UN conference on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to address a high-level virtual conference on desertification, land degradation and drought at UN on 14th June 2021.
Key points
- This conference will be convened by President of 75th session of General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir.
- PM Modi was President of 14th session of Conference of the Parties to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP14 President) at New Delhi in 2019 in which Delhi declaration was adopted to encourage transition and increase access to energy in rural & urban communities with the aim of combating desertification, land degradation and drought.
- During this year’s session, representatives from international organisations and civil society groups will address the conference with aim of assessing the progress made in fighting land degradation. They will also map way forward on global efforts to revive and restore healthy land.
Why land degradation is cause of concern?
As per United Nations, one-fifth of earth’s land area (more than 2 billion hectares) worldwide is degraded. It also includes more than half of all agricultural land. If land degradation continues with this pace and we do not change how we manage soil, over 90 percent land would be degraded by 2050. This will negatively impact one-fifth of the planet’s land area and livelihoods of 3.2 billion people, which accounts for 40 percent of global population. Land degradation also accelerates climate change & biodiversity loss and contributes to droughts, wildfires, involuntary migration & emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases. Thus, this conference becomes significance to raise awareness and initiate preventive measures.
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Month: Current Affairs - June, 2021