{"id":34972,"date":"2024-08-28T11:00:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T09:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resoilfoundation.org\/?p=34972"},"modified":"2024-08-28T10:22:04","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T08:22:04","slug":"cop16-desertificazione-presidente-unccd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resoilfoundation.org\/en\/environment\/cop16-desertificazione-presidente-unccd\/","title":{"rendered":"“Desertification is the greatest environmental challenge of our time”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The phenomenon involves 168 countries, over 3 billion people and 10% of the world’s soils. Alain-Richard Donwahi, President of the UNCCD (UN Convention against desertification) explains the importance of the “forgotten COP”<\/h2>\n

by Emanuele Bompan*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Desertification is one of the main drivers of migration and food crises. Along with the UN negotiating processes on Climate (UNFCCC) and Biodiversity (CBD), since 1992 there has been a dedicated track (COP, Conference of Parties) exclusively on desertification (UNCCD<\/a>). However, this COP receives less media and political attention, although for Italy desertification is a fundamental issue impacting relations with Africa and the Middle East and regional stability in the Mediterranean. We interviewed the president of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Alain-Richard Donwahi<\/strong> who explained the importance of the “forgotten COP”.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the current trend of desertification in 2024 and what are the forecasts for 2050?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

For too long, desertification has been considered a problem specific to the Global South. However, desertification and drought are among the greatest environmental challenges of our time and concern us all.<\/p>\n

It is estimated that 3.2 billion people currently live on degraded land, a number that represents more than 10% of the total land on our planet. 168 countries are directly affected by this phenomenon\u00a0 and the situation is getting worse by the day.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Global

Global distribution of dryland areas based on the aridity index computed over a 30-year average during 1981 to 2010, based the 4 aridity index categories – hyper-arid, semi-arid, arid and dry sub-humid. Typical deserts are indicated by the hyper-arid category (light yellow).\u00a0 FONTE: Cherlet, M., Hutchinson, C., Reynolds, J., Hill, J., Sommer, S., von Maltitz, G. (Eds.), World Atlas of Desertification, Publication Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2018. – https:\/\/wad.jrc.ec.europa.eu\/download, CC BY 4.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=147385297<\/p><\/div>\n

In recent years, desertification and droughts have intensified significantly. According to the World Meteorological Organization<\/a> (WMO), the number and duration of drought episodes have increased by 29% since 2000.<\/strong> Every year, 55 million people worldwide are directly affected by drought and, according to the UNCCD, more than three-quarters of the world’s population will be affected by desertification by 2050.<\/p>\n

There are many reasons for this decline. Climate change, which is leading to an increase in temperatures, is contributing to accelerated desertification. Also to blame are various practices, including intensive farming methods, deforestation and some activities such as mining, which are very harmful to the soil. There are numerous consequences<\/strong>: ecosystem destabilization, water scarcity, food insecurity, conflicts between local communities, migratory phenomena, political instability and loss of biodiversity. The World Bank<\/strong> estimates that more than 200 million people could be forced to migrate by 2050, mainly due to drought and other factors such as water scarcity and reduced harvests.<\/p>\n

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Mediterranean forests face desertification risk<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n