WOCAT

The sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the UNCCD will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2-13 December 2024. The UNCCD is the world’s foremost platform for governments, businesses and civil society to come together and to discuss present-day challenges and chart a sustainable future for land. This year's COP will coincide with the Convention's 30th anniversary. WOCAT and partners will be present and will be announcing their contributions to sessions and side events soon. Stay tuned!

Uganda Landcare Network, an Organizational Member of WOCAT, is marking 10 incredible years of fostering SLM in Uganda! As part of the celebrations, the Mayor of Masaka City, Uganda, received the SLM Catalogue, a testament to ULN’s dedication to promoting land restoration and sustainable practices. This collection of SLM practices was compiled as part of the IFAD-funded project Scaling up SLM practices by smallholder farmers.

The UN Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference Baku - COP29 is carrying on, from 11 to 22 November.

The COP29 will be the venue for the commitment towards the multilateral climate system underway since the Pars Agreement to be tested, with a focus on climate finance goal, meaning negotiating realistic goals for what the public sector can directly provide and mobilise. Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices have the potential to mitigate climate change cost-effectively in numerous ways, fostering opportunities for environmentally sound circular economies to sprout.

WOCAT and UNICEF jointly conducted a training program for young leaders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on “Leadership and Advocacy for a Sustainable Environment,” in preparation for the upcoming UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. WOCAT provided participants with an in-depth understanding of land systems and their interconnectedness with climate change and poverty, the increasing and complex threat of land degradation, and the principles of SLM to combat land degradation, desertification and droughts.