Nine African heads of state, senior officials of pan-African and international organizations attended the opening of a high-level summit on drought and land restoration on Monday.
The summit, an initiative of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, was held on the sidelines of the fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, which is being held in Abidjan from May 9 to 20.
COP15, which is held under the theme, "Earth. Life. Legacy: from scarcity to prosperity," is a call to action so that the earth continues to benefit present and future generations.
"Our people have high hopes for us. We have no right to disappoint them. Let us act quickly, let us act together to give new life to our land," President Ouattara told his peers.
Presidents Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, Faure Gnassingbé of Togo, George Weah of Liberia, Mohamed Bazoum of Niger, Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mohamed Cheikh El Ghazouani of Mauritania, among others, were present.
"Our summit must be one of hope," said Ouattara, stressing that the impact of climate change on the land is acute in his country.
Amina Mohammed, UN Under-Secretary General, Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th UN General Assembly, and Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, also participated in the summit.
Calling on world leaders "not to cross their fingers" the UN Under-Secretary General stressed that it is essential to restore land, as "all countries are affected by land degradation and the advance of the desert due to climate change.
Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, said: "Land feeds us. The land provides the water we drink as well as the air we breathe. The health of our economy depends on the resources of the land. According to him, land degradation is not inevitable. "
On the sidelines of the summit, the Ivorian president launched the Abidjan Legacy Program to restore degraded forest ecosystems and promote sustainable land management approaches in the country, the world's largest cocoa producer.
"I am honored to announce that the African Development Bank will mobilize $500 million for the successful implementation of the Abidjan Legacy Program," said Kevin Kariuki, the Bank Group's Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth.
The Abidjan Legacy Program aims to mobilize $1.5 billion to boost long-term environmental sustainability in key value chains, while protecting and restoring forests and land. It also aims to improve community resilience to climate change in Côte d'Ivoire and sustainably increase the country's agricultural production.
"I would like to call on all development partners to support the program. Let us ensure that our present meeting opens up promising prospects for land and forest resources that benefit African populations," Kariuki stressed.
Resource mobilization
Last Thursday, during an audience with Ouattara, the Bank's President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, announced support of $746,500 for the organization of COP15. The Bank is supporting the "Africa Pavilion" set up at the venue of the event. It provides a platform for practitioners, experts and policy makers from all sectors and levels to share experiences and ideas on how to accelerate implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
Government officials, private sector representatives, civil society and other key actors from around the world are present at COP15. They will ensure that drought, land degradation and restoration are duly taken into account and discussed at the highest political level, with a view to improving the livelihoods of the people of Africa, a continent seriously threatened by the effects of drought and climate risks.
The conference builds on the Great Green Wall program and intends to offer a concrete response to the interconnected challenges of land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss as we enter the "UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration".
The COP 15 on desertification sets the stage for the COP27 climate conference in November in Egypt.
Contact:
Alexis Adélé and Romaric Ollo Hien, Communication and External Relations Department, media@afdb.org
