Panama is hosting the 23rd session of the Committee to Review the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC23) under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from Monday. The event, held in Panama City, emphasized the global loss of fertile land and the increase in droughts.
UNCCD Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad underlined at the opening «the urgency of acting in the face of soil degradation» that is advancing at an alarming rate across the planet. «Investing in sustainable land management, land restoration and nature-based solutions is not only an environmental necessity, but an imperative for development and a strategic investment in stability, prosperity and peace,» stated the former Egyptian Minister of Environment.
Fouad added that during his tenure at the head of the Convention, he has been «a witness to how healthy land and water are the basis of food and society». He also stressed that the central purpose of the meeting is «to measure progress and identify shortcomings to accelerate solutions» that allow for progress in the protection of land resources.
According to UNCCD data, the meeting is taking place in a context that experts describe as critical: two-thirds of the planet have become permanently drier in the last three decades, and in the last two years, the most extensive and damaging droughts in history have been recorded. To this situation is added the projection that, if current trends do not change, by 2050, 16 million square kilometers of land could be degraded, an area almost equivalent to South America.
In Panama, the lack of rain has already reduced transit through the Canal on several occasions, with direct repercussions for world trade.
Fouad recalled that «this week will be decisive for examining the progress of the commitments adopted at COP16», held in Riyadh in 2024, and for defining the roadmap for the Convention beyond 2030.
