This year’s United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)'s Conference of the Parties (COP16) will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 to 13 December.
At UNCCD COP16, the nations of the world will meet to discuss, among others:
- Accelerating restoration of degraded land
- Boosting drought preparedness, response and resilience
- Scaling up nature-positive food production by protecting and restoring grasslands and rangelands
- Ensuring land continues to provide climate and biodiversity solutions
- Strengthening women’s right to land tenure to advance land restoration
- Promoting youth engagement, including decent land-based jobs for youth
This year, our institute will be sending a delegation of experts on various desertification, and land degradation and management issues. From climate change adaptation, and land and water management approaches to ecosystem-based approaches for integrating disaster risk reduction, our expertise cuts across many of COP16’s most urgent themes.
List of events
2 December
Launch of Drought Resilience Observatory and Global Drought Atlas
Time: 5:30 PM AST
Venue: MET 33
3 December
Opportunities for promoting synergies between Climate Change Adaptation and Land Degradation Neutrality within the National Adaptation Plan process - Insights from Saudi Arabia
Time: 12:30 PM AST
Venue: Science Stage
Co-organized by UNU-EHS
UNU presence: Yvonne Walz (organizer, moderator & speaker)
Triggering Change for land restoration through higher education
Time: 3:30 PM AST
Venue: Restoration Pavilion / Blue Zone
UNU presence: Yvonne Walz (speaker/panelist)
4 December
High level symposium: NbS driving land restoration and drought resilience
Time: 9:00 AM AST
Venue: Action Dome
UNU presence: Yvonne Walz (speaker)
Innovative Techniques for Mapping and Monitoring Degraded Land Using Earth Observation
Time: 9:00 AM AST
Venue: Science Oasis / Science Pavilion
Organized by UNU-EHS
UNU presence: Navneet Kumar (organizer, moderator & speaker)
Connecting multiple goals with ecosystem-based approaches: What next?
Time: 5:45 PM AST
Venue: People's Pavilion
Organized by UNU-EHS
UNU presence: Yvonne Walz (organizer & speaker)
5 December
Greening Degraded Landscapes: Sustainable Afforestation in Degraded Croplands
Time: 9:00 AM AST
Venue: MET 03
Organized by UNU-EHS
UNU presence: Navneet Kumar (organizer, moderator & speaker), Lisa Hartmann (speaker)
Adaptation Planning to Combat Land Degradation and Revitalizing Ecosystems
Time: 3:00 PM AST
Venue: UNDP Pavilion
UNU presence: Yvonne Walz (speaker)
6 December
Opportunities for promoting synergies between CCA and LDN within the NAP processes - Insights from Saudi Arabia
Time: 1:00 PM AST
Venue: MET 04
Co-organized by UNU-EHS
UNU presence: Yvonne Walz (organizer, moderator & speaker)
9 December
High level interactive dialogue: Healing land through science and Earth Intelligence
Time: 1:00 PM AST
Venue: Action Dome
Organized by UNU-EHS
UNU presence: Yvonne Walz (organizer), Zita Sebesvari (moderator)
European Commission Joint Research Center – The World Drought Atlas – a perspective on drought risks and resilience
Time: 1:00 PM AST
Venue: MET 07
10 December
Operationalizing integrated landscape approaches towards socio-ecological resilience
Time: 11:00 AM AST
Venue: MET 07
Organized by UNU-EHS & UNU-IAS
UNU presence: Lisa Hartmann (organizer & speaker), Yvonne Walz (moderator)
Leveraging Digital and Innovative Technologies for Agricultural Water Management
Time: 1:00 PM AST
Venue: MET 03
Organized by UNU-VIE
UNU presence: Emmanuel Cheo (organizer & moderator)
Barriers and enablers for implementing sustainable land management approaches
Time: 5:45 PM AST
Venue: Science Oasis / Science Pavilion
Organized by UNU-EHS
UNU presence: Lisa Hartmann (organizer, moderator & speaker)
12 December
Greening the Sahel through Innovative and Smart Water Energy-Food Technologies
Time: 1:00 PM AST
Venue: MET 02
Organized by UNU-VIE
UNU presence: Emmanuel Cheo (organizer & moderator)
