Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)

Solutions for a d(r)ying world? Reaching land degradation neutrality by 2030

On 10 May, CDE, WOCAT, and Swiss Development and Cooperation are inviting to a high-level event with Ibrahim Thiaw, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The topic could hardly be more pressing: How can we achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030?

Overused and eroded versus well-managed land in Tajikistan. Photo: CDE/WOCAT

Healthy land is central to the wellbeing of the planet’s ecosystems and biodiversity; it feeds us, shelters us, and provides the backbone to the global economy. But today, up to 40 per cent of the world’s land is degraded. Around half of humanity is directly affected.

Therefore, effective sustainable land management is crucial for all three Rio Conventions, namely the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The question is: Do we have the knowledge and the tools for it? And: how can we work together to restore land and boost resilience?

At his official visit to Switzerland on 10 May 2023, Ibrahim Thiaw, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), will give a keynote speech on the future of our lands at the University of Bern, followed by inputs by CDE researchers and a high-level panel discussion.

CDE, University of Bern, together with World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT), and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) are inviting to a high-level event with Ibrahim Thiaw:

10 May 2023, 15:30 to 17:30h CEST

Aula 210, University of Bern, Hochschulstrasse 4, 3012, Bern

Registration deadline by 9 May 2023

PROGRAMME
15:30	Welcome	Christian Leumann, Rector of the University of Bern
15:35	Introductory speech	Marylaure Crettaz, Head of the Food Systems section, SDC
15:40	Keynote on the future of our lands	Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD
15:50	Gender and land governance: “Her land. Her rights.”	Nicole Harari, CDE and Executive team of WOCAT Markus Giger, CDE, University of Bern
16:05	Panel discussion: Unlocking land’s future	Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, UNCCD Marylaure Crettaz, Head of Food Systems section, SDC Norbert Bärlocher, Head of Rio Conventions section, Federal Office for the Environment Andrew Kihurani, Ambassador of Kenya to Switzerland Sabrina Nick, Co-Head Environment, Transport and Energy Program, foraus MODERATION: Tatenda Lemann, CDE and Executive team of WOCAT
16:55	Closing remarks	CDE Director Thomas Breu, University of Bern
17:00	Light reception

The Centre of Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern, is the first Swiss university institution to be officially accredited as a partner of the UNCCD. As one of the three Rio Conventions, UNCCD aims to combate desertification, drought, and land degradation, and to restore degraded ecosystems – and thus to strengthen the resilience of land to climate change and prevent biodiversity loss.

Read also our interview with CDE researcher Nicole Harari on CDE/WOCAT’s presence at the 15^th Conference of the Parties in May 2022 and learn more about how CDE and WOCAT contribute with scientific knowledge on issues that the convention must address.