THE VISION to forge a global partnership to reverse and prevent desertification/land degradation and to mitigate the effects of drought in affected areas in order to support poverty reduction and environmental sustainability

The Convention offers new hope in the struggle against desertification Over the past decades, the problem of land degradation in dryland regions has continued to worsen. The Convention promotes a fresh new approach to managing dryland ecosystems and - just as important - to managing development aid flows.

La Convention offre de nouveaux espoirs dans la lutte contre la désertification

Le problème de la dégradation des terres dans les régions arides n'a cessé de s'aggraver au cours des vingt dernières années décennies. La Convention propose une manière entièrement nouvelle de gérer les écosystèmes arides et -ce qui n'est pas moins important- les flux d'aide au développement.

La Convención ofrece nuevas esperanzas para luchar contra la desertificación

En las últimas décadas el problema de la degradación de tierras en las regiones de zonas secas ha seguido empeorando. La Convención promueve un nuevo método para gestionar los ecosistemas de tierras secas y administrar las aportaciones de ayuda al desarrollo.

The Kyoto Protocol negotiated in the mid-1990s to address climate change adaptation and mitigation will be replaced by a post-Kyoto agreement in 2012. The new agreement under negotiation needs to seal the policy gaps in adaptation and mitigation that were omitted or excluded from Kyoto on account of scientific uncertainties. Particular attention needs to be given to the potential of land in all its dimensions considering its high capacity to store carbon. Land stores twice as much organic carbon as vegetation and the atmosphere combined.

Drylands have the potential to play a big role in climate mitigation and, in doing so, to deliver significant co-benefits

Until now, the international community has made tireless efforts to get public attention and political action on issues of desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) with limited success.

Thus, the mobilization of political will and arousal of public interest and attention around the issue of climate change in particular puzzled activists and decision-makers alike, at least in the DLDD community.

Comme la Préface l’a souhaité, ce document est conçu comme un plaidoyer. Son objectif, en effet, est de montrer pourquoi il faut aujourd’hui replacer la Convention de Lutte contre la Désertification au cœur des stratégies engagées pour affronter la crise montante de l’écosystème global. Son point de départ est un constat sans appel : la progression de la désertification et de la dégradation des terres et des eaux conduisent inéluctablement à un développement non durable (Chapitre I).

Desertification is defined as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. More than one third of the surface of the earth consists of drylands. In terms of population, one out of every five people of the world live in already degraded or desertification-prone drylands. These people include many of the world’s poorest, most marginalized, and politically weak citizens. For instance, nearly 325 million people in the African continent live in drylands.

Avant-propos La notion de désertification se définit comme une dégradation des sols en zone aride, semi-aride et subhumide sèche, souvent appelée simplement « zone aride ». On estime qu’elle résulte d’une combinaison de facteurs, parmi lesquels les changements climatiques et l’activité humaine. Plus d’un tiers de la superficie totale de la terre est considéré comme zone aride. En termes démographiques, c’est un cinquième de la population totale du globe qui vit en zone aride déjà dégradée ou menacée de désertification.

Since the early 20th century, “desert reclamation” has been synonymous with large-scale waterworks and irrigation. These techniques have made it possible to produce abundant crops in arid or semi-arid environments. The costs have often been externalized, with increased environmental productivity in the new croplands counterbalanced by increased aridity elsewhere. In this paper I consider whose interests are served by such projects, and what kinds of social constructions of the natural and human environment make them possible.

Over the last two decades, 200 million people across the world have been lifted out of hunger. But as climate change brings more frequent and severe weather shocks such as droughts and floods, and makes rainfall patterns less predictable, these gains are under threat, especially among Africa’s smallholder farmers. Agriculture is Africa’s biggest employer. But mean temperatures are expected to rise faster in the continent than the global average, decreasing crop yields and deepening poverty.