Side event at the Climate Conference (COP21) in Paris
UNU-LRT participated in a side event at the Climate Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, this week. The title of the side event was Desertification and Land Restoration – The Climate Connection. The side event focused on the challenges of land degradation, the goal of a land degradation-neutral world, the benefits of soil carbon sequestration and the importance of land restoration capacity building. UNU-LRT Director, Dr Hafdis Hanna Aegisdottir, gave a talk on the importance of training people to become change agents in order to combat land degradation, restore degraded land and mitigate and adapt to climate change. Ms Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of UNCCD, linked climate change and land degradation neutrality in her talk and emphasized the importance of land for us to be able to reach the goals of the other Rio conventions (CBD and FCCC) and for reaching the Global Goals. Others presenting at the event were Mr Sveinn Runolfsson, Director of SCSI and Dr Davdin Davgadorj from the Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the UN. The Icelandic Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources, Ms Sigrun Magnusdottir, gave opening remarks at the event, which was organized by the Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources of Iceland.
A recording from the event can be viewed here.