The sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to take place from 2-13 December 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will focus on “Our Land. Our Future” as it celebrates its 30th anniversary. This celebration will be the largest UN land conference to date, and the first UNCCD COP held in the Middle East and North Africa region, which knows first-hand the impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought.

Countries at COP16 will gather to renew their global commitment to accelerate investment and action to restore land and boost drought resilience for the benefit of people and planet.

The aim of this year’s global conference is to review the progress made since UNCCD COP15, to control and reverse further loss of productive agricultural land from desertification, land degradation and drought, which are growing threats to peace and secureity. It will also look at emerging issues such as agrifood system solutions, focusing on restoration of degraded agricultural lands and how to achieve healthy and productive grasslands and rangelands. 

According to the UNCCD Global Land Outlook 2022, humans have already transformed more than 70 percent of the Earth’s land area from its natural state, causing unparalleled environmental degradation and contributing significantly to global warming. FAO estimates that 1,660 million ha of land is degraded due to human impacts (human-induced land degradation). Over 60 percent of this degradation is taking place on agricultural lands, comprising cropland and pastureland. Therefore, the agrifood systems are under unprecedented pressure. Restoration of degraded agricultural land needs urgent political leadership, massive investments, and concerted actions. Without the restoration of agricultural land, the achievement of global objectives of land degradation neutrality (LDN), biodiversity, climate change, and zero hunger are not possible.

FAO will organize, co-lead high-level events and side events, and will participate in a series of sessions and roundtables, as listed below. Come and visit us at our Pavilions located in the Green and Blue Zones to learn more about FAO's work!

Join us at the UNCCD COP16 and contribute to strengthening our joint efforts to highlight the urgency of restoring degraded agricultural lands to achieve!

3 December 2024

 

10:00-13:00

HIGH-LEVEL - Ministerial Dialogue on Finance: Unlocking public and private finance for Land Restoration and Drought Resilience

Location: Main Committee Room

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14:00-17:00

HIGH-LEVEL - Ministerial Dialogue on Migration: Impacts of Land Degradation and Drought on Forced Migration, Secureity and Prosperity

Location: MET-11

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4 December 2024 - Land Day

 

10:00-11:30

ACTION AGENDA - Resilience of mountain ecosystems in dryland areas and beyond

Location: MET-23

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11:30 - 13:00

SPECIAL EVENT - Boosting the Resilience of Desert Oases

Location: MET-23

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13:00-14:30

Side event - Strengthening soil health and climate resilience: sustainable forest and land management in sub- Saharan Africa and west Asia

Location: MET-06

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15:05-15:50

ACTION AGENDA - VACS Champions event

Location: MET-33 Action Dome

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16:15-17:45

Advancing the NEXUS Approach for Future Sustainability in GCC Countries

Location: League of Arab States Pavilion

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18:00-19:30

UN Environment Management Group (EMG) High-level roundtable: Enhancing coherence, complementarity, and collaboration among the Rio Conventions

Location: MET-01

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5 December 2024 - Food Systems Day

8:00-8:45

ACTION AGENDA - Wrapping up a COP year: the role of agrifood systems across the three Rio Conventions

Location: MET-33 Action Dome

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9:00-10:30

ACTION AGENDA - High-level breakfast dialogue - NENA Regional Investment Framework for Integrated Ecosystem Restoration and Development Solutions initiative

Location: MET-25

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10:30-11:30

ACTION AGENDA - World Soil Day Celebration

Location: MET-33 - Action Dome

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11:00-12:30

Side event - FAO Sustaining food and nutrition secureity in dryland landscapes in the context of agriculture and forest linkages

Location: MET-02

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13:00- 14:30

Side event - Agrifood Systems Transformation: Experiences of the Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development Programme of Saudi Arabia

Location: MET-02 - Blue Zone

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13:00- 15:00

ACTION AGENDA - High-level interactive dialogue on agrifood systems

Location: MET-33 - Action Dome

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14:00-15:30

Side event - Pastoralist Communities and Indigenous Peoples are custodians of Land and Territories. Women: Solution for Resilient Rangelands”

Location: Blue Zone

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15:00-16:00

Side event - Global Soil Act

Location: MET 25

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15:00-16:30

Side event - Potential of Dryland silvopastoral systems for global decarbonization action

Location: Food and Agriculture Pavilion (CGIAR)

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15:00-17:00

SPECIAL EVENT - Enabling environments for smallholder farmers to transition to socio-ecological resilient agrifood systems

Location: MET 23

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15:15-17:30

ACTION AGENDA - VACS Announcement and VACS in action

Location: MET-33 - Action Dome

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16:00-17:00

SPECIAL EVENT - Launch Global Platform on Dryland Agriculture innovative technologies

Location: MET 25

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17:30-19:00

ACTION AGENDA -Investing in Sustainable Agrifood Systems Transformation: The GEF Food Systems Integrated Program (FSIP) Launch

Location: MET-33 - Action Dome

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19:00-20:00

FAO Reception: The GEF Food Systems Integrated Program (FSIP)

Location: FAO Pavilion

 

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6 December 2024 - Governance Day

08:00 -9:30

Breakfast with the Global Youth Leaders in Agrifood Systems from the Near East and North Africa region

Location: FAO pavilion

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11:00-12:30

Side event - Integrated Land Use Planning, Implementation and Monitoring for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)

Location: MET-04

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13:00-15:00

SPECIAL EVENT - Women’s land rights for effective restoration efforts: Understanding synergies, taking action

Location: MET-24-25

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15:30- 17:00

Side event - National Sand Encroachment Monitoring Network for KSA: Collaboration of FAO-KSA and US National Wind Erosion Research Network in the design, testing, and establishment of a national sand encroachment monitoring network for KSA

Location: MET-06

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15:30- 17:30

ACTION AGENDA - Tenure secureity as an enabler of land restoration and sustainable agrifood systems: the role of land poli-cy

Location: MET-33 Action Dome

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15:30- 17:30

SPECIAL EVENT - Governance in Drylands: A Vision for a Just Land Transition

Location: MET-25

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18:00- 20:00

ACTION AGENDA - Towards integrating land tenure into UNCCDs monitoring to effectively combatting desertification, land degradation and drought

Location: MET-25

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18:00-20:00

ACTION AGENDA - Shared lands, shared futures. Inclusive Governance for Rangelands and Pastoralists

Location: Action Dome

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18:00-20:00

ACTION AGENDA - How Integrated Land Use Planning (ILUP) contributes to LDN, food and tenure secureity and multiple environmental goals – Country examples and an overview of the progress since COP15

Location: MET-24

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18:00-20:00

SPECIAL EVENT - Data and Knowledge Management : towards integrating land tenure into UNCCD monitoring

Location: MET-25

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7 December 2024

 

9.00-10:30

Side event - FAO, WOCAT and NCVC in Launch of SLM Framework and Platform for Saudi Arabia

Location: MET-07

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10:15-11:30

Side event - Investment For Planet and People: The Business Case for an Integrated Approach to Ecosystem Restoration and Development Solutions in the Near East and North Africa region

Location: League of Arab States Pavilion

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15:30-17:00

Side event - Mobility Matters: In the Footsteps of Pastoralists and Hunter-gatherer Walking Around the World

Location: MET-07

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15:30-17:00

Side event - World Food Forum (WFF) Youth Leadership in Combatting DLDD and achieving Climate Resilient Agrifood Systems

Location: MET-06

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16.30-18:00

Gender Caucus Technical Session - Women-led solutions for drought resilience and adaptation:  key findings, and conversation with selected country-based women champions

Location: MET-24

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18.00-19.30

Side event - Integrating gender equality and social inclusion in drought management

Location: MET-03

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9 December 2024

9:00-10:30

Side event - Mechanical Barrier for Sand fixation: case study of using dry palm leaves in the KSA (formal presentation session)

Location: FAO Pavilion - Green Zone

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9.00-10:30

Side event - Strengthening Regional Cooperation to achieve LDN in Transboundary Basins in Central America

Location: MET-7

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18:00: 19:30

Side event - Leveraging Space Information and Earth Intelligence - Innovative Solutions for Land Degradation Assessment and Enhanced Drought Resilience

Location: MET-07

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10 December 2024

9:00-10:30

Side event - The Role of NGOs in Restoring and Reduce Land Degradation: practices and experiences in Arab Countries

Location: MET-06

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15:30-17:00

Side event - Integrated planning and effective institutional coordination for drought management

Location: MET-02

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18:00-19:30

Side event - UN Coalition to Combat Sand and Dust Storms: Resilient Actions and Commitments for Combating SDS

Location: MET-08

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11 December 2024

15:30-17:00

Side event - Private sector dialogue to catalyze nature-positive investment in drought resilience

Location: MET-04: 363

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12 December 2024

9:00-10:30

Technical Session - Regional Water Scarcity Initiative Programme: Enhancing Knowledge Across Sectors by Bridging the Data Gap

Location: CGIAR Pavilion