Transcript DROUGHT AND DESERTIFICATION Paolo Soprano Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea Third ECE Regional Implementation Meeting on Sustainable Development 28 – 29 January 2008

DROUGHT AND DESERTIFICATION
Paolo Soprano
Italian Ministry of Environment, Land
and Sea
Third ECE Regional Implementation Meeting on Sustainable Development
28 – 29 January 2008
Contributing to CSD 16 and 17
from a regional perspective
• How to give full implementation to the
Agenda 21 and JPoI commitments?
• How RIM and CSD could contribute to
fostering the implementation of the
UNCCD “10 year Strategic Plan and
Framework to enhance the implementation
of the Convention (2008-2018)”?
UNCCD Terminology and
Definitions
Desertification is defined by the UNCCD as land
degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas
resulting from various factors, including climatic variations
and human activities.
Also Land degradation is defined in relation to arid, semi-arid
and dry sub-humid areas as the reduction or loss of the
biological or economic productivity and of the complexity of
rainfed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest
and woodlands resulting from land use or from a process or
combination of processes, including processes arising
from human activities and settlement patterns.
GEF Terminology and Definitions
Land degradation“… any form of
deterioration on the natural potential of land
that affects ecosystems integrity either in
terms of reducing sustainable ecological
productivity or in terms of native biological
richness and maintenance of resilience.”
The EC Soil Thematic Strategy
Terminology and Definitions
Soil: top layer of the earth’s crust.
Soil is a non-renewable resource which
performs vital functions that are worthy of
protection because of their socio-economic as
well as environmental importance.
Soil protection is a tool to fight desertification.
Soil degradation in the
UNECE Region
Progress has been made both in terms of policy development
and the availability of information.
However,
soil is still a relatively neglected natural resource across the
pan-European Region.
Major challenges are:
- lack of information available to analyse known threats
- paucity of budgets allocated
- piecemeal character of soil policy actions.
There is the need for new thinking on mechanisms to ensure
that the evidence base for soil meets future policy challenges.
UNCCD Terminology and
Definitions
Drought: naturally occurring phenomenon
that exists when precipitation has been
significantly below normal recorded levels,
causing serious hydrological imbalances
that adversely affects land resource
production systems.
Policy frameworks and coherence
(Agenda 21 AP 4 and UNCCD 10 Year Strategy
Op. Ob. 2)
• Which tools does the current UNECE trend in
policy coherence for sustainable development
offer?
• Are indeed the UNECE National Sustainable
Development Strategies, in synergy with
UNCCD National Action Plans, such tools?
• How can the UNECE Member States move from
policy making to putting into practice and
measuring results?
Climate change, adaptation
and drought
“The latest climate change scenarios suggest significant
summer drying across many parts of Europe in particular
in the south, lower rainfall in other seasons, and increased
variability.
Combining these patterns leads to an assertion that, over
the coming decades, Europe is likely to suffer more
frequent meteorological droughts, potentially further
exacerbated by generally elevated temperatures,
increasing the demand for water."
(Europe’s Environment IV Assessment)
Climate change, adaptation
and drought
“In Southern Europe, climate change is
projected to worsen conditions (high
temperatures and drought) in a region
already vulnerable to climate variability, and
to reduce water availability, hydropower
potential, summer tourism and, in general,
crop productivity.”
(IV IPCC Assessment Report)
Climate change, adaptation
and drought
“In Central and Eastern Europe, summer
precipitation is projected to decrease,
causing higher water stress. Forest
productivity is expected to decline and the
frequency of peatland fires to increase.”
(IV IPCC Assessment Report)
Synergies and awareness rising
(JPoI and UNCCD 10 year Strategy Op. Ob. 1)
• How can the UNECE Region ensure synergies
among relevant regional and international
processes, including trade opportunities?
• How can those synergies be transformed in
effective programmes and projects at local level,
in particular in Southern and Eastern Europe?
• How can we ensure that adaptation measures to
climate change take into consideration the tragic
effects of desertification and drought?
Drought in the UNECE Region
Conflicts between human requirements and ecological
needs for water are on the increase.
•How can the UNECE further move from crisis to risk
management?
•How can we ensure positive synergies between water
resources protection and the fight against drought?
•To answer to the implementation of A21 AP n. 2 and
5, can the development of drought management
centres in UNECE MSs be considered as a necessary
step in this sense?
Challenges for the UNECE Region
Science, technology and knowledge
• Has the UNECE Region developed
regional monitoring systems and regional
or sub-regional benchmarks and
indicators?
• Does the UNECE Region allows effective
access to available and relevant data on
drought and desertification?
Challenges for the UNECE Region
Encouraging and promoting public
participation and environmental education
How can the UNECE Region further apply the
Aarhus Convention?
How can the UNECE work on ESD support
the rise of awareness on desertification and
drought?
THANK YOU !