10 March 2015: At a side event during the fourth special session of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST S-4) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Monique Barbut, UNCCD Executive Secretary, underlined the importance of the high-level segment of the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 12). The high-level segment, which will take place from 20-21 October 2015, will include a series of ministerial roundtables on topics including climate change, and is expected to result in a message that will be sent from UNCCD COP 12 to the UNFCCC COP 21, which will convene a little over one month later in Paris, France.

UNCCD COP 12 will take place from 12-23 October 2015, in Ankara, Turkey.

Members of the Turkish delegation to CST S-4 also discussed preparations for COP 12 during the side event and panel presentations from two Turkish Ministries and CSOs reviewed: developments in the Turkish agricultural sector, including economic growth, the implementation of a land use planning and insurance system, land consolidation and changes in inheritance laws, and information technologies for sustainable agricultural land management (SLM); Turkey’s experience on combating desertification; and the role of the trade union of Turkey in training activities in forestry and capacity building to combat desertification. [UNCCD Summary of 10 March events][IISD RS Summary of CST S-4 and UNCCD 3rd Scientific Conference]