Introduction: Bernard Crabbé, Team Leader Environment and Mainstreaming, DEVCO C2 - Environment, Natural Resources, Water

1. Outcome of
UNCCD CoP13
and
implications
for the EU

2. Agenda
 1. Introduction
 Bernard Crabbé – Team Leader Environment and Mainstreaming, DEVCO C2
 2. UNCCD's work, achievements and next steps
 Louise Baker – Unit coordinator, External Relations, Policy and Advocacy, UNCCD Secretariat
 3. CoP 13 achievements and implications for the EU
 Helge Zeitler – Deputy Head of Unit Bilateral and Regional Environmental Cooperation, ENV F2
 Bernard Crabbé – Team Leader Environment and Mainstreaming, DEVCO C2
 4. EU support towards EverGreening Africa with Trees
 Patrick Worms – Senior Science Policy Advisor, World Agroforestry Centre

3. Why does Land matter?
• Livelihoods to vast majority of the poor
• Food security and resilience
• Growth and jobs
• Good governance, security, peace and
stability
• At the heart of the 2030 Agenda (SDG
15.3) & the European Consensus for
Development
• Climate change and NDCs

4. A resource under pressure
• Growing demand for food, feed,
fiber and fuel -> agricultural
production +70 % by 2050
• land-use, land-use change and
deforestation = 2nd source of GHG
emissions (24%) after fossil fuels
• 10 to 20% of the Earth's lands are
degraded ~ USD 6.3-10.6 trillion of
economic loss each year
• 2.6 billion people depend directly on
agriculture, but 52% of the land they
use is degraded
• 74% of the poor are directly affected
by land degradation globally

5. EU support to SLM (1)
1. Mainstreaming Sustainable Land Management in:
 EU development cooperation
 partner countries' policies
 Across all relevant sectors: agriculture, food security, rural
development, climate change, energy, water, private sector
• Examples: conservation agriculture in Malawi and Zambia, soil
and water conservation in Ethiopia, agroforestry in Timor Leste,…

6. EU support to SLM (2)
2. Dedicated programmes in support of land governance and
addressing desertification and land degradation, including:
 Land governance and tenure: Voluntary Guidelines on the Governance
of Land Tenure, Land Matrix, …
 TerrAfrica
 Global Climate Change Alliance
 Great Green Wall: FLEUVE and Action Against Desertification
 Reversing Land Degradation in Africa by Scaling-up EverGreen
Agriculture
3. Evidence, knowledge and capacity-building
4. Policy engagement at national, regional and international
level

8. Why did CoP 13 matter ?
• Global consensus on the LDN target
• New strategic framework to 2030
• Demonstrating the links between land
management and broader new development
challenges
• Strong commitment of Chinese partners
towards resource-efficient, low carbon,
green economy
• Increased visibility for EU actions and launch
of the Global Land Outlook

9. CoP 13 achievements (1)
• Final Ordos declaration: DLDD are crucial towards SDGs and
tackling climate change; as well as ecosystems, youth and
women, multi-stakeholders partnerships, civil society, private
sector, rule of law, knowledge and science; importance of
resilience
• Strategic Framework developed around SDGs and LDN: not
ambitious enough, but several cross-cutting priorities identified

10. CoP 13 achievements (2)
• Decision on the links with migration:
opportunities for cross-sectoral
cooperation and further work
• High Level Discussions on links with
migration and stability / land governance
/ importance of the private sector

12. CoP 13 achievements (3)
• DRAMP framework and pilot drought initiative
• Coordination and policy support on sand and dust storms
• Pilot testing of a Gender Action Plan
• Participation and involvement of civil society and private sector
• Capacity building, synergies between the 3 RIO Conventions,
and LDN scientific conceptual framework

13. Land degradation in the EU
2015 State of the Environment Report
• 8% of the territory (mainly in Southern, central and Eastern
Europe) shows very high or high sensitivity to desertification
• Soil sealing as a major threat affecting ca. 1000 km² of soils
every year (the equivalent of the size of a city like Berlin)
• Estimated 3 million potentially contaminated sites in the EU
due to the EU industrial history
• Soil erosion by water is estimated to affect 1.3 million km² in
Europe, an area equivalent to 2.5 times the size of France

14. Implications for EU action
• 14 EU MS affected Parties – one participating in the LDN target
setting programme under UNCCD
• Current soil strategy of 2006
• Proposal for a soil directive withdrawn
• Commitment in the 7th Env Action Programme
> Further steps under consideration

15. Implications for EU international
cooperation and development
• Momentum for increased action on SLM
• Integrated SLM approaches contributing to
multiple objectives / SDG
• Enhanced SLM mainstreaming efforts in
geographic and thematic programmes
• Resilience agenda and Migration Trust Funds
• Scaling up investments: External
Investment Plan

17. LDN in the Kubuqi desert, China
© European Commission © Chinese government
© UNCCD © UN ESCAP CSAM
© Chinese government
© Britannica

18. Thank you for your attention!