ENVIS Centre, Ministry of Environment & Forest, Govt. of India

Printed Date: Friday, March 29, 2024

Upcoming Event

APPEAL OF THE DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENT ON WORLD DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION DROUGHT 17TH JUNE 2019



Text Box: APPEAL OF THE DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENT ON WORLD DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION DROUGHT 17TH JUNE 2019                                       
 
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, 17th June, was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1994 (resolution 49/115). On that date, the same year, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification was adopted. States were invited to devote the World Day to promoting awareness of the need for International cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought, and on the implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification. It aims to promote community and ecosystem resilience while improving the human condition particularly in dry lands.
 
 
The 2019 theme for World Day to Combat Desertification is Let’s Grow the Future Together” as the world has become more and more fragile against the effect of a changing climate, the Convention must grow and be recognized as the authority and leader on achieving Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) and leveraging LDN as a stepping stone towards true land-based sustainable development beyond 2030. Sustainable land management is everyone’s business. Restore the productivity of over 2 billion hectares of degraded land and improve the livelihoods of more than 1.3 billion people around the world. World Day to Combat Desertification 2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), so this year's campaign can run under the slogan '25 Years – Let's Grow The Future Together'.
 
 
The World Day to Combat Desertification is a unique occasion to remind everybody that desertification can be effectively tackled, that solutions are possible, and that key tools to this aim lay in strengthened community participation and co-operation at all levels. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development declares that “we are determined to protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations”. Specifically, Goal 15 states our resolve to halt and reverse land degradation.
 
 
 
On this World Day to Combat Desertification day, I urge all to take responsibility for jointly hands with common people, International and non-governmental organizations and other interested stakeholders to move away from unsustainable land use and make a difference by investing in the future of land.
 
 

                                    Director of Environment