Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire will be at the origin of a global initiative, “The Abidjan initiative” during the 15th conference of the parties to the United Nations convention on the fight against against desertification, (COP 15), revealed the Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Jean-Luc Assi, Monday January 24, 2022, during a press briefing.

“Côte d’Ivoire is expected to be at the origin of a major global initiative aimed at exponentially increasing the production of sustainable agriculture on a global scale while preserving the ecosystem functions of the soil. and other factors of production,” said Minister Jean-Luc Assi.

This initiative will be considered as “the political legacy of the organization of COP 15 by Côte d’Ivoire with the implementation of monitoring and evaluation tools and the creation of a joint working group bringing together the United Nations and other partners.

The city of Abidjan will host, from May 9 to 20, 2022, the 15th session of the Conference of Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), on the theme, “Soil restoration arid and degraded forests for the agriculture of the future”

Mr. Assi assured the commitment of the Ivorian side to work together with the Executive Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNCCD).

The president of the organizing committee of this COP 15 in Abidjan, Abou Bamba, considered that this world meeting is the largest conference ever organized in Côte d’Ivoire by the United Nations. “The organization of COP 15 will allow our country to leave its mark forever in the annals of international environmental governance,” he said.

The Conference of the Parties is the governing body of the Convention on Biodiversity. COP15 has a major challenge for countries whose economy is dominated by agriculture.

COP 14 took place in Delhi, India. It has also enabled the adoption of around thirty decisions on subjects of major importance, ranging from digital sequencing of genetic resources to the integration of biodiversity into economic or health sectors.

It also adopted guidelines to ensure that climate change adaptation strategies and natural disaster risk reduction are ecosystem-based, as well as to avoid conflicts of interest.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is the last of the three Rio conventions. It was adopted in Paris, two years after the Rio Summit, on June 17, 1994, and entered into force on December 25, 1996, 90 days after receipt of the 50th ratification. 197 countries are part of the Convention. It deals with desertification defined as “the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, as a result of various factors, including climatic variations and human activities”.

Source: Agence Ivoirienne de Presse