29 June 2011: The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has released its report from “Land Day 4,” which took place on 11 June 2011, in parallel to the Bonn Climate Change Conference.

Land Day 4 was organized with four objectives: to examine the climate change adaptation and mitigation scenarios that can be implemented at the national level and where climate financing is required; to demonstrate how long-term food security can be achieved by adapting to climate change and to sustainable land management; to address how long-term cooperative action can be realized through concrete implementation as set forth in the National Action Programmes (NAPs) and the National Action Plans of Action (NAPAs), respectively of the UNCCD and UNFCCC, through partnerships at global and national levels; and to involve business and other stakeholders in the exchange over green growth and the green economy.

Keynote speaker Allan Savory, President, Savory Institute and Chairman, Africa Center for Holistic Management, noted that agriculture has made civilization possible, but has also destroyed civilizations in all regions of the world, and is currently creating more desertification than food and is contributing more to climate change than fossil fuels.

Three panel discussions were organized around the themes of: tapping into climate financing for scaling up and disseminating land-based best practices for climate change adaptation; REDD+ Cancun Agreements: what are the perspectives and hurdles for the land?; and investment in reclaiming degraded areas – how can one take advantage of green growth and a green economy?

At the end of the day, UNCCD Executive Secretary Gnacadja summed up the deliberations, asking how sustainable, holistic land management can be driven, and stating that the UNCCD would bring these issues to decision makers at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), with the goal of driving holistic management. [UNCCD Report on Land Day 4]