Saturday, December 14, 2024, discussions ended in Riyadh, while the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), bringing together 196 countries and the European Union, tried to reach a consensus to make facing drought as part of COP16 in Saudi Arabia. Droughts “fueled by man-made environmental destruction” cost the world more than $300 billion each year and are expected to affect 75% of the world's population by 2015 according to the United Nations.
The executive secretary of the UNCCD Ibrahim Thiaw, ahead of the meeting, had hoped for the adoption of a “A bold move that could help turn the tide on the world's most widespread and disruptive environmental disaster, drought.» «MBut the parties need more time to agree on the best way forward.» he declared at the close of the meeting.
This same press release issued on Saturday claimed that the countries had “ is making significant progress in laying the foundations for a future global drought regime, which they intend to complete at COP17 in Mongolia in 2026 “. This is a long way off, note certain African actors, pointing to the deterioration of the situation in the Sahel and the progress of hunger in certain Sahelian countries.
Moreover, the negotiations in Riyadh come after the partial failure of negotiations on biodiversity in Colombia, the failure of an agreement on plastic pollution in South Korea and an agreement on financing climate action disappointing for developing countries, during COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Suffice it to say that the fight against environmental degradation and the acceleration of the disruptive effects of human activity on the earth's great natural balances is falling behind… on all fronts.
Africa on a common front in Riyadh
According to the delegate of an African country, the continent's representatives wanted a binding protocol, which would require governments to have plans to prepare to deal with drought “this is the first time I see Africa so united, with a strong united front, regarding the drought protocol,» he declared. Participants at COP16, regarding this protocol proposed by the African continent, declared that developed countries were not in favor of such ” protocol »pleading instead for a “ cadre », deemed inadequate by African countries.
Framework versus protocol? Storm in a glass of water… facing the desert!
A simple disagreement in vocabulary? The demons of multilateral diplomacy appear thanks to such controversies which appear to the Boeotians as great debates over trivialities. Still, this dispute “on the term protocol”, although not strictly “protocol”, has nevertheless delayed the desirable progress in the action to be taken against the drought.
Indigenous groups were also keen to support a protocol that would allow for better monitoring, early warning systems and more appropriate response plans, said Praveena Sridhar, the scientific director of Save Soil Movement a global campaign supported by United Nations agencies. But the lack of agreement at COP16 does not “must not delay progress» she added, emphasizing that governments could always allocate “budgets and subsidies to encourage sustainable soil and land management.» They still can, of course. But in the absence of somewhat restrictive direction at the international level, without a “framework” and without a “protocol”, how many of them will do it?
Before Riyadh, the UNNCULCD estimated that one and a half billion hectares of land needed to be restored by the end of the decade and that global investments of at least $2.6 trillion were needed. In the end, we will be very far from it… COP16 still saw… The commitment of more than 12 billion dollars from entities such as the Arab coordination group, a set of national and regional institutions. As well as the conclusion of a “ Riyadh global partnership for drought resilience“, which aims to mobilize public and private funds to help countries at risk. Two good news, which it would be wrong to minimize, in the face of a global mobilization which seems very erratic, in the face of the relentless progression of the deserts.
