PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
US: UN officials call for restoration of ecosystems to reduce climate change disasters
New York, US (PANA) - Marking the World Day to Combat Desertification, UN officials Tuesday emphasized the importance of restoring degrading lands to avoid or soften the potentially disastrous impacts of climate change.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his message for the Day, observed annually 17 June, said: "Land degradation, caused or exacerbated by climate change, is not only a danger to livelihoods, but also a threat to peace and stability."
He noted that recovering land that is degrading will have multiple benefits, stating: "We can avert the worst effects of climate change, produce more food and ease competition over resources. We can preserve vital ecosystem services, such as water retention, which protects us from floods or droughts."
"And a comprehensive and large-scale approach to land recovery can create new jobs, business opportunities and livelihoods, allowing populations to not only survive, but thrive," Ban said.
On his part, UN General Assembly President, Mr. John Ashe, said: "As Member States continue efforts to elaborate a global development agenda beyond the Millennium Development Goals deadline of 2015, I encourage them to work together to mitigate patterns of desertification in order to meet the daily needs of the world’s inhabitants, especially to produce food."
Mr. Ashe said: "Climate change can profoundly alter the relationship between water and the land. The amount and quality of the land we have today will be very different from what we will have in the future."
"Unless we act swiftly to ensure all the land we have can withstand soil erosion and to prevent
the loss of underground fresh water and the intrusion of salt water into underground fresh water, we will not have enough arable land to feed the world’s population," he stated in a message."
He also stressed that "a land-degradation neutral world should be a global norm."
"Let us, the global community, pursue it relentlessly, because each flood, drought, landslide,
tornado, heat wave or coastal submersion robs us of an invaluable natural asset – productive
land," Mr. Ashem added.
Ms. Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD), said that climate change is changing the dynamic between water and the land.
She stated: "Our focus on the future impacts of climate change has blinded us to the crucial fact that the status of the land is already changing. Soil formation takes many years, but just one flood can sweep it all away."
She announced that many countries are also holding national events to mark the Day,
while several will name their Dryland Champions, local heroes who have made a significant
practical contribution to sustainable land management.
The theme of this year’s World Day is: "Land belongs to the future, let’s climate-proof it."
The UNCCD said that studies had shown that 24 billion tons of fertile soil are being eroded
each year, and 2 billion hectares of degraded land have potential for recovery and restoration.
-0- PANA AA/VAO 17June2014
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his message for the Day, observed annually 17 June, said: "Land degradation, caused or exacerbated by climate change, is not only a danger to livelihoods, but also a threat to peace and stability."
He noted that recovering land that is degrading will have multiple benefits, stating: "We can avert the worst effects of climate change, produce more food and ease competition over resources. We can preserve vital ecosystem services, such as water retention, which protects us from floods or droughts."
"And a comprehensive and large-scale approach to land recovery can create new jobs, business opportunities and livelihoods, allowing populations to not only survive, but thrive," Ban said.
On his part, UN General Assembly President, Mr. John Ashe, said: "As Member States continue efforts to elaborate a global development agenda beyond the Millennium Development Goals deadline of 2015, I encourage them to work together to mitigate patterns of desertification in order to meet the daily needs of the world’s inhabitants, especially to produce food."
Mr. Ashe said: "Climate change can profoundly alter the relationship between water and the land. The amount and quality of the land we have today will be very different from what we will have in the future."
"Unless we act swiftly to ensure all the land we have can withstand soil erosion and to prevent
the loss of underground fresh water and the intrusion of salt water into underground fresh water, we will not have enough arable land to feed the world’s population," he stated in a message."
He also stressed that "a land-degradation neutral world should be a global norm."
"Let us, the global community, pursue it relentlessly, because each flood, drought, landslide,
tornado, heat wave or coastal submersion robs us of an invaluable natural asset – productive
land," Mr. Ashem added.
Ms. Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD), said that climate change is changing the dynamic between water and the land.
She stated: "Our focus on the future impacts of climate change has blinded us to the crucial fact that the status of the land is already changing. Soil formation takes many years, but just one flood can sweep it all away."
She announced that many countries are also holding national events to mark the Day,
while several will name their Dryland Champions, local heroes who have made a significant
practical contribution to sustainable land management.
The theme of this year’s World Day is: "Land belongs to the future, let’s climate-proof it."
The UNCCD said that studies had shown that 24 billion tons of fertile soil are being eroded
each year, and 2 billion hectares of degraded land have potential for recovery and restoration.
-0- PANA AA/VAO 17June2014
