COP witnesses discussions on land and drought management on Day 3

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The 14^th Conference of Parties (COP14) to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which is currently underway at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, is holding significant discussions on land management. Some of the key highlights on day-3 of the UNCCDCOP14 include the meeting of the Committee on Science & Technology with a discussion on monitoring framework for the strategic objective on drought. Notable speakers from different countries contributed in the discussion.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) is considering the need for a specific indicator for the strategic objective on drought, which figures in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) 2018– 2030 Strategic Framework, adopted by Parties at the thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13).

Taking into consideration that the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) assisted in defining and identifying monitoring frameworks for the other strategic objectives, including indicators, the COP requested the CST to assist in the work relating to the establishment of such a monitoring framework. The Bureau of the CST, in collaboration with other members of the Science-Policy Interface (SPI), formed a working group to review the options and possible indicators outlined in this document.

The working group took into consideration relevant work within UNCCD processes and from other associated inter-governmental processes related to the monitoring of drought and the resilience of vulnerable populations and ecosystems to drought including indicators currently in use at the national level, as reported by Parties to the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC), and various reports from other relevant international organisations, according to a PIB release.

The working group on drought also took into consideration past decisions of the COP providing a framework for monitoring and evaluation of UNCCD impact/progress indicators, which allows the COP to set indicators for monitoring while allowing for refinement, and enhance its potential effectiveness, based on national capacities and circumstances. The working group concluded that there are a wide range of approaches to define and then monitoring drought.