Events

Side event at Conference of the Parties 14 to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 14)

From: 12.09.2019 to: 12.09.2019

The Secretariats of the Mountain Partnership and the Global Mechanism/UNCCD will be holding a side event at UNCCD COP 14 at the India Expo Centre and Market in New Delhi, India, on 12 September from 18.00 to 20.00 hours in Room MET 15.

The side event is titled, “Vulnerability to Food Insecurity in Mountain Regions: Land Degradation and Other Stressors”. The event includes a presentation and panel of the Mountain Partnership Secretariat (MPS), Global Mechanism/UNCCD and three country representatives/NFPs, followed by an interactive discussion among participants.

The side event at the UNCCD COP 14 will present the methodology, key findings and conclusions of the UNCCD and the MPS/FAO’s analysis of changes in vulnerability to food security in mountains between 2012 and 2017. The study analyses the impact of land degradation, climatic variability and other mountain stressors on food production and availability in rural areas. This analysis is linked to a previous FAO publication on the same subject; the updated study builds upon its predecessor by analysing the impact of key stressors of environmental and livelihood vulnerability in mountains.

Representatives of UNCCD and the MPS/FAO will provide an overview of the analytical framework and approach of the study, explaining how the considered mountain stressors (i.e. climate variability, land degradation, natural and artificial disasters, distance to food markets and areas with different levels of development) may affect vulnerability to food insecurity and where these stressors appear to be more intense. They will also depict the linkages of this study with the scope and objectives of SDG indicators 15.3.1 and 15.4.2, and will provide recommendations on how the results may assist countries in prioritizing actions and interventions to achieve land degradation neutrality and support local populations.

Representatives of three mountainous countries will provide context and details of pressing issues affecting mountain peoples and ecosystems in their respective countries, and how the information generated by this study may help in understanding and addressing these problems. 

Finally, participants will be divided into discussion groups to provide inputs and recommendations based on a set of discussion questions.

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