Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) is hosting, from May 9 to 20, the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
This conference for biodiversity and food security brings together 197 countries including a dozen African heads of state, the continent being particularly affected by this serious phenomenon.
As the UN recalls in its statement, and at a time when 40% of the world’s land is degraded, “desertification is a global problem that affects the ecological security of the planet, socio-economic stability and sustainable development … This phenomenon is due to climate change and human activities that can lead to the deterioration of vegetation, aridification and land drought. Desertification threatens biodiversity and the populations that depend on the ecosystems of these territories.”
Drought will indeed be the “next pandemic,” the UN had already warned in June 2021.
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