History

UNCCD’s history can be traced back to the first United Nations Conference on Desertification (UNCOD), which adopted a Plan of Action to Combat Desertification (PACD).

Land degradation and desertification had been recognized as major economic, social and environmental concerns to many countries of the world.

However, in 1991, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) concluded that land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas had intensified.

Tackling desertification took center stage at the seminal 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) – also known the Earth Summit – held in Rio de Janeiro. The Rio Conference called on the United Nations General Assembly to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INCD) to prepare, by June 1994, a Convention to Combat Desertification.

In December of 1992, the General Assembly agreed and adopted resolution 47/188 on this matter, with the UNCCD being established 2 years later.

197 countries and the European Union are now Parties to the Convention. The Conference of the Parties (COP), which is the Convention's supreme governing body, held its first session in October 1997 in Rome, Italy.

The adoption of the Subregional Action Program for the Central Asian countries on Combatting Desertification within the UNCCD context.

UNCCD COP 12 advances integration of SDG target 15.3 on land degradation neutrality into the UNCCD framework.

At its thirteenth session in 2017, the Conference of the Parties (COP) adopted the UNCCD 2018−2030 Strategic Framework and encouraged Parties to apply it in their national policies, programmes, plans and processes relating to desertification/land degradation and drought. Further information is available here.

At UNCCD COP13 held in Ordos, China on September 2017, Member States agreed on a new global roadmap to address land degradation. The UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework is the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve LDN, with the aim of restoring the productivity of vast swathes of degraded land, improving the livelihoods of more than 1.3 billion people, and reducing the impact of drought on vulnerable populations.

10-year Strategic plan.

The 10-year Strategic plan and framework to enhance the implementation of the Convention for 2008-2018 outlined a clear vision to forge global partnerships to reverse and prevent desertification and land degradation. The strategic plan provided a worldwide framework to support the development and implementation of national and regional policies that contribute to the reduction of poverty.

The Convention celebrated its 30th anniversary on a large scale on the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought or DDD (17 June 2024). The global celebration took place in Bonn, where the UNCCD Secretariat is located.

The IRG also held a landmark meeting at the 10th International Symposium "Steppes of Northern Eurasia" (Orenburg, Russia, May-June 2024), dedicated inter alia to the 30th anniversary of UNCCD.

As a result of fruitful collaboration, the established regional association has provided an opportunity for countries belonging to different regional Annexes of the UNCCD (Central Asia — Annex II, the Russian Federation — Annex V) to exchange views, information, experiences, and best practices on issues related to the Convention.