The Conference of the Parties,
Recalling decisions 23/COP.11, 19/COP.12 and 18/COP.14,
Also recalling decisions 19/COP.13, 22/COP.13 and 20/COP.14, Further recalling the 2018–2030 Strategic Framework of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, its vision for a future that minimizes and reverses desertification/land degradation and mitigates the effects of drought in affected areas at all levels, and strive to achieve a land degradation neutral world consistent with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, within the scope of the Convention and in particular strategic objective 1 to improve the condition of affected ecosystems, combat desertification/land degradation, promote sustainable land management and contribute to land degradation neutrality, and strategic objective 3 to mitigate, adapt to, and manage the effects of drought in order to enhance resilience of vulnerable populations and ecosystems,
Noting with appreciation the work conducted by the Science-Policy Interface in implementing the coordination activities included in its work programme for the biennium 2020–2021,
Welcoming the completion of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems,
Also welcoming the completion of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group I contribution “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis” and Working Group II contribution “Climate Change 2022: Impact Adaptation and Vulnerability” to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Mindful of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change decisions IPCC-L-3 and IPCC-LIV-4,
Recognizing the contribution of the Science-Policy Interface to all six of its coordination activities with other scientific mechanisms and welcoming the positive and productive collaboration of the partner organizations involved in each,
Also recognizing the service of both current and former Science-Policy Interface members on the Intergovernmental Working Group on effective policy and implementation measures for addressing drought under the Convention,
Further recognizing the contribution of the Science-Policy Interface to the quality assurance and the scientific review of the second edition of the Global Land Outlook and the Global Land Outlook working papers,
Having considered document ICCD/COP(15)/CST/4 and the conclusions contained therein,
1. Encourages Parties to carefully read and, as appropriate, disseminate the final report of the Science Policy Interface on policy-oriented recommendations resulting from the cooperation with other intergovernmental scientific panels and bodies.
2. Also encourages Parties to consider the adoption of sustainable land management approaches and technologies, including those that have been demonstrated to simultaneously address land degradation, promote climate change mitigation/adaptation, and contribute to conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and sustaining livelihoods in the implementation of, inter alia, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification national action programmes, voluntary land degradation neutrality targets, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change nationally determined contributions and national adaptation ICCD/COP(15)/23/Add.1 65 plans, and Convention on Biological Diversity National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, as appropriate;
3. Requests the secretariat and the Global Mechanism to collaborate with relevant intergovernmental, scientific and technical partners to explore options for the development of a technical guide series on integrated land management response options for ecosystems in drylands, taking into account national contexts and the interaction among land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change;
4. Also requests the secretariat to collaborate with relevant constituted bodies under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as relevant scientific and technical partners to produce a supplement to the national adaptation plan technical guidelines on promoting synergy between efforts addressing desertification/land degradation and drought, the achievement of land degradation neutrality and the process to formulate and implement national adaptation plans under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement;
5. Further requests the secretariat, the Global Mechanism and the Science-Policy Interface, acting within their respective mandates, subject to the availability of resources, to develop guidelines for Parties on the design of policy options that make ecological restoration attractive in terms of financial inclusion, social protection and adaptive safety nets and contingent finance and reserve funds to support land users, especially women, youth, indigenous people, and other vulnerable groups, to reduce the additional burden caused by the added cost of land degradation driven by climate change and human induced activities and processes;
6. Invites the Group on Earth Observations Land Degradation Neutrality Initiative and other technical and scientific partners to collaborate with the secretariat, where possible, on the development of methodologies to identify and map, at the global, national and local scales, areas which are likely to be more and less vulnerable to land degradation under various climate change scenarios, as well as areas showing signs of improvement due to restoration so that timely preventative initiatives can be implemented and returns on investments can be assessed;
