DROUGHT AND DESERTIFICATION

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DROUGHT AND DESERTIFICATION

• Paolo Soprano
• Italian Ministry of Environment, Land
• and Sea
• Third ECE Regional Implementation Meeting on
  Sustainable Development
• 28 29 January 2008

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Contributing to CSD 16 and 17 from a regional
perspective

• How to give full implementation to the Agenda 21
  and JPoI commitments?
• How RIM and CSD could contribute to fostering the
  implementation of the UNCCD 10 year Strategic
  Plan and Framework to enhance the implementation
  of the Convention (2008-2018)?

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UNCCD Terminology and Definitions

• Desertification is defined by the UNCCD as land
• degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid
  areas
• resulting from various factors, including
  climatic variations
• and human activities.
• Also Land degradation is defined in relation to
  arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas as the
  reduction or loss of the biological or economic
  productivity and of the complexity of rainfed
  cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture,
  forest and woodlands resulting from land use or
  from a process or
• combination of processes, including processes
  arising
• from human activities and settlement patterns.

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GEF Terminology and Definitions

• Land degradation any form of deterioration on
  the natural potential of land that affects
  ecosystems integrity either in terms of reducing
  sustainable ecological productivity or in terms
  of native biological richness and maintenance of
  resilience.

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The EC Soil Thematic Strategy Terminology and
Definitions

• Soil top layer of the earths crust.
• Soil is a non-renewable resource which performs
  vital functions that are worthy of protection
  because of their socio-economic as well as
  environmental importance.
• Soil protection is a tool to fight
  desertification.

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Soil degradation in theUNECE Region

• Progress has been made both in terms of policy
  development and the availability of information.
• However,
• soil is still a relatively neglected natural
  resource across the pan-European Region.
• Major challenges are
• - lack of information available to analyse known
  threats
• - paucity of budgets allocated
• - piecemeal character of soil policy actions.
• There is the need for new thinking on mechanisms
  to ensure that the evidence base for soil meets
  future policy challenges.

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UNCCD Terminology andDefinitions

• Drought naturally occurring phenomenon that
  exists when precipitation has been significantly
  below normal recorded levels, causing serious
  hydrological imbalances that adversely affects
  land resource production systems.

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Policy frameworks and coherence(Agenda 21 AP 4
and UNCCD 10 Year Strategy Op. Ob. 2)

• Which tools does the current UNECE trend in
  policy coherence for sustainable development
  offer?
• Are indeed the UNECE National Sustainable
  Development Strategies, in synergy with UNCCD
  National Action Plans, such tools?
• How can the UNECE Member States move from policy
  making to putting into practice and measuring
  results?

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Climate change, adaptation and drought

• The latest climate change scenarios suggest
  significant summer drying across many parts of
  Europe in particular in the south, lower rainfall
  in other seasons, and increased variability.
• Combining these patterns leads to an assertion
  that, over the coming decades, Europe is likely
  to suffer more frequent meteorological droughts,
  potentially further exacerbated by generally
  elevated temperatures, increasing the demand for
  water."
• (Europes Environment IV Assessment)

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Climate change, adaptation and drought

• In Southern Europe, climate change is
• projected to worsen conditions (high temperatures
  and drought) in a region already vulnerable to
  climate variability, and to reduce water
  availability, hydropower potential, summer
  tourism and, in general, crop productivity.
• (IV IPCC Assessment Report)

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Climate change, adaptation and drought

• In Central and Eastern Europe, summer
• precipitation is projected to decrease,
• causing higher water stress. Forest
• productivity is expected to decline and the
  frequency of peatland fires to increase.
• (IV IPCC Assessment Report)

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Synergies and awareness rising(JPoI and UNCCD 10
year Strategy Op. Ob. 1)

• How can the UNECE Region ensure synergies among
  relevant regional and international processes,
  including trade opportunities?
• How can those synergies be transformed in
  effective programmes and projects at local level,
  in particular in Southern and Eastern Europe?
• How can we ensure that adaptation measures to
  climate change take into consideration the tragic
  effects of desertification and drought?

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Drought in the UNECE Region

• Conflicts between human requirements and
  ecological needs for water are on the increase.
• How can the UNECE further move from crisis to
  risk management?
• How can we ensure positive synergies between
  water resources protection and the fight against
  drought?
• To answer to the implementation of A21 AP n. 2
  and 5, can the development of drought management
  centres in UNECE MSs be considered as a necessary
  step in this sense?

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Challenges for the UNECE Region

• Science, technology and knowledge
• Has the UNECE Region developed regional
  monitoring systems and regional or sub-regional
  benchmarks and indicators?
• Does the UNECE Region allows effective access to
  available and relevant data on drought and
  desertification?

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Challenges for the UNECE Region

• Encouraging and promoting public participation
  and environmental education
• ?How can the UNECE Region further apply the
  Aarhus Convention?
• ?How can the UNECE work on ESD support the rise
  of awareness on desertification and drought?

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• THANK YOU !