26 June 2014: During the first meeting of the Science-Policy Interface (SPI) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), members elaborated a work plan for the period prior to the next Conference of the Parties (COP 12).

The meeting took place in Bonn, Germany, from 24-26 June. Opening the meeting, UNCCD Executive Secretary, Monique Barbut, recalled that the SPI’s mandate calls for it to identify, analyze and synthesize the efforts of the scientific community and channel the results into the UNCCD, and stressed that the SPI can be a driver in highlighting the role played by land use in climate change adaptation and in the framework of other development challenges.

Based on the decisions taken regarding the SPI’s objectives and deliverables, during the coming year, the SPI will focus on: bringing the scientific evidence for the contribution of sustainable land use and management to climate change adaptation/mitigation and to safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services to the other Rio conventions; increasing the effectiveness of the UNCCD scientific conferences in delivering policy relevant information, knowledge and recommendations; ensuring that the thematic assessment on land degradation and restoration conducted by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is relevant to the UNCCD and its Parties; and cooperating with the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) process in areas relevant to the UNCCD and its Parties.

COP 11 agreed to establish the SPI, in September 2013. The SPI has 20 members and three observers. Half of the members are scientists selected from a pool of applications, and the other half are scientists nominated by the regional groups. [UNCCD News on first meeting of SPI][UNCCD webpage on SPI][Land Policy & Practice stories about Science-Policy Interface]