'Delhi Declaration to call for land restoration'

 The 14th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP) will send a clear message through the Delhi Declaration that "we as human beings must be able to reverse the trend and invest massively in land restoration," said Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

"And by restoring the land, we will also be creating millions of green jobs as land restoration is a labour intensive activity," he said in his inaugural address.

At the end of the convention, the Delhi Declaration will be signed among the nations, which will lay the roadmap for the goals to achieved to combat desertification.

Thiaw added that as the issue of land is interlinked to that of climate change and biodiversity, the COP 14 is not just about how to combat desertification, but also about jobs, health, prosperity, security, migration and international cooperation.

He said that this edition hosted by India is the largest COP ever. "More than 7,300 participants have already registered for the event and the list is expected to cross 8,000. Apart from this, a long list of leaders from United Nations, including the UN Deputy Secretary-General will be in attendance," he said.

He added that this edition will also lay the ground for world policies in terms of land restoration by 2050.

"We are celebrating the 25th anniversary of UN convention on desertification. This COP will also lay the ground for the next 25-30 years - where are we going to be by 2050 in terms of land issues," he said.

Thiaw said that this convention is the only global treaty dealing with the issues of land. "The land feeds people, 99.7 per cent of the food we eat comes from land. It is extremely important to keep feeding the world, we will be close to 10 billion people. The question is how do we continue to feed these people without further depleting our precious resources," he said.

He added that with the current population, 25 per cent of the land is already depleted and the rest 75 per cent is altered from its earlier form due to the human activities.

He added "The chief issue is of drought that leads to water scarcity and forest fires, animals are suffering and economies are suffering. So it is extremely important that this conference provides us with the clear guidance to deal with droughts and early warning systems, preparedness and recovery plans."

"The second issue is of the tilled area. With 10 billion people we have ever-increasing demand and finite resources. The world is looking up to us to provide guidance on the fundamental question of are we going to produce more and deplete our resources or are we going to consume differently," he added.

Scarcity of resources leads to conflicts and competition to have access to lands and water globally. Therefore, land restoration is also a contributor to peace and security in the world.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar said that land degradation is a local problem, hence the solutions have to be found locally but the best practices can be shared globally.

"There is science, technology and international experience that can be shared between the countries that can benefit all the nations that can benefit every country," the minister said in his inaugural address.

"We need not re-invent. But we can share our good or bad experiences, our successes or failures and therefore we can leapfrog to a good start in each country. And therefore this COP is extremely important," he added.

Be it climate change, desertification or biodiversity destruction human action has played a leading role in disturbing the balance of nature.

"If human actions have caused some damage, positive human actions will undo that and we will make world a better place for the future generations. This is the theme around which the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification works," he explained.

Nearly 100 ministers from across the globe are participating in the convention. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the convention on September 9. "There will be a thorough discussion to understand the problem to learn from each other," Javadekar said.

"We expect some good outcomes that will be notified in the Delhi Declaration that will form the future course of action for the countries. We expect that there is more proactive cooperation," he said.

He added that for 200 years, humans have indulged in damaging the environment and we have to now be proactive in restoration process, which is the mission of this COP 14. IANS