2024 UN Desertification Conference (COP16)

What is UNCCD COP16?

The UNCCD COP 16 is more than a critical milestone – it represents a moonshot moment to raise global ambition and accelerate action on land and drought resilience through a people-centred approach.  

The UNCCD COP16 will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 2 -13 December 2024, under the theme Our Land. Our Future. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of UNCCD, COP16 will be the largest UN land conference to date, and the first UNCCD COP held in the Middle East and North Africa region, which knows first-hand the impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the main decision-making body of UNCCD’s 197 Parties – 196 countries and the European Union. 

Established in 1994, the UNCCD is the sole globally binding treaty linking environmental conservation with sustainable land management. Signed by 197 countries and the EU, it is one of the three Rio Conventions, advocating for land stewardship to combat degradation and ensure sustainable land-based resources essential for human survival.

What's happening at UNCCD COP16?

The UNCCD COP16 is poised to be a game-changer, marking a renewed global commitment to accelerate investment and action to restore land and boost drought resilience for the benefit of people and planet.

For the first time, COP16 will introduce a dual approach with a Negotiation Track and an Action Agenda, both interlinked to achieve bold outcomes in formal negotiations and facilitate the implementation of COP decisions.

• Negotiation Track focuses on critical COP decisions and political declarations essential for advancing global land and drought resilience.
• Action Agenda highlights voluntary commitments and actions on land, resilience and people across the thematic days during COP16.

What is GEO doing at UNCCD COP16?

The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) will partner with GEO LDN and UNU-EHS to organise a High-Level Interactive Dialogue on 9 December under the theme ‘Healing our land through science and Earth Intelligence’.

As part of UNCCD COP 16 Science, Technology, and Innovation Day, this dialogue will explore scaling up science and Earth Intelligence to integrate research and advance science-based actions in land restoration, drought, climate resilience, and biodiversity conservation.

GEO will advocate for Earth Intelligence for All in support decision making for healthy lands, country reporting on SDG indicator 15.3.1 and reaching national voluntary Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets.

At UNCCD COP 16, GEO and GEO LDN will host a pavilion to showcase how Earth observation supports land degradation assessment, informed land use decisions, and monitoring Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets, driving progress on all SDGs. GEO LDN will also host the Global Dialogue Forum 2024, in the Blue Zone in Room MET-09 featuring 60 representatives from 13 countries sharing experiences in Earth observation, geospatial tools, and integrated land-use planning to achieve LDN targets.

At the Blue Zone side event, GEO will unveil the Global Ecosystems Atlas, a groundbreaking open-access tool for global ecosystem mapping and monitoring. The event includes a hands-on demonstration and insights from UNCCD, Ai2, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, the Government of Maldives, and Esri on addressing data gaps and enabling informed decisions for land restoration and productivity.

Read more about GEO-LDN's activities at UNCCD COP16 here.

What is GEO-LDN?

The GEO Land Degradation Neutrality Flagship (GEO-LDN) is a stakeholder-driven initiative that was launched in 2018 during the Group on Earth Observations Week in Kyoto, Japan, responding to a request by the UNCCD's Conference of the Parties (COP13). It brings together Earth observation data providers and governments to develop minimum data quality standards, analytical tools and capacity building needed to strengthen land degradation monitoring and reporting, using remote sensing and data collected on site

GEO-LDN helps governments to access the necessary datasets and tools to prioritize interventions, monitor outcomes to manage land better and to report on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 15.3.1 (Decision 9/COP.13).

What are some of the big issues at UNCCD COP16?

The world is grappling with land degradation, declining soil productivity, and worsening climate impacts, including droughts and sand and dust storms. These challenges threaten billions of livelihoods and ecosystem resilience. At COP16, leaders and policymakers are uniting to ensure land remains a solution for climate resilience, biodiversity, and sustainable development.

Launch of the Global Ecosystems Atlas

The launch of the Global Ecosystems Atlas at COP16 marks a pivotal step forward. This tool provides high-resolution data to monitor and address land degradation, productivity, and resilience, aligning with COP16’s priorities:

• Restoration of degraded land: Pinpoints areas for restoration and tracks progress.
• Drought and sandstorm resilience: Informs strategies for arid regions.
• Equity in land stewardship: Maps land use and tenure for inclusive management.
• Climate and biodiversity solutions: Monitors ecosystems to combat global challenges.

The Atlas fosters public-private collaboration, mobilizing resources for large-scale restoration and sustainable land use. As climate and land pressures intensify, it provides evidence-based insights for effective, equitable action, empowering a nature-positive future. Based approaches, empowering nations to achieve sustainable land stewardship and deliver lasting solutions for people and the planet.

Global Dialogue Forum 2024

The Global Dialogue Forum 2024 will build on the achievements and insights from the previous Global Dialogue Forum held in South Africa in November 2023 and a series of in-person events: Partners4change in Nairobi, Capacity Accelerator Network (CAN) learning workshop in Ghana, Regional Dialogue Forum in Senegal and online support sessions. As part of this ongoing series of events facilitated by the Group on Earth Observations´Land Degradation Neutrality Flagship (GEO-LDN), the GDF 2024 focusses on supporting countries to:

• Define specific use cases by identifying clear problem statements.
• Develop roadmaps to tackle the identified problems and to break down the implementation into manageable steps.
• Receive support in accessing, using, and interpreting geodata to inform their roadmaps.
• Provide feedback on existing tools, data, and algorithms to guide further development of the LDN Toolbox.
• Exchange ideas and strategies with peer countries
• Offer recommendations to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
• Access capacity development and advisory services from the global Earth Observation (EO) community.

For more information, contact: secretariat@geosec.org