24 September 2013: The second Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Business Forum convened on the sidelines of the Eleventh Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 11). Participants at the event developed an agenda for the coming two years.

The two-day event brought together 75 business leaders and policy makers in Windhoek, Namibia, from 23-24 September. The event was chaired by David Nuyoma, CEO of the Government Institutions Pension Fund, and concluded with the ‘Windhoek Business Declaration.’ The Declaration was presented to the high-level segment of COP 11, and was recognized in a COP 11 decision at the close of the session. Discussions included: the potential of wind energy in Africa; the economics of land degradation and options to develop market-based mechanisms to encourage sustainable land management (SLM); and the possibilities for a new partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

The event concluded with a signing ceremony for the launch of a green soft loans scheme for businesses, by the Namibian Environmental Investment Fund and the SME Bank Ltd. [UNCCD Press Release] [Windhoek Business Declaration]