DESERTIFICATION, CLIMATE CHANGE POSE UNRIVALLED CHALLENGE TO HUMANITY, DEMAND

UNPRECEDENTED RESPONSE FROM ALL, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL TO MADRID MEETING

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Madrid, 12 September:

I send warm greetings to all participants in the high-level segment of the eighth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.  Allow me also to thank Spain for hosting this important Conference.

Your focus on the links between desertification and climate change is timely and pressing.  These twin threats interact with each other at a variety of levels.  They are two major manifestations of the same problem.  And together they seriously threaten our ability to reach the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are causing our world to get warmer.  We are already experiencing the impact of climate change, with adverse effects felt in many areas.  And for people living in dry areas, especially in Africa, changing weather patterns threaten to exacerbate desertification, drought and food insecurity.

Global warming is expected to lead to a further rise in the number of extreme weather events, such as droughts and heavy rains, which will have a dramatic impact on already weakened soils.  This trend will, in turn, worsen desertification and increase the prevalence of poverty, forced migration and vulnerability to conflicts in affected areas.  Conversely, concerted efforts to combat desertification -- by reclaiming degraded land, combating soil loss and restoring vegetation -- can help curb greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen the resilience of affected countries and build their capacity to adapt to climate change.

I have convened a high-level informal dialogue on climate change in New York for 24 September.  I expect that the dialogue, and your gathering today, will help build momentum ahead of upcoming negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention in Bali this December.

I am also heartened that the Intergovernmental Intersessional Working Group has completed a draft of the ten-year plan and framework to enhance the implementation of UNCCD.  Its adoption can help energize our seminal fight against desertification.

Desertification and climate change pose unrivalled challenges to humanity.  They demand an unprecedented response from all of us.  I hope your gathering will take the bold decisions needed to help advance this fight.

In that spirit, I wish you a most successful conference.

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For information media • not an official record