Content:
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) currently has an enormous opportunity to foster the integration of the cross-cutting issues surrounding sustainable land management (SLM) into the broad context of international policy processes and into sustainable development at the country level.
Climate resilience and climate change risk management; adaptation; and mitigation are the most important drivers for sustainable use of natural resources such as water, soil and vegetation worldwide.
On the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification, the GM would like to draw attention to the potential of the UNCCD as the main policy forum that brings together the themes of climate resilience food security and rural development through sustainable land management (SLM).
The GM is supporting developing countries in closing the considerable knowledge gap between line ministries, such as those for the environment and agricultural forestry and rural development, and the emerging ‘climate change finance regime’. For its part, the World Bank is offering a variety of opportunities, including the Strategic Climate Fund as a pilot for Least Developed Countries to achieve climate resilience in the context of sustainable development. The Strategic Framework on Climate Change and Development (SFCCD) for the World Bank Group which is currently under debate, is one of many strategic approaches being developed by international finance institutions such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and many of the bilateral agencies.
The UNCCD through policy and strategy development, and the GM through its direct support to countries, will play an instrumental role by assisting country Parties in integrating innovative financing opportunities, such as vertical climate funds, into development programming frameworks at country level. It is paramount that financing instruments like the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its implementing/executing agencies that possess a wealth of synergized information on how to package investment frameworks for climate change resilience and SLM, be further strengthened by the international community.
Land management is all about management of natural resources such as soil, water and vegetation. The High Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Biodiversity, held at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in Rome, Italy, 3-5 June 2008, was one of the latest highlights in the debate on investments into agriculture, community forestry, water management and rural development.
The major problem in food security is national and international priority setting and consequently finance for rural development. The Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, for instance, has published financial data on the decline of agricultural investments by international institutions and national governments in developing countries over the past decade.
The Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and the Maputo Declaration of African Heads of State are a direct response to the anticipated problems in food and energy production and water management. For CAADP, drought and land degradation must be addressed as the most urgent development issues, particularly in the context of the most vulnerable rural communities and in fragile ecosystems. The UN Secretary General's High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis recently launched the draft for Elements of a Comprehensive Framework for Action, which looks at immediate needs of developing countries and longer-term global food security policies. While member states of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) pledged increased finance for food security at the FAO High-Level Conference, the World Bank (IBRD) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) launched initiatives such as the Global Food Crisis Response Facility and the New Deal for Global Food Policy - to name but a few.
The current strategy and policy debates around climate resilience, sustainable agriculture and food security point to the conclusion that none of these global challenges and threats to human well-being should be tackled in isolation, but as part and parcel of development programming at country level, supported by effective international policy making processes. The world is currently preparing for the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to be held in ACCRA in early September 2008 to evaluate the impact of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Accra 2008: The bumpy road to aid effectiveness in agriculture, a paper published by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), echoes the call for innovative approaches to public expenditure support for the agricultural sector in terms of setting enabling frame conditions for production, trade and market access for rural communities.
The UNCCD is at the interface of highly dynamic processes. Innovative and forward looking interactions with these processes for comprehensive policy recommendations and strategy development offer enormous potential for the Convention. The GM has developed strategic programmes and built effective partnerships to support focal point institutions of country Parties of the Convention in increasing finance for sustainable land management making effective use of the interface between climate resilience, agriculture and rural development and poverty reduction in developing countries.
On World Day to Combat Desertification, the GM stands ready, in close cooperation with the UNCCD Secretariat, to induce and strengthen strategic discussions on finance for UNCCD implementation with all its partners, in particular with the International Fund for Agricultural Development - IFAD - its host and the world’s second largest investment fund for SLM.
Dr Christian Mersmann, Managing Director
Tel. +39 06 5459 2146
c.mersmann (at) global-mechanism.org
High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis
Elements of a Comprehensive Framework for Action
Visit OECD’s website
Read more about the IMF
Visit ODI’s climate change pages
ODI’s project on climate change impacts on agriculture and adaptation responses
ODI’s paper on Climate Change, agricultural policy and poverty reduction – how much do we know?
ODI’s paper on Accra 2008: The bumpy road to aid effectiveness in agriculture
Towards a Strategic Framework on Climate Change and Development for the World Bank Group
Visit IFAD’s climate change pages
Visit the AfDB’s climate change pages
Visit GEF climate change pages
Read more about the High-level Conference on World Food Security
Visit the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development
Read more about CAADP
Read more about the Maputo Declaration
Norwegian action plan for environment in development cooperation
Norway’s climate change priority areas for development assistance
Climate resilience and food security: UNCCD at the interface
17 June, 2008
Climate resilience and climate change risk management; adaptation; and mitigation are the most important drivers for sustainable use of natural resources such as water, soil and vegetation worldwide.
On the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification, the GM would like to draw attention to the potential of the UNCCD as the main policy forum that brings together the themes of climate resilience food security and rural development through sustainable land management (SLM).
The GM is supporting developing countries in closing the considerable knowledge gap between line ministries, such as those for the environment and agricultural forestry and rural development, and the emerging ‘climate change finance regime’. For its part, the World Bank is offering a variety of opportunities, including the Strategic Climate Fund as a pilot for Least Developed Countries to achieve climate resilience in the context of sustainable development. The Strategic Framework on Climate Change and Development (SFCCD) for the World Bank Group which is currently under debate, is one of many strategic approaches being developed by international finance institutions such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and many of the bilateral agencies.
The UNCCD through policy and strategy development, and the GM through its direct support to countries, will play an instrumental role by assisting country Parties in integrating innovative financing opportunities, such as vertical climate funds, into development programming frameworks at country level. It is paramount that financing instruments like the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its implementing/executing agencies that possess a wealth of synergized information on how to package investment frameworks for climate change resilience and SLM, be further strengthened by the international community.
Land management is all about management of natural resources such as soil, water and vegetation. The High Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Biodiversity, held at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in Rome, Italy, 3-5 June 2008, was one of the latest highlights in the debate on investments into agriculture, community forestry, water management and rural development.
The major problem in food security is national and international priority setting and consequently finance for rural development. The Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, for instance, has published financial data on the decline of agricultural investments by international institutions and national governments in developing countries over the past decade.
The Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) and the Maputo Declaration of African Heads of State are a direct response to the anticipated problems in food and energy production and water management. For CAADP, drought and land degradation must be addressed as the most urgent development issues, particularly in the context of the most vulnerable rural communities and in fragile ecosystems. The UN Secretary General's High-Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis recently launched the draft for Elements of a Comprehensive Framework for Action, which looks at immediate needs of developing countries and longer-term global food security policies. While member states of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) pledged increased finance for food security at the FAO High-Level Conference, the World Bank (IBRD) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) launched initiatives such as the Global Food Crisis Response Facility and the New Deal for Global Food Policy - to name but a few.
The current strategy and policy debates around climate resilience, sustainable agriculture and food security point to the conclusion that none of these global challenges and threats to human well-being should be tackled in isolation, but as part and parcel of development programming at country level, supported by effective international policy making processes. The world is currently preparing for the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to be held in ACCRA in early September 2008 to evaluate the impact of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Accra 2008: The bumpy road to aid effectiveness in agriculture, a paper published by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), echoes the call for innovative approaches to public expenditure support for the agricultural sector in terms of setting enabling frame conditions for production, trade and market access for rural communities.
The UNCCD is at the interface of highly dynamic processes. Innovative and forward looking interactions with these processes for comprehensive policy recommendations and strategy development offer enormous potential for the Convention. The GM has developed strategic programmes and built effective partnerships to support focal point institutions of country Parties of the Convention in increasing finance for sustainable land management making effective use of the interface between climate resilience, agriculture and rural development and poverty reduction in developing countries.
On World Day to Combat Desertification, the GM stands ready, in close cooperation with the UNCCD Secretariat, to induce and strengthen strategic discussions on finance for UNCCD implementation with all its partners, in particular with the International Fund for Agricultural Development - IFAD - its host and the world’s second largest investment fund for SLM.
Dr Christian Mersmann, Managing Director
Tel. +39 06 5459 2146
c.mersmann (at) global-mechanism.org
Related Links
Visit the World Bank’s climate change pages