Less famous than its big sister the COP 26 dedicated to the climate, the COP 15 opened this Monday, May 9 in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire). The world conference on land desertification is held until May 20, it aims in particular to put in place commitments for the restoration of one billion hectares of degraded land by 2030.
According to a report by the United Nations Convention against Desertification (UNCCD) published in April, 40% of the earth’s surface has been degraded by human activity, a situation that directly affects half of humanity.
Desertification, a phenomenon linked to climate change
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, host of the summit, placed his opening speech in the context of the many current crises, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, but also of course the climate emergency. A context “which has a severe impact on our land management policies and exacerbates the phenomenon of drought” he recalled.
The African continent is already largely suffering the consequences of recurrent droughts, particularly in the Sahel and in West Africa. Also in the Horn of Africa, 20 million people are at risk of hunger as the rainy season is slow to arrive.
A flagship project: the great green wall
This summit will be an opportunity to discuss one of the most important projects to combat desertification, great green wall. Its objective is to restore 100 million hectares of damaged land in the Sahel by reforestation, by establishing diversified agricultural methods and varieties adapted to the climate.
During the One Planet Summit by 2021, France had undertaken to ensure that the international funds intended for this great green wall would be increased to 12 billion euros. The project, officially launched in 2007, has so far only enabled the restoration of 4% of the planned territory.