Press Information Bureau

11.09.2019

Civil

Drought Toolbox launched on Day 10 of the 14th Conference of Parties

MANU/PIBU/1413/2019

The 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which is currently underway at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida dedicated day 10 to the theme of Drought. The success and challenges of the current tools, methodologies and policies supporting drought preparedness, across the globe were discussed in today's Conference at the Rio Pavilion Centre.

Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD, Executive Secretary in his opening remarks at the Drought Preparedness Day said "Drought is a major obstacle to achieving sustainable development goal-15. We need to move faster in our fight against drought. Let us dust this villain, and mitigate climate change". The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The 17 SDGs are integrated-that is, they recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability. The SDG-15 refers to: Protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Mr. Rene Castro, Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Department, at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Ms. Samia Mkrumah, President of Kwame Nkrumah Pan African Centre, Ghana were amongst the key dignitaries.

This event highlighted the different causes of drought and also saw launch of a toolbox which is a one-stop shop for all actions on drought. The toolbox is a sort of knowledge bank which contains tools that strengthen the ability of countries to anticipate and prepare for drought effectively and mitigate their impacts as well as tools that enable communities to anticipate and find the land management tools that help them to build resilience to drought.

The India Pavilion at UNCCD COP14 also witnessed a panel discussion by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on Agriscapes. Mr. Deepak Kumar Sinha, IGF, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Dr. Vivek Saxena, Country Representative, IUCN India were among the panelists of the session.

In addition, important sessions on issues related to Land Degradation Neutrality, Sustainable Development Goals etc. were conducted. India is the host country of the ongoing UNCCD COP14 which began from 2nd September and will culminate on 13th September 2019.

Tags : Drought Toolbox launch

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