The world is heading towards a temperature increase of 2.5-2.9°C, risking irreversible impacts on climate, biodiversity, and human development. Nature loss is accelerating, with 73% of animal and plant populations declining since 1970. 100 million hectares of land are degraded every year, depleting in matter of minutes soils which take up to hundreds of years to form. Severe droughts occur at higher frequency, affecting women and girls the most. Three out of four people in the world will face water scarcity by 2050. Land degradation and resource scarcity drive conflict and threaten sustainable development. Without urgent action, the climate – nature – land interconnected crises will reverse global stability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It is all connected. Climate instability, biodiversity loss, and land degradation are interconnected crises, and so are the solutions. There will be no stable climate without a stable natural environment, nor a sustainable future without healthy land.
UNCCD COP16: Our Land, Our Future
Taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 2-13 December 2024, the UNCCD COP16 aims to raise global ambition and accelerate action on the restoration of 1.5 billion hectares of degraded land by 2030 and boost drought resilience through a people-centered approach.
UNDP plays a pivotal role in addressing the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation, recognizing land as a critical link between these issues. Solutions to these crises are intertwined and essential for achieving sustainable development.
UNDP calls for the alignment of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Biodiversity Strategies (NBSAPs), and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets to achieve a sustainable future. The interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation should be addressed through integrated solutions, emphasizing land as a central link.
How UNDP is advancing action on land and drought resilience through South-South and Triangular Cooperation
South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) approaches have been integral in UNDP’s efforts to address climate mitigation and adaptation. UNDP promotes South-South and Triangular Cooperation approaches to advance integrated solutions under the Nature Pledge and Climate Promise and its multi-billion-dollar portfolio of environmental projects.
UNDP’s Global Policy Centre on Resilient Ecosystems and Desertification (GC-RED) provides policy and capacity building support, technical assistance, financial resources, advocacy and knowledge management services to UNDP and its partners to facilitate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 15 – Life on Land. The Centre manages the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Network (BES-Net) which aims to build capacity and commitment for biodiversity action across the world. BES-Net is designed contribute to the implementation of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). BES-Net also aims to support the science, policy and practice communities to enhance cross-border network and promote south-south learning and exchanges.
In 2023, 12% of projects across UNDP’s SSTC footprint (73 out of 585 projects) contributed to advancing SDG15 (Life on Land). Of these, 48% focused on strengthening national capacities, 37% brokered knowledge exchanges, while 18% supported partnerships between countries in the Global South.
Examples from UNDP’s work
Capacity Building
In Africa, "Initiatives Climat" helps tackle deforestation and climate change by identifying, consolidating, and scaling up best practices and nature-based solutions developed by local communities through South-South cooperation in Francophone Africa. Focusing on green charcoal and agroecology, Initiatives Climat has facilitated 13 international training workshops with dozens of participants from 15 countries. The project is supported by UNDP Morocco through the GEF Small Grants Programme.
In Belize, UNDP supports the mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation and sustainable land/water management into production landscapes in the Belize River watershed. The project includes a South-South Exchange program to support institutional capacity development on biodiversity conservation, integrated watershed management, sustainable land management, and building resilience to climate change, as well as knowledge exchange with other countries in the region that are implementing similar initiatives (e.g., Colombia, Costa Rica, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panamá).
Knowledge Brokering
Through the UN-REDD Programme, UNDP is supporting 13 countries (Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Uganda and Viet Nam) to implement REDD+, enhance the ambition and delivery of forest solutions in their NDCs, and access climate finance for REDD+ through technical assistance and a comprehensive global knowledge management approach that includes policy dialogue and South-South exchange, as well as targeted advocacy on topics such as social inclusion and gender equality.
UNDP supports Benin towards Land Degradation Neutrality, including through the restoration of land and forest ecosystems for improved agricultural productivity, prevention of deforestation, and enhanced climate resilience of vulnerable communities. The initiative facilitates peer-to-peer exchanges with other countries participating in the Green Belt initiative against the advance of desert in order to generate and exchange learning on the most successful and resilient ways of landscape restoration and of improving the local climate and water supply through forest restoration.
Partnership Facilitation
With support of the Global Environment Facility, the Global Snow Leopard & Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP) brings together all 12 countries where the predator lives and advocates for increased attention from the global community for the protection and recovery of the rare species in the world. UNDP has facilitated transboundary cooperation through the formalization of agreements between specially protected natures areas in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan[1], to conserve the snow leopard and its habitats in the Tien Shan Mountains.
In Ethiopia, UNDP helps to reduce the threats to wildlife, agro-biodiversity and forest ecosystems by enhancing the management of the country's Protected Area Estate and combating illegal wildlife trade. The initiative is facilitating cooperation with neighboring countries on illegal wildlife trade, including through the negotiation of international agreements, knowledge exchange with countries in the Horn of Africa, as well as Panama.
The attached flyer showcases UNDP initiatives. For more insights on UNDP’s work on South-South and Triangular Cooperation, visit the South-South and Triangular Cooperation Platform on SparkBlue or explore our latest initiatives via UNDP’s Data Futures Exchange (DFx).
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