Media Statement: “Third time’s a charm - Can 2024’s final COP deliver where others hit deadlock?”

Following the suspension of UN Biodiversity Conference COP16 in Colombia and an underwhelming conclusion to UN Climate Conference COP29 in Azerbaijan, the third and final instalment in an unusually tight-knit sequence of high-level UN policy gatherings takes place 2-13 December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Explaining the importance of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the wider context behind the UNCCD-COP16 meeting, Nichole Barger – Deputy Chief Scientist at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as well as Co-Chair of UNCCD’s Science Policy Interface group – commented:

“Of the three big UN environmental conventions that came out of 1992’s Rio Earth Summit, UNCCD COPs have always struggled to attract media attention even compared with biodiversity COPs – let alone the increasingly front-page headlines that climate COPs generate.

“One reason is challenge of even defining the term ‘desertification’, let alone acting on it. However, the interconnected challenges of drought, desertification and land degradation are at the center of the accelerating climate and biodiversity crises.

The Nature Conservancy will be at the UNCCD COP16 advocating for nature—at the intersection of water, land and food systems—as a key solution. We will be focusing our efforts on building momentum and connections across biodiversity and climate, centering nature-positive solutions and ensuring that they are incorporated into every day decision making as well as building catalytic finance mechanisms to for greater outcomes for all people. 

With 100 million hectares of healthy land being degraded every year and nearly half of the world’s population already experiencing water scarcity during at least part of the year, the stakes for people and planet are high. We should all be thoughtful about the declining economic usefulness and ecological value of lands in arid regions of the world.

“This matters deeply, because land degradation is a truly global crisis – reckoned to afflict somewhere between 25%-40% of Earth’s total land area and affect the wellbeing of over 3.2 billion people globally. The ongoing decline of these regions threatens not only ecosystems but also human wellbeing, jeopardizing food and water security while also increasing disease risks among some of our planet’s most economically marginalized communities.

“All three COP processes are ultimately about fostering global collaboration on environmental issues that will affect every human life to some degree. At a time of growing climate instability, long-term commitment to restoring degraded lands – backed by the necessary finance – has potential to improve literally billions of lives worldwide.

"At the end of a gruelling autumn of contentious UN gatherings, there is still time for UNCCD to end the calendar year on a high, while also cementing ‘the forgotten COP’s importance for policymakers and the public alike.”

To speak directly with Nichole Barger or other members of TNC’s delegation at UNCCD-COP16 in Riyadh, please contact media@tnc.org

More information on TNC's priorities for COP16 can be accessed here