework, on climate change and on an inclusive finance to pursue these agenda.” [UNCCD Executive Secretary’s statement]