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The third Special Session of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST S-3) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), together with the UNCCD 2nd Scientific Conference, opened on Tuesday, 9 April 2013, at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany. CST Chair Antonio Rocha Magalhães opened CST S-3 in the morning. An open-ended contact group was formed to meet in the evenings during the week, to prepare recommendations for consideration by CST S-3.
On Tuesday afternoon, CST Chair Magalhães opened the UNCCD 2nd Scientific Conference. UNCCD Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja urged scientists to help the world understand that investment in sustainable land management (SLM) is a smart investment. Walter Ammann, CEO, Global Risk Forum Davos, called for scientists to provide guidance for a proactive risk management approach. In her keynote address, Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland and Chair of the Global Sustainability Panel, suggested that SLM can be critical to eradicating poverty and called for a strong conference message that a land degradation neutral world will be possible, with concrete targets and a monitoring system to follow progress.
In a plenary session on the economic and social impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD), Stefan Schmitz, BMZ, stressed that countering vulnerability and increasing resilience requires more effective use of knowledge through nexus approaches. Edward Barbier, University of Wyoming, highlighted the strong links between rural poverty and land degradation. Joachim von Braun, Center for Development Research, outlined an alternative action framework to enhance resilience to the economic and social impacts of land degradation and drought. Maria Laura Corso, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Argentina, discussed efforts to conduct socioeconomic assessments of desertification at the local level. Pak Sum Low, coordinating author and editor of white paper I, presented the key findings in the literature on economic and social impacts of DLDD. Lindsay Stringer, University of Leeds, emphasized that understanding what makes people vulnerable to DLDD is vital for developing appropriate responses. Participants concluded the day at a reception hosted by the UNCCD Secretariat.
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Dais during the opening ceremony of the UNCCD 2nd Scientific Conference. L-R: Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland; Walter Ammann, President/CEO, GRF Davos, Switzerland; Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary, UNCCD; Antonio Rocha Magalhães, Chair, CST; Radhika Ochalik, UN ECOSOC; Elysabeth David, UNCCD Secretariat; and Rajeb Boulharouf, UNCCD Secretariat. |
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Daily web highlights
(click on the following links to see our daily web pages)
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UNCCD resources
Second Scientific Conference website
Second Scientific Conference programme
Second Scientific Conference documents
CST S-3 website
CST S-3 documents
CST S-3 provisional agenda
CRIC 11 website
CRIC 11 documents
CRIC 11 provisional agenda
IISD RS resources
IISD RS coverage of the Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the UNCCD, 10-21 October 2011, Changwon City, Republic of Korea
IISD RS summary of the Second Special Session of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST S-2) of the UNCCD and CRIC 9, 16-18 and 21-25 February 2011, Bonn, Germany (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)
IISD RS coverage of the Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 9), 21 September - 2 October 2009, Buenos Aires, Argentina
IISD RS coverage of UNCCD CST S-1 and CRIC 7, 3-14 November 2008, Istanbul, Turkey
Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) coverage of desertification negotiations
LAND-L - A news and announcement list on land policy issues
Land Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase of International Activities Addressing Sustainable Land
Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news |
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