Policy context
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
| Authors: | Ruta Landgrebe, Sandra Naumann |
| Editor: | Alexandros Kandalepas |
Editor's note 20Mar2013: Source D141 (common sections), D241, D341.
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), adopted in 1994, was one of three conventions of the 1992 "Rio Earth Summit", alongside the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Its adoption followed form 1977 Plan of Action to Combat Desertification (PACD), adopted by the United Nations Conference on Desertification (UNCOD), and the perceived need to address problems associated with desertification and drought faced by over one billion people, living mostly in Africa. The UNCCD has universal membership and is the only legally-binding international instrument to combat desertification. As of 2010, there are 194 Parties to the UNCCD divided into two groups: affected and developed country Parties.
Aims and objectives
The UNCCD's main purpose is to combat desertification and land degradation "in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification [...]". Further objectives include the improvement of land productivity, and ''the rehabilitation, conservation and sustainable management of land and water resources".
The Convention provides a broad framework to combat desertification. At the core of the UNCCD is a 'top-down-bottom-up' approach focused on adaptive management to provide context-specific solutions to environmental problems related to desertification and drought. Countries affected by desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) comply with the Convention through the development and implementation of national action programmes (NAP), as well as regional (RAP) and sub-regional (SRAP) action programmes. Action programmes outline practical measures to mitigate impacts in affected regions according to context-specific needs.
Much focus is placed upon building capacity among local people in affected countries, particularly women and farmers and enabling local people to reverse land degradation through self help.
Support to affected countries for these action programmes is provided by all other developed country Parties to the Convention through financial assistance and by facilitating the relevant knowledge and technology transfer.
In 2008, the UNCCD adopted a 10-year Strategy to enhance implementation of the Convention defining its strategic objectives as:
- Improving the living conditions of affected populations
- Improving the condition of affected ecosystems
- Generating global benefits through effective implementation of the UNCCD
- Mobilizing resources to support implementation of the Convention through building effective partnerships between national and international actors
Structure and components
The Convention is organised in six parts, totalling 40 articles covering relevant definitions and general obligations for affected and developed country Parties, criteria for the action programmes and supporting measures and the structure and the bodies of the UNCCD. The Annexes of the Convention are regionally specific, covering I) Africa, II) Asia, III) Latin America and the Caribbean, IV) Northern Mediterranean and V) Central and Eastern Europe.
The Convention's decision-making body is the Conference of the Parties (COP), meeting every two years to review implementation of the Convention. The COP is assisted by its Secretariat, the Global Mechanism (GM), the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) and the Committee on Science and Technology (CST).
The UNCCD does not have its own financing mechanism. The GM promotes the mobilisation of funds to developing Parties and increase the effectiveness of existing financing mechanisms, such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank, the UNDP and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). While all Parties must make every effort to ensure that adequate financial resources are available, the financial burden to provide, seek out and mobilize funding is the responsibility of the developed Parties.
Implementation process and progress
As with most international treaties, implementation of international commitments relies upon national jurisdictions; as a general rule, Parties have to meet the objective, but they are free to choose the means to do so.
As required by the UNCCD, all country Parties have to develop National Action Programmes (NAPs) and provide regular reports to the COP on the measures it has taken to implement the UNCCD. Affected country Parties must describe relevant strategies and implementation of its action programme(s). Developed countries must report on measures taken to support action programmes. Actors involved in the implementation of the policies include national and local governments as well as local stakeholders (e.g. farmers and foresters).
Action Programmes are prepared and implemented by affected countries at the appropriate level (national, sub-regional and regional). The Convention provides general guidance on land use themes, such as cropland, grazing land or forest/shrublands. This guidance is to be incorporated in Action Programmes depending on context-specific drivers of desertification. Priority areas, therefore, differ from country to country, reflecting the diversity of national circumstances including the capacity to respond to causes and effects of desertification and land degradation. NAP's also differ in their ability to facilitate the implementation of the Convention, depending on the level of detail of measures, institutional framework, and implementation/monitoring mechanisms.
Even by the COP's admission, progress in the implementation of the Convention is slow and efforts to combat desertification under the UNCCD have not achieved measurable results. Although a large number of countries have proposed national action programmes, few seem to carry out their provisions.
The COP has identified and tried to address two main issues relating to the UNCCD:
| 1. | To address the general lack of political and public attention with regard to desertification, efforts are underway to recognise topsoil as a global public good. |
| 2. | A number of efforts are under way to monitor performance and implementation, including:
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UNCCD in the LEDDRA study sites
The European Union (1998), Greece (1997), Italy (1997), Spain (1996), China (1997) and Morocco (1997) are all full Parties to the UNCCD. All five countries are affected country Parties. Three study sites of the LEDDRA project - Greece, Italy and Spain - are located in the northern Mediterranean region; one -China- in the Asian region; and one –Morocco- in the African region.
The status of the NAPs in these countries is as follows:
- Greece: The NAP was submitted in 2001 by the Greek National Committee for Combating Desertification; it became law of the state in the same year.
- Italy: The NAP was submitted in 2000; the focal point for Italy is housed in the Ministero Affari Esteri DGCS.
- Spain: The NAP was submitted in 2008; the focal point for Spain is housed in the Subdirección General de Politica Forestal y Desertificacion Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino.
- China: The NAP was submitted in 2006; the focal point for China is housed in the National Bureau to Combat Desertification, State Forestry Administration.
- Morocco: The most recent NAP was submitted in 2004; the focal point for Morocco is housed in the Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts et de la Lutte Contre la Désertification.
No regional or subregional action plan has been submitted for the Northern Mediterranean region. No regional plan has been submitted for Asia, and only one subregional action plan has been submitted, which does not include. No regional action plan has been submitted for Africa. Six subregional action plans have been submitted for Africa, one of which covers the Union du Maghreb Arabe (UMA) that includes Morocco (2000).