11-Sep-2019: Drought Toolbox launched on Day 10 of COP14
The 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which is currently underway at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida dedicated day 10 to the theme of Drought. The success and challenges of the current tools, methodologies and policies supporting drought preparedness, across the globe were discussed in today’s Conference at the Rio Pavilion Centre.
Drought is a major obstacle to achieving sustainable development goal-15. We need to move faster in our fight against drought. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The 17 SDGs are integrated—that is, they recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability. The SDG-15 refers to: Protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
The UNCCD used the occasion to launch an interactive Drought Toolbox that serves as a platform for developing national drought plans and taking a proactive approach to drought management. The UNCCD developed the Toolbox under the Drought Initiative and in close partnership with WMO, FAO, GWP, National Drought Mitigation Center of the University of Nebraska, and the UN Environment Programme’s Centre for Water and Environment (UNEP-DHI).
The platform offers access to a host of drought resilience building resources, and the toolbox is one of the three focus areas of a Drought Initiative launched following a request by COP 13 to the UNCCD Secretariat. The Drought Initiative focuses on (1) drought preparedness systems; (2) regional efforts to reduce drought vulnerability and risk; and (3) a toolbox to boost the resilience of people and ecosystems to drought. Its partners include WMO, FAO, GWP, the Union for the Mediterranean, UNEP-DHI and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
The toolbox is a sort of knowledge bank which contains tools that strengthen the ability of countries to anticipate and prepare for drought effectively and mitigate their impacts as well as tools that enable communities to anticipate and find the land management tools that help them to build resilience to drought.
India is the host country of the ongoing UNCCD COP14 which began from 2ndSeptember and will culminate on 13th September 2019.
11-Sep-2019: Experts stress the need to assess long-term drought impacts
The way to combat frequent droughts, like the ones India faces, lies in evaluating their impacts, a host of experts said at the ongoing 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Losses due to droughts need proper estimation. The Framework for the Assessment of Benefits of Action/Cost of Inaction for Drought Preparedness report was released at the COP in Greater Noida. The framework can help India develop a proactive approach.
Droughts affect 42 per cent of India’s land while another 6 per cent is ‘exceptionally dry plane’; 40 per cent of the country’s population is vulnerable to droughts. Proper estimates of loss are necessary for proactive measures. Current estimates, at best, reflect only the reliefs earmarked for those affected by droughts.
Understanding the impact of droughts can be an entry point for planning drought-risk management. But the approach often focuses on direct and immediate impacts rather than longer-term impacts on society and natural resources. More and better economic analysis could be a decisive factor in moving countries from crisis management to risk management.
Several experts present concurred that conditions of the political economy often gives governments weak incentives to adopt a risk-management approach. Acting on drought impacts is highly visible and with immediate effects. Other causes include the lack of a holistic approach; integrating analysis and action across sectors and agencies and the political economy of aid. It’s easier to get aid for emergencies than resources for long-term investment in marginal areas.
Droughts generally follow a sequence: Changes in meteorology impacts agriculture first and then water:
- Agriculture
- Livestock
- Fisheries
- Irrigation
- Trade and industries
- Environment
- Transport
- Water resources
- Water supply and sanitation
- Education
- Health
- Nutrition
- Social protection.
All such categories need to be considered to estimate the scale of impact of any drought, experts said. This should include economic, environmental and social impacts. This necessitates the framework, which should be relevant to multiple disciplines and sectors but also flexible.
The 10-point framework:
- Appoint a national drought management policy commission.
- State or define the goals and objectives of risk-based national drought management policy.
- Seek stakeholder participation, define and resolve conflicts between key water use sectors.
- Inventory data and financial resources available and broadly identify groups at risk.
- Prepare the key tenets of the national drought management policy and preparedness plans.
- Identify research needs and fill institutional gaps.
- Integrate science and policy aspects of drought management.
- Publicise the policy and preparedness plans, build public awareness.
- Develop education programs for all age and stakeholder groups.
- Evaluate and revise policy and supporting plans.
29-Aug-2019: 14th Session of the Conference of Parties (COP14) opens on 2 September 2019
The Fourteenth Session of the Conference of Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification opens on, 2 September 2019, in New Delhi and ends on 13 September 2019.
Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, India, and Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification will preside over the event.
Issues on the COP14 agenda include, drought, land tenure, ecosystem restoration, climate change, health, sand and dust storms, cities of the future, financial investment, and the roles of youth, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.
Close to 100 ministers and over 3000 delegates from 196 countries are expected at COP14. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed are also expected to attend.
COP14 has attracted the highest number and of decision-makers ever and at the highest level, in our history. The policy decisions to be taken could mark a major turning point for how we manage the scarce land and water resources we have left. We are fast running out of time to build our resilience to climate change, avoid the loss of biological diversity and valuable ecosystems and achieve all other Sustainable Development Goals. But we can turn around the lives of the over 3.2 billion people all over the world that are negatively impacted by desertification and drought, if there is political will. And we can revitalize ecosystems that are collapsing from a long history of land transformation and, in too many cases, unsustainable land management.
24-Sep-2019: New leadership group announced at Climate Action Summit to drive industry transition to low-carbon economy
A new initiative was launched on 23rd September at the UN Climate Action Summit to help guide the world’s heaviest greenhouse gas emitting industries toward the low-carbon economy.
India and Sweden together with Argentina, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Korea and the UK, as well as a group of companies including Dalmia Cement, DSM, Heathrow Airport, LKAB, Mahindra Group, Royal Schiphol Group, Scania, SpiceJet, SSAB, ThyssenKrupp and Vattenfall, announced a new Leadership Group for Industry Transition that will drive transformation in hard-to-decarbonize and energy-intensive sectors.
This global initiative will be supported by the World Economic Forum, the Energy Transitions Commission, Mission Innovation, Stockholm Environment Institute, and the European Climate Foundation among many others in an ambitious, public-private effort, to ensure heavy industries and mobility companies can find a workable pathway to deliver on the Paris Agreement.
In his statement Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi said that “each one of us has to discharge climate responsibilities based on our situations and capacities. I hope that work under the industry transition track will facilitate early diffusion of technology and support to developing countries in this journey”.
Union Environment Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar said that the last two days have seen major takeaways including the decision that heavy industries who are doing their bit on their own, without any external help, have decided to have a low carbon path.
In welcoming this new public-private partnership, Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum said: “There is a huge level of support and enthusiasm in the private sector to engage with governments and peers to reduce emissions across their operations and value chains.
Industry sector emissions, including those from hard-to-abate and energy-intensive sectors like steel, cement, aluminum, aviation and shipping are expected to be responsible for 15.7Gt by 2050. The international collaboration between countries and industry groups is critical to establish workable policy frameworks and incentives, and to enable joint investment into low carbon infrastructure.
About The Climate Action Summit: The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres hosted the Climate Action Summit in New York ahead of the UN General Assembly. The Secretary-General called on all leaders – governments, the private sector, civil society, local authorities and other international organizations – to come with concrete, realistic plans that will boost ambition and rapidly accelerate action to implement the Paris Agreement.
Having the key focus on raising ambition and accelerate action to implement the Paris Agreement, the Climate Action Summit focuses on nine interdependent tracks, which are led by 19 countries in total and are supported by international organizations.
It is noteworthy to point that India along with Sweden, supported by World Economic Forum is leading the ‘Industry Transition’ track meeting.
23-Sep-2019: PM pledges to more than double India’s renewable energy capacity target to 450 GW
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi addressed the Climate Action Summit's opening ceremony organized by the UN Secretary General on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Speaking on the occasion, the PM said that this was the first opportunity to address the United Nations, after having received the Champion of the Earth award last year. He said that to overcome a serious challenge like climate change, what we are doing at the moment is just not enough. He called for a global people’s movement to bring about behavioral change.
He said that the respect for nature, the judicious use of resources, reducing our needs and living within our means have all been important aspects of both our traditions and present day efforts. He added that Need not Greed has been our guiding principle. And therefore India today has come not just to talk about the seriousness of this issue, but to present a practical approach and a roadmap. We believe that an ounce of practice is worth more than a ton of preaching.
He pledged that the share of non-fossil fuel will be increased, and by 2022 India’s renewable energy capacity would be increased to much beyond 175 GW, and later till 450 GW. He said that India plans to make the transport sector green through e mobility and considerably increase the proportion of the biofuel blend in petrol and diesel. He added that clean cooking gas has been provided to 150 million families in India.
Shri Modi said that Jal Jeevan mission has been launched for water conservation, rainwater harvesting and for the development of water resources and approximately 50 billion dollars is going to be spent on this in the next few years.
He said that on the International forum, almost 80 countries have joined our International Solar Alliance campaign. India and Sweden together with other partners are launching the Leadership group within the Industry transition track. This initiative will provide a platform for governments and the private sector with opportunities for cooperation in the area of Technology innovation. This will help to develop low carbon pathways for industry.
He said that in order to make our infrastructure disaster resilient, India is launching a Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and invited other Member states to join this coalition. He added that this year on the occasion of India’s Independence Day on 15th August, a people's movement to end the use of single use plastic was called for. He emphasized that the time for talking is over; the world needs to act now.
14-May-2019: World Reconstruction Conference 4
The fourth edition of the World Reconstruction Conference (WRC4) was held in Geneva on May 13-14, 2019 with the theme ‘Inclusion for Resilient Recovery,’ and focused on the inclusion of marginalized groups in terms of participation and consultation during assessment, planning, and decision-making processes to ensure no one is left behind and to achieve more equitable recovery outcomes. WRC4 has built on the consensus of the previous editions of the Conference that recovery can risk reinforcing existing inequalities, a resilient recovery is imperative for sustainable development and poverty reduction, and that to be resilient, recovery must build back better.
The World Reconstruction Conference (WRC) is a global forum that provides a platform for policy makers, experts, and practitioners from governments, international organizations, community-based organizations, the academia, and private sector from both developing and developed countries to come together to collect, assess, and share experiences in disaster recovery and reconstruction and take the policy dialogue forward.
More than 1,000 stakeholders, practitioners, and policy-makers from across the disaster recovery landscape came together in Geneva for the fourth edition of the Conference. With the theme of ‘inclusion for resilient recovery,’ the WRC4 was an opportunity for attendees to share the latest best practices and account for progress on the pledges made through the 2030 Agenda and, particularly, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
Inclusion for Resilient Recovery: Inclusion in disaster recovery and reconstruction is a key condition for resilience. A more inclusive recovery fosters equal rights and opportunities, dignity and diversity, guaranteeing that nobody from a community is left out because of their age, gender, disability or other factors linked to ethnicity, religion, geography, economic status, political affiliation, health issues, or other life circumstances. By including disadvantaged groups in pre- and post-disaster recovery processes, recovery efforts can address underlying risk factors and contribute to building back better. Inclusive recovery processes give agency to disadvantaged groups and can leverage their unique capacities, knowledge, and experience to improve recovery outcomes for everyone.
The main objective of the event was to renew and accelerate efforts towards realizing inclusive recovery processes. To this end, the Conference discussed the challenges and inherent biases in the process of recovery and the reasons for which certain population groups are systematically excluded, and suggested the broad contours of the way forward.
Disability rights activist Eddie Ndopu set the tone for the Conference, delivering an inspiring opening address in which he invited attendees to "not just reconstruct buildings, but to reconstruct communities – to reconstruct the world and fashion it in such a way that it is truly open to all."
Despite WRC4's short duration, participants dove deep into the inclusion theme. They noted that there was broad consensus around the central challenges: that vulnerable and marginalized groups not only get hit harder by disasters, but can also be left worse off after a disaster because they are frequently excluded from the recovery process. However, they also recognized that inclusive solutions were not yet widespread or mainstreamed.
Across 20 sessions, participants identified and shared best practices, lessons, and solutions for promoting inclusion through the various dimensions of post-disaster recovery and pre-disaster risk management. Some focused on considerations for specific groups of people, such as women and people with disabilities. Others explored especially vulnerable contexts, including those affected by conflict, small island states, and displaced communities. Many demonstrated ways to build inclusiveness into Disaster Risk Management (DRM) practices such as risk financing, civil protection, and building back better.
Partnership: The Conference was jointly organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Bank (WB) and the European Union (EU) in conjunction with the 6th Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR), convened by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and aligned with its thematic focus on managing disaster risk and risk-informed development investments towards sustainable and inclusive societies. The traditional WRC partners thus had the opportunity to renew and expand their partnership with UNDRR on a common platform for the two events. Other United Nations (UN) agencies, such as United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN), International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Environment, have enriched the debate and shared their experiences.