Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 7 • Number 16 • 21st September 2007

DESERTIFICATION CONFERENCE ADOPTS ACTION PLAN, FAILS TO AGREE ON FUNDING

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DESERTIFICATION CONFERENCE ADOPTS ACTION PLAN, FAILS TO AGREE ON FUNDING Participants at a recent international meeting on desertification agreed on a ten-year action plan, without, however, managing to strike a deal on how to fund its implementation. The issue of trade was discussed in the margins of the meeting, with a focus on the potential of trade as a tool for aiding implementation of the action plan.

Delegates from 191 countries, met at the eighth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-8) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held from 3-14 September in Madrid, Spain. Many observers considered COP-8 a crucial meeting in the convention’s ten-year history. The adoption of the ten-year strategic plan and decisions on the structure, role and responsibilities of its institutions, including the Committee on Science and Technology (CST), the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) and the Global Mechanism (GM) provide new guidance and opportunities for the convention to achieve its objectives. While delegates expressed satisfaction with the delivery of all these elements, the fact that they failed to adopt the budget in the closing plenary left parties uncertain with regard to how the reforms will be implemented.

A high-level dialogue at the UNCCD COP focused on the linkages between desertification and climate change. The latter issue has been getting substantial attention globally, and pressure is building for further action in this area (see related story, this issue). "Desertification, the loss of biodiversity and climate change are three inextricably linked aspects" of the same problem, commented Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Budget woes

At the end of the meeting, Japan refused to back a five percent increase in the secretariat’s core budget, partially because of domestic uncertainty due to the resignation of the prime minister. As a result, parties decided to hold an extraordinary COP meeting in New York during the UN General Assembly to finalise the budget element.

"Even if the ten-year plan was passed, there exists, in the absence of a budget, a major risk that it will not be applied," Ecologists in Action commented.

"We are going to work hard to get over this sole obstacle," said Spanish Environment Minister Cristina Narbona, insisting the conference had otherwise seen "significant moves forward," including greater NGO and civil society involvement in combating desertification and awareness-raising.

The meeting the UNCCD objectives

The objective of the UNCCD is to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, through effective action at all levels and supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements. The UNCCD recognises the physical, biological and socioeconomic aspects of desertification, the importance of redirecting technology transfer so that it is demand-driven, and the participation of local communities in combating desertification and land degradation. After a decade of implementation, several limiting factors preventing optimal deployment of the convention have been recognised, including insufficient financial resources, a weak scientific basis, institutional weaknesses and parties’ difficulties in reaching consensus. As noted by an expert team that helped draft the strategic plan and framework to enhance the implementation of the convention, much remains to be done to promote sustainable land management in drylands, and there is growing evidence that land degradation and drought will worsen with increased climate change impacts.

Myanmar, speaking on behalf of Asia and the Pacific, said the strategic plan "opens a way for renewed commitment among stakeholders." The EU commented that approving the ten-year strategic plan and an adequate budget — including solid collaborative work between the UNCCD secretariat and GM — provides the requisite conditions for UNCCD implementation. Fundación IPADE, from Spain, speaking on behalf of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), noted that the plan represents a "last chance" for the convention.

Looking ahead

The ten-year strategic plan and framework to enhance implementation of the convention (2008-2018) provides "a global framework to support the development and implementation of national and regional policies, programmes and measures to prevent, control and reverse desertification/land degradation and mitigate the effects of drought through scientific and technological excellence, raising public awareness, standard setting, advocacy and resource mobilization, thereby contributing to poverty reduction." It aims to provide a common and focused vision for the convention and to address operational inefficiencies within its institutions. The plan links the work programmes of the convention’s institutions to this common vision, clarifies their mandates and methods of work, and institutionalises a results-based management approach.

At the meeting, a number of ministers and senior officials stressed that the ten-year strategic plan needs concrete and preferably quantitative goals, to be accompanied by an implementation framework and a substantial budget to be effective (see Trade BioRes, 7 September 2007, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/07-09-07/story2.htm). Others said the plan should enhance capacity at the local level to adapt to climate change and increase support to developing countries to combat desertification, and enable the adoption of better regional and global integrated strategies.

Discussions on the strategic plan focused on issues related to the implementation framework, i.e. the roles and responsibilities of the various UNCCD institutions, partners and stakeholders in meeting the strategic and operational objectives of the strategic plan. Parties did not a this time discuss the content of the strategic and operational objectives of the plan, including issues related to trade and market-based mechanisms to finance sustainable land management in drylands. According to sources, an action plan containing measurable targets, quantitative indicators and a timeline will be defined by COP-9.

Recognition of trade in the operational objectives

The strategic objectives of the ten-year plan involve improving the living conditions of affected populations and ecosystems, generating global benefits through effective implementation of the UNCCD, and mobilising resources to support the implementation of the convention. As such, effective partnerships between national and international actors will need to be built. The text considers trade as a tool to achieve different operational objectives, which will guide the action of all UNCCD stakeholders and partners in achieving the overarching strategic objectives. More specifically, the document acknowledges the need for desertification/land degradation to be addressed in relevant international forums such as those pertaining to agricultural trade. It also notes that innovative sources of finance and financing mechanisms to combat land degradation should be identified, including private sector financing, market-based mechanisms, trade, and other financing mechanisms related to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.

UNCCD COP-9 is expected to be held in Bonn, Germany, in the fall of 2009, in the event that no party makes an offer to host that session and meet the additional financial costs.

Additional resources

Daily reports by IISD’s Earth Negotiations Bulletin are available at http://www.iisd.ca/desert/cop8/

Documents of the COP8 of the UNCCD are available at http://www.unccd.int

ICTSD reporting; "UN Congress Against Desertification", PRENSA LATINA, 15 September 2007; "UN Desertification Plan Fails After Funding Dispute", AFP, 17 September 2007.