Desertification

Droughts, land degradation and desertification pose serious global challenges especially for developing countries. Droughts are natural phenomena that can cause considerable hydrological imbalances, adversely affecting agriculture. Desertification and land degradation, which result from factors such as climatic variations and human action, cause loss of biodiversity and of the arable layer of the soil, harming agricultural production and sustainable development.

With large se mi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, Brazil has actively participated in multilateral discussions on desertification, reinforcing the search for sustainable development and poverty eradication. The Brazilian Government understands that international cooperation can contribute to the mitigation of the effects of drought, to the implementation and development of prevention and early warning systems, as well as to combatting desertification and to the proper management of lands and soils. Brazil defends the importance of applying both scientific and traditional knowledge as well as best practices to face these challenges. Proper soil management is essential to prevent soil destruction and desertification, in addition to playing an important role in promoting sustainable agriculture and food security, as well as the conservation of biodiversity, the mitigation of the harmful effects of climate change and improving water availability.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), adopted in 1994, constitutes the greatest effort ever undertaken by the international community to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought. The UNCCD focuses on arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas affected or threatened by desertification. The Convention stipulates that developed country Parties must mobilize financial resources and facilitate technology transfer to affected developing countries, recognizing that Africa must be the main beneficiary of international efforts to combat desertification.

The 13th UNCCD Conference of the Parties (COP-13), held in September 2017, in Ordos, China, adopted a new strategic framework for the Convention with 5 objectives and dealt with decisive themes for the Convention, especially with regard to the human dimension of desertification processes, land degradation and drought, as well as the importance of sustainable land management. Together with India and Liberia, Brazil announced its adhesion to the project on neutral land degradation, which now has a total of 120 countries.