The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling decisions 2/COP.13, 3/COP.13, 3/COP.14 and 13/COP.14 and their elements related to the voluntary land degradation neutrality target-setting process, as well as decisions 3/COP.14 and 16/COP.14 and their elements related to land-use planning,
Also recalling decisions 14/COP.13, 13/COP.14 and 2/COP.14 and their elements related to exploring and mobilizing innovative financing and support of the preparation of transformative projects and programmes,
Recognizing that Sustainable Development Goal target 15.3 has created strong momentum for the implementation of the Convention and that the setting of voluntary land degradation neutrality targets supports countries in achieving synergies with the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, contributing to the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), and mobilizing funding in this regard,
Noting the elements contained in documents ICCD/CRIC(19)/6 and ICCD/CRIC(20)/5 and their recommendations,
1. Invites Parties who wish to do so to refine their voluntary land degradation neutrality targets by ensuring that land degradation neutrality targets are specific, time-bound, policycoherent, quantitative, spatially explicit, gender-responsive and adequately integrated into planning frameworks;
2. Also invites the Group on Earth Observations Land Degradation Neutrality Initiative and its partners to support Parties in this effort by facilitating the use of Earth observation data and tools;
3. Further invites Parties participating in the Drought Initiative to translate the recommendations in their national drought plans and other policy instruments related to drought into concrete action on the ground;
4. Welcomes efforts by Parties to strengthen intersectoral collaboration at (sub)national, national and regional levels to ensure that the impacts/effects of desertification/land degradation and drought are prioritized in national development plans and other relevant sectoral plans (such as finance and planning, biodiversity, climate change, agriculture, energy, water, infrastructure development and disaster risk reduction, among other things) and to strengthen internal coordination with national focal points responsible for endorsing projects (such as finance and planning officials, Global Environment Facility operational focal points, Green Climate Fund national designated authorities as well as focal points for bilateral funding);
5. Invites developed countries and other Parties in a position to do so to provide substantial financial and non-financial resources to affected country Parties in order to strengthen the Convention implementation activities related to desertification/land degradation and drought, including capacity-building and the facilitation of technology transfer;
6. Requests the Global Mechanism and the secretariat, within their respective mandates and subject to the availability of financial resources, and in collaboration with relevant financial and technical partners in position to do so, to:
(a) Develop a methodology and conduct a needs assessment to determine the financial requirements for the implementation of the Convention, building on national reporting and on a voluntary targeting-setting exercise;
(b) Develop a time-bound strategy to increase fund mobilization based on this needs assessment to support the Parties in the achievement of the objectives of the Convention;
(c) Support the process of setting and/or refining voluntary land degradation neutrality targets, streamlining it with other Convention and associated processes, and integrating these targets into (sub)national integrated land-use planning frameworks in those country Parties that may wish to engage in this process;
(d) Support country Parties in creating an enabling environment at the national level to facilitate the Convention reporting process, the implementation of national drought plans or other policies related to drought, and the mainstreaming of land degradation neutrality in integrated land-use planning frameworks and national development plans;
(e) Develop the capacity of country Parties to improve intersectoral coordination with relevant sectors, policies and plans, such as those relating to finance and planning, biodiversity, climate change, agriculture, energy, water, infrastructure development and disaster risk management, among other things;
(f) Strengthen partnerships to accelerate the development of a geographically balanced project preparation pipeline, through a partnership model, to facilitate genderresponsive, large-scale integrated landscape investment programmes and flagship initiatives that support work on sustainable land management and drought resilience;
(g) Continue to support countries in promoting a paradigm shift in the way drought is managed and forge specific partnerships to mobilize technical and financial support for transformative projects and programmes on drought;
7. Also requests the Global Mechanism, within its mandate and subject to the availability of financial resources, and in collaboration with relevant financial and technical partners in a position to do so, to accelerate efforts to support private sector engagement and promote innovation through:
(a) Developing guidelines, standards and norms to support the private sector in integrating sustainable land use in their investment decisions;
(b) Identifying and promoting impact investment opportunities in sustainable land management with the private sector, including collaboration with the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund;
(c) Assessing the need with a view to developing and testing dedicated models for technology transfer through partnerships, including in the area of productive capacity for sustainable land management;
(d) Evaluating and, as appropriate, testing innovative drought financing models and instruments;
(e) Exploring pilot projects to evaluate the viability of innovative financing mechanisms;
8. Further requests the Managing Director of the Global Mechanism to report to future sessions of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention held in conjunction with the Conference of the Parties on progress made in the mobilization of resources for the implementation of the Convention
