A COP dedicated to desertification, but for what purpose exactly?

And three! After the COP16 on biodiversity in October in Cali, Colombia, the COP29 on the climate in November in Baku, Azerbaijan, here is the COP16 on desertification in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The first two were marked by failures: in Colombia, the States left without agreement on the financial roadmap supposed to slow down the financial destruction of nature by 2030; in Azerbaijan, they failed to mention the exit from fossil fuels, like in Dubai last year.

And last week in Busan, South Korea, international negotiations to combat plastic pollution – within the framework of the UN, but outside the COP – also failed to result in a binding treaty. In short, multilateralism is not in good shape, between Southern States faced with development problems, and Northern States faced with budgetary restrictions.

Fighting desertification means fighting land degradation.

Jean-Luc Chotte, research director at IRD

It is therefore in this context that COP16 opens in Riyadh: created in 1992, like the others, it is the least known of the COPs. However, it deals with an essential subject: desertification. But this is not the only advance in deserts or soil aridity in the world.

“This word ‘desertification’ prevents us from getting the message across”admits Jean-Luc Chotte, research director at the Research Institute for Development and president of the French Scientific Committee on Desertification. “Because fighting against desertification means fighting against land degradation. And the issue of soil concerns everyone. Even if only for agricultural production: if we want to produce better and of better quality, the land must be in good health.”

Agriculture and deforestation threaten soils

However, the figures are worrying: industrial pollution, intensive agriculture, deforestation, artificialization… everywhere on the planet, human activities are degrading the quality of soils. According to data reported by governments to the United Nations, land degradation affects an area of ​​1.5 billion hectares on the planet, almost the size of Russia. And this area is increasing by about 100 million hectares every year.

A report published on Sunday by the UNCCD, the United Nations convention on combating desertification, notably highlighted the weight that intensive agriculture places on soil quality: the sector is at the origin of 23% of carbon emissions. greenhouse gases, 80% of deforestation and 70% of fresh water use.

Restore 1.5 million hectares of land by 2030?

The objective of COP16 is therefore to halt this decline, in particular by setting ambitious thresholds for land restoration. Two years ago in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, States agreed on the objective of repairing one million hectares of degraded land in the world by 2030. But according to UN, we must move faster and aim for 1.5 million hectares of land restored on the same horizon.

The subject is essential: land degradation threatens food security in the world, aggravates difficulties in cases of drought and floods, threatens ecosystems and releases carbon into the atmosphere. This is why many people advocate a global approach. “Biodiversity, climate, desertification… we must bring together these three conventions to develop a sustainable food system”argues Jean-Luc Chotte.

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Will states reach agreement on the restoration goal, and with what money? This is one of the challenges of the negotiations in Riyadh. The recommended solutions include the fight against corruption, improving water management and agricultural reform. The UNCCD report also recommends reallocating hundreds of billions of dollars in harmful or ineffective agricultural subsidies with more sustainable agricultural practices.

If in Baku, Saudi Arabia was one of the countries which blocked discussions on fossil fuels, the country's vulnerability to desertification could give it more credibility in the negotiations. In this regard, the kingdom has also set itself the objective of restoring 40 million hectares. Around a hundred ministers are present in Riyadh to discuss this central subject. Emmanuel Macron is also there, but as part of a bilateral visit: he will not participate directly in the COP, but in the One Water Summit, a cycle initiated by himself and supposed to set up an international agenda on water.