FAO along with other institutions will coordinate as of 1 July 2020 the United Nations Coalition on Combatting Sand and Dust Storms (SDS), an assembly of various UN bodies dedicated to facing the significant socio-economic impacts sand and dust storms may have on human health, agriculture, industry, transportation, water and air quality.

We spoke with Feras Ziadat, Land and Water Officer at FAO, who will be the focal point in coordinating the international Coalition, together with other FAO focal points from the Resilience Programme, Stephan Baas along with AbdelHamied Hamid from the Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa.

First of all, congratulations to you and the FAO focal points for this nomination. Tell us a little bit more about the Coalition, why was it created and what are its objectives?

Feras Ziadat: Sand and Dust Storms (SDS) occur with increasing frequency and intensity due to land use and climate change and have massive transboundary impacts on the environment, climate, health, livelihoods, agriculture and the socio-economic well-being of societies. Particularly in arid and semi-arid regions, SDS could severely and increasingly affect 151 countries in Africa, Asia, North America and Australia. Examples have shown that economic losses from a single SDS event can cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
In its recent resolutions, the UN has expressed massive concern about the growing threat of SDS, and warned that it may undermine the achievements of the SDGs in developing and developed countries.
In response to UN General Assembly resolutions, the UNCCD COP14 held in September 2019 in India, established a new key milestone: UNCCD Parties officially launched the UN Coalition on Combatting Sand and Dust Storms, committing the UN System to a proactive approach to combat SDS, and to enhance cooperation and coordination at global, regional and sub-regional levels on SDS.
In particular, the mandate of the Coalition as it was defined by the participating entities is as follows:

• Promote and coordinate a collaborative UN-system response to SDS.
• Facilitate exchange of knowledge, data and best practices among Coalition members to promote effective actions, including advocacy and funding initiatives.
• Facilitate dialogue and collaboration amongst affected countries and the UN system in addressing SDS issues collectively.
• Facilitate the capacity building of Member States, raise their awareness and enhance their preparedness and response to SDS in critical regions.

Why was FAO selected to coordinate the Coalition as of 1 July 2020?

In January 2018, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) invited the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to initiate an inter-agency process involving relevant entities of the UN system, to prepare a global response to sand and dust storms (SDS). The UNGA in its 73rd session (September 2018) welcomed the intention of UNEP's Executive Director to establish such an inter-agency network, having the potential to become a framework for medium- to long-term cooperation on SDS. The UNEP's Environmental Management Group (EMG) was requested, by initiative of the Executive Director of UNEP and the agreement of the EMG Senior Officials, to help establish, and provide preparatory support and coordination for the SDS Coalition and its emerging agenda. It was then agreed that the lead of the coalition will be rotated among the participating agencies.
Due to the growing threat of SDS to agricultural production, and FAO’s expertise on key issues related to SDS impact and source mitigation, FAO has been actively participating in the shaping of the Coalition. The importance of this phenomenon to FAO regional offices for example, the Near East, Asia and Africa, supported the intent to lead the Coalition for the coming two years.

What is the added-value that FAO will bring to the Coalition as coordinator and focal point?

Agriculture is one of the main anthropogenic drivers of SDS, but it is also heavily impacted by the hazard. Therefore, actions are needed to support the prevention and management of SDS in the agricultural sector. SDS can result in removal of fertile top soils, directly damaging crops, and negatively impacting livestock, and consequently increasing costs of food production and threatening sustainability of production and food security. The recent IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land issued in 2019 indicates that the “frequency and intensity of dust storms have increased over the last few decades due to land use and land cover changes and climate-related factors in many dryland areas, resulting in increasing negative impacts on human health in regions such as the Arabian Peninsula and broader Middle East, Central Asia”. Sustainable land use management practices in the cropping, livestock and forestry sectors offer a main strategic entry point for both source and impact mitigation.

As a member of the UN SDS Coalition, and based on several countries’ requests, FAO has been asked to take the lead in addressing SDS in agriculture. An inter-regional Technical Cooperation Program (TCP) was approved which will help to strengthen evidence-based understanding of the SDS phenomenon and its impacts on agriculture. The TCP takes into consideration the transboundary scale of the SDS issue and is aligned with the UN Coalition’s strategy. Based on the learnings from this TCP, an inter-regional programme will be designed and funding identified to catalyse a large-scale follow-up programme, for implementation together with the UN Coalition and the network of interested partners.

What links are there between SDS and the work of FAO in general and to the Land and Water Division in particular?

SDS is closely linked to FAO’s work on food security and nutrition, on sustainable natural resource management, climate change and resilience. Combating SDS assists countries in enhancing food security and resilience to risks and also in enhancing the livelihoods and well-being of rural people. SDS are linked to several topics that are related to sustainable use and management of land and water resources, such as sustainable land and soil management, integrated landscape management, land use planning and land cover changes, drought and water scarcity.

What areas will be prioritized during this coordination period?

The first priority will be to strengthen the Coalition work which started in September 2018 and to finalize the Coalition Strategy, the Coalition Action Plan, and the Coalition Governance framework.
The objective of this priority is to foster regional and inter-regional collaboration between SDS-affected countries and enhance visibility and raise awareness on SDS to catalyze global and regional actions that will support countries in facing the challenge of SDS and reducing their impact on agriculture, health and economic activities. The key is to facilitate sharing of knowledge and information, understand the source and impact, implement innovations to counter SDS in alignment with achieving FAO goals of food security and natural resources management, and ultimately to contribute to achieving the SDGs

For more information on the UN Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms and the key partners, please see the Terms of Reference.