Joint Meeting of Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention & the Committee on Science and Technology - UNCCD COP17
Conferences
Date: 19 August 2026
Language: English
Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/es/asset/k1s/k1sbm804yt?lang=en
Transcripts available through this tool are created by using automatic speech recognition and are not official records nor official documents of the United Nations. Official records and official documents are available on the Official Document System of the United Nations.

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Speaker 1 [24:16]:

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.

We're about to start.


CRIC · Chair [24:51]:

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I call to order the fifth meeting of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention and the fourth meeting of the Committee on Science and Technology. It is my honour and pleasure to co-chair with the Chair of the Committee for Science and Technology this joint meeting of both committees. Before proceeding further, I would like to remind delegations to submit their credentials as soon as possible since the Conference of Parties will consider agenda item 1 entitled Credentials of Delegations at its meeting on Friday 21st of August. Further information is available in the journal of the conference. I invite the committees to begin their joint consideration of the agenda item entitled improving procedures for the communication of information as well as the quality and formats of reports to be submitted to the Conference of the Parties. The documents before the committees are listed in today's journal and on the UNCCD app. I now give the floor to the representative of the UNCCD to introduce the documentation under this agenda.


UNCCD [26:19]:

Thank you very much. Chairs, distinguished delegates, by decision two and four of COP16, the Conference of the Parties requested the Secretariat and partners to enhance the performance review and assessment of the implementation system, and continue supporting parties in strengthening their capacity to monitor the implementation of the Convention and prepare for the 2026 UNCCD reporting process. An update on progress made in this regard was presented at CRIC-23 in Panama. Double symbol document ICCD/CRIC-24/4 ICCD slash COP 17 slash CST slash seven provides a further update on support provided since December 2025, including through one partnership with regional institutions to the delivery of regional capacity building workshops and three enabling activities and medium sized projects funded by the Global Environment Facility. For the 2026 reporting process, the UNCCD Secretariat has established a decentralized support model through a network of support hubs and technical advisors. Coordinated by the Secretariat, these partners provide technical support, methodological guidance, capacity development, and context-specific assistance to help countries prepare high-quality and consistent national reports. By combining global methodologies with regional expertise and national priorities, these collaborative models strengthen countries' reporting capacities while promoting knowledge exchange, sound data interpretation, and the application of scientifically robust, context-responsive approaches tailored to diverse national and regional circumstances. This partner contributed to the organization of seven regional capacity building workshops, which strengthened understanding of the UNCCD reporting frameworks, enhanced countries' ability to use national and global datasets, and fostered peer learning. Overall, 344 participants from 155 countries took part in these events. These activities were made possible through financial support from the Global Environment Facilities and implementation support by UNEP under the Global Support Programme, as well as by in-kind contribution from the partners. JEF financing is supporting the 2026 national reporting process in more than 130 countries, including 113 countries through the UNEP implemented umbrella projects, and 21 countries through a dedicated FAO pilot project, ensuring broad support for the preparation and submission of national reports. Complementing these efforts, three GEF medium-sized projects are strengthening high-resolution data availability, knowledge, capacity, and implementation support to advance land degradation monitoring, planning, and reporting. The following interactive dialogue will focus on the partnerships and the support mechanisms enabling the 2026 reporting process. It will introduce the support hubs and technical advisors, highlight the value of this model and provide an opportunity for parties, observers and partners to exchange lessons learned, challenges and priorities for strengthening future reporting cycle and regional cooperation. Thank you, Madam Chair.


CRIC · Chair [30:22]:

I thank the representative of the UNCCD. We will now proceed with the panel discussion entitled Support Hubs for Reporting and Technical Advisors, Connecting Global Methodologies with Regional Expertise. I am pleased to welcome the representative of the Support Hubs for Reporting. Mr. Jang-Sung Lee, Global SDG15 Coordinator, International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals. Mr. Andreas Brink, Senior Scientific and Technical Project Officer, Joint Research Center of the European Commission. Mr. Kenneth Casera, User Engagement and Manager, AFRIC-JEO Secretariat Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development. Mr. Mustafa Mimouni, Director of the Technology, Information and Remote Sensing Department, Sahara and Sahel Observatory. Dr. Sahoud Laili Alowaili, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification. Ms. Andiswa Mhla, Digital Earth Pacific Program Manager, Pacific Community. And finally, Mr. Ronan Francis, Executive Director, Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management. Before calling on the panelists, I would like to remind the panelists of the time limit of seven minutes for presentation to allow as much time as possible for an interactive discussion. I now give the floor to Mr. Jongsong Lee, Global SDG15 Coordinator, International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals.


CBAS · Global SDG15 Coordinator · Jang-Sung Lee [32:42]:

Thank you, Chair. It's my pleasure to introduce the SEBAS on how to play the roles as the regional support hub for the UN SDG national reporting. So, so the CBAS is China based international agency, formerly established in 2021, based in the China Academy of Sciences. This aim to facilitate the implementation of the UN SDGs and also to support the UN global platform. by using the big data. I think this is the, we have international, the structure of the more than 200 students and 190 scientists and staff in the CBASS. And we also have international advisory committee, the 18 leading experts from the 12 countries. And CBASS has mainly the five missions. Firstly, we try to develop the SDG data infrastructure and the information and data products. Also, we try to provide the new knowledge for the SDG monitoring and evaluation. Also, in the past years, we tried to launch some satellite specific to the SDG monitoring and assessment. and also we try to establish a sync attack for the science technology innovation to promote the sustainable development goals. And the final one is the capacity development for the SDGs in the developing countries. And as the UNCTD regional support hub, now the CBAAS supports 17 countries in the East South and Southeast Asia the countries very glad I could see the many the uh our the the parties uh still here uh for the our the supporting the scope and uh the key activities in the the the past six months I think the first one is the regional capacity building, the workshop in the Yinchuan from the ninth to the 12th April in the this year. I think we work together with the FEO together to support more than 26 countries, the parties for the training and the capacity building for the national reporting. And the second activity is the ongoing technical assistance and help desk support for the countries we support. And the last one is we also try to develop the high quality, these products and online tools for the capacity building support for the parties we support. And in the future, I think just read them in the directions, the first one is the stress in the inter-regional exchange to connect the global knowledge with the local context enabling the faster peer learning, the practical adaption and locally ground implementation. And the second, we hope to adopt multi-objective approach to support coordinated action across the Rio the conventions, the CCD, the UNFCCC and also for the biodiversity to maximize the policy and implementation synergies. And the last, the direction is to develop and deploy the artificial intelligence based decision supporting tools for the land degradation neutralities. Improving the targeting, the scenario analysis, and evidence-based planning at national and sub-national levels. So that's all, thank you.


CRIC · Chair [37:22]:

Thank you very much, Mr. Li. I will now give the floor to Mr. Andreas Brink, Senior Scientific and Technical Project Officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.


JRC · Senior Scientific and Technical Project Officer · Andreas Brink [37:43]:

Thank you, Madam Chair. Dear colleagues, it's really a pleasure to be here on the podium with my colleagues from the support hubs to present our current experience as support hub. As the JRC, as the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, We serve as the support hub for the geographic Europe, covering 44 countries. What is the JRC? Who are we? What we do? We sit at the heart of science for policy. So the JRC is the European Commission's in-house science and knowledge service. We provide independent science for evidence making for supporting European Union policy at the European and international level. We have a very long standing relationship with the UNCCD. We are one of the producers of the land productivity dynamics information layer at the global scale. The JRC is responsible of two of the Copernicus services supporting the UNCCD we were one of the lead authors of the world Atlas on desertification and we supported and contributed to the good practice guidance and as I mentioned currently we are also serving as a support hub for geographic Europe you know acting as technical backstopping to the country parties So let me come to our current experience and what we have done so far. We have three pillars here on what we have achieved. First one is on capacity building. We organized a very successful in-person regional workshop in Antalya in Turkey, where most of the countries attended in person and some online. We had methodological theoretical sessions, but also a lot of hands-on sessions on the use of the tools like PRAIS4 and Friends Earth. Then we had several thematic webinars, including on the good practice guidance on soil organic carbon and so on. Next, after the workshop, we did, of course, several technical backstopping activities. We are basically the dedicated helpdesk for the national teams. We provided country-specific support on understanding the default data, on analysing how national data can be integrated into the reporting. A lot of this happened then bilaterally in a very interactive manner. Finally, we support of course also on the data, on the methods and the tools. Since we provide one of the global key layers, we support on the method behind it. We support on the method behind also the good practice guidance and on the soil organic carbon and on the other layers. Any issue then which came up with the specific country party, we try to solve as smooth as possible interacting directly also with the colleagues from trends.earth and the PRAISE4D team. Our final goal here is really to go beyond just the current activity talking about the data and the tools and the methods but really to build a long-term community around SDG 15.3.1 since you know, I think no country really gets there alone. We need to come together as a scientists, as the experts, as the experts and decision makers in the in the field. So summarizing our current main achievements, we had a lot of direct support to the national teams in the wider wider Europe, looking at the default data. how it fits to their purpose or how national data can be integrated into the reporting systems. Any issues or bugs sometimes also with the tools were raised very efficiently with the countries and with the team of trends.earth and PRAIS. And I think we started to build the first building blocks of a growing community on the practice on land degradation monitoring for the reporting process in our regions. What are the main three lessons learned so far? Of course, a joint common in-person workshop is very important to have at the beginning of the process. However, the one-to-one country-specific dialogue is really what makes the difference then, especially when the country has national datasets which they would like to integrate into the reporting. Global datasets are, of course, important. They are needed, especially where national data are lacking. However, national custom data enrich the reporting. but they require also careful methodological guidance to remain comparable in the context. And what is important is that we remain transparent about the methodology, about the tools, about the data we use, because this is the way then we build trust in the reporting. So let me close by coming to answering to the question on how integrated data ecosystems and Earth observation services help parties to improve the quality, the consistency and the usability of national reporting. In terms of quality, what is needed is certainly long-term data, but also consistent, reliable and validated Earth observation data. as those provided, for instance, by the Copernicus programme. So free and open data and services, which provide some of this baseline datasets where national data are scarce. In terms of consistency, of course, we need shared reference layers. We need a common methodology as the one described and agreed in the good practice guidance. to make results comparable across the parties and across the regions. And finally, in terms of usability, what is critical here is that data only matters if the countries can actually use them, if they can access them, if they are easy to use. And here we have open data and tools such as provided through the Copernicus Data Space ecosystem, like the tools trends.earth and praise for and this combined with regional technical support this turns then the data into information which then the countries can use and the last point here I would like to mention is that this actually it's not only for the UNCCD process the same data ecosystem can serve actually also under the CBD, under UNFCCC, since an open integrated data ecosystem is an investment for all three Rio Conventions. Thank you.


CRIC · Chair [46:06]:

I thank you, Mr. Brinks. I will now give the floor to Mr. Kenneth Casera, User Engagement and Manager, Afrigo Secretariat Regional Center of Mapping of Resources for Development.

You have the floor.


RCMRD · User Engagement Manager · Kenneth Casera [46:24]:

Thank you. Thank you, Chair. And it's indeed a privilege to share with us the amazing work that has been done so far, looking at when we first became part of this and to this far. So we are really grateful for this opportunity. And on behalf of my colleagues back at home, it's been a pleasant journey to be part of this. So colleagues, allow me to mention that 50 years ago the United Nation Economic Commission for Africa and then Organization of Africa Unity now the African Union established three centers in Africa to support mapping and one of them is the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development. The three centers for the north side of Africa that is CTRN, the Regional Center for Mapping up the north and then we have rectors for the West Africa and then the regional center for mapping of resources for development for the east southern part of Africa with the six interesting mandates and therefore 50 years down the line it's a privilege to share this particular information with all of us. So the action areas we support land administration and management, climate change and disaster risk reduction, ecosystem management, biodiversity and blue economy in data and innovation. The member states, colleagues, it's interesting to mention that beyond borders, 45% of the Africa population lives or resides in the east and southern part of Africa. And therefore, it's been a pleasure to serve the 600 million people in these particular countries and beyond borders. These are people, these are resources, these are stretch resources that I think there is a need for us to continue planning. and to make sense and to improve the quality of life in those particular countries. As a regional support hub, the center's done quite a lot. We support 18 countries, Angola to South Sudan. And we've managed to achieve the following so far. Apart from the feedback systems that are being availed to us by UNCCD, you can be able to reach out to the various colleagues for support. for those particular countries. We've conducted regional capacity building workshops in Dakar 18th to 21st and also in Nairobi 15th to 18th of June and this really made it interesting because we were looking at aspect of countries being able to access praise, countries being able to look at the data inside the system and make sense out of the data, countries being able to look at the national data they have and how that can be part and parcel of the process as well. As we are all aware, it's better for us to use the national datasets, but in case countries are not able to have that, then I think that has been provided for as well. And so it's been amazing to look at how do we update the various land cover datasets that we have and all the other datasets that are meant for us for the reporting. It's also interesting in the sense that ASIMAD is the help desk for GLDN. And this is part of the leverage process that we are working on to make sure that we are able to bring on board all the existing efforts on the ground. We've also conducted specific country seminars, virtual seminars with all the various countries to really help us to dig deeper into ways in which we can be able to support it. So we spent our July having meetings with the various countries to really look at their needs and how and the gaps to enable us to support them at those various needs. So what we've achieved so far, we've built capacity on use of praise, we've managed to leverage on GLDN and this is because they use the same data infrastructure, they also use the same certain information and so it's been amazing to look at how the interface has been. We're also supporting countries now to update their land cover maps to the national level. There have been technical exchange, peer-to-peer review among the countries and so I think they better understand the systems and how the reporting should look like and we hope to get a better report for this year's reporting. The being data validation and data gaps and needs that came from the various country specific seminars that we had and this is one of the things that led us to support the countries in updating their national land cover datasets. Also, we've managed to incorporate the land degradation status of the session at the forthcoming Africa group on other observation symposium that will be held in Nigeria. And so we are looking at a platform where Africa can sit and share the status of each country and this will also contribute to the peer-to-peer process that we are pushing through. Allow me to end the chair.


CRIC · Chair [51:36]:

Thank you very much, Mr. Casera. I will now give the floor to Mr. Mustafa Mimouni, director of the Technology Information and Remote Sensing Department of the Sahel and Sahel Observatory. You have the floor.


OSS · Director · Mustafa Mimouni [51:53]:

Thank you, Chair. So we are trying to summarize what we are doing at OSS in terms of supporting the countries for global method with regional expertise in Africa, but also through data platforms and services. So for OSS, we are international, intergovernmental organization with 28 African member countries, eight African sub-regional organizations and international partners, FAO and UNCC and civil society members. So our institutional mandate is structured around water, land, climate and biodiversity, and which is supported by foresight information management and capacity development. So we have been also appointed as UNCCD reporting support hub under the 2026 cycle and we expect to continue this collaboration for the next reporting cycle. And our support role is in court around earth observation, data services, decision support systems and national capacity strengthening. So the idea behind is that which is part of our mandate is to make the UNCCD reporting more comparable globally but still reflecting the national specificities, especially in the African context. So in terms of the case support activities in 2026, we started with two webinars for Anglophone and Francophone parties where we have more than 70 participants. The idea is to explain the new guidelines, what have been produced so far, and how we can start the collaboration with the partners. Then thanks to the US City but also to the RCMRD who uh we we work together to organize two Regional workshops the first one was in Dhaka in May 2025 2026 sorry and the second one is uh was in Nairobi uh in June so the idea is that we gather all the African countries African the national focal points plus the uh the the reporting officer to discuss about the the new updates in terms of approaches, but also how to deal with national data sets and how to be aligned with UNCCD guidelines. Then, uh, we are also working on, uh, with some country technical assistance like Niger, Togo, South Sudan, Uganda, Libya, Seychelles and Tunisia. And the idea is that very simple, uh, as long as a country as party send drop us mail, dedicated mail, which is reporting at oss.org.tn, we just, uh, set up the dedicated, webinar series and then we start working on the data and its alignment with the guidelines. And then we are continuing the backstopping, help desk, price connect, dedicated channels and advisory coordination. So the operational logic was starting with the supporting, training the trainers but also training the national teams, national consultants and then troubleshoot if they are facing any issues and then we help them also to the validation but also through the quality insurance. So the first lesson was that yeah in terms of data we are missing data we have international data sets but also we did our best as African institution to provide our OSS kit of indicators we are developing the land cover maps for 2025 19 and 20 uh 2023 sorry so to be aligned with the uncd goals but also the land land cover changes the the land productivity using 30 meters per resolution but also the carbon stock at the whole indicator so the idea is that to make available for non-expert in GIS and remote sensing all the data sets which are produced by OSS but not only The data which has been also produced by FAO, Voca, GRC and other technical partners are already there. We trenders also, they are already there. So for national consultation, they can use only the platform to see how things are going on and we can support later on if they see any anomalies or they want to overlay down the national datasets. Then also, uh, we are working, um, with RCMRD in synergy and complementary to, to, to strengthen this technical support. So whatever the RCMRD or OSS have been, uh, uh, involved, so we, we just support this, uh, these countries. And then, uh, the main lesson was that data is available, but it's not available. So we have, uh, land cover data sets, land productivity, et cetera, but it doesn't reflect the, the, the African specificities. And then sometimes the national data is spread over different technical institutions, which is a more challenging question. Then we have also some formal data sharing protocols which are not very flexible. So the idea is that stimulates the needs, stimulates the exchanges around the national constitution meetings with the stakeholders and then go beyond so that all the parties can share the data and can refine and fine tune the indicators. And what is appreciated is that the UNCCD has already started this process since last year with the training of trainers and it will continue even beyond, let's expect that to continue beyond the reporting cycle. So in our point of view as a regional organization, we can think about the regional data platforms could help harmonization first, accessibility and decision making, but the lessons what we learn is that We can put all the data together in one reference, making single point access for data sets, et cetera. But in the same time, we need to preserve the country ownership and data protection. We need to fine tune the indicators, but also we need to improve the comparability and focus on the data reliability. The second thing is that we need to invest in interoperability because reporting is about comparing the progress made towards the four years of reporting cycle. And then what we appreciate from other projects and initiatives that we are trying to build regional communities of practices for continuous learning beyond the reporting deadlines and also we think that it's relevant to think about how to continue the role of the technical centers beyond the reporting cycles so yes regional platforms should make the national evidence easier to access to compare to validate and to use but without replacing the owner the national ownership thank you so much.


CRIC · Chair [58:12]:

Thank you very much, Mr. Mimouni. I will now give the floor to Dr. Saoud Laithi Alrawaileh, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification. Please, you have the floor.


Saudi Arabia · Deputy Chief Executive Officer · Saud Laili Al-Ruwaily [58:33]:

It's my pleasure to be here, thanks a lot for this opportunity. I'll be talking today about our experience as NSCP with reporting with 16 different countries. First, I'm working for the NSCP, which is the mandate of the agencies is conserve and preserve vegetation, combat desertification, and monitoring plant diversity. and other things. To achieve this objectives, we have strategies, comprehensive monitor survey, assist current state of desertification and assist plant invasive national drought plan and rehabilitation of degraded lands. Also, the NCPC works in all international and regional initiatives on combating desertification and drought resilience led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia like the G20 Middle East Green Initiative, Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, also with the UNCCD COP16. Main activity of the NCPC and regional support hub of the UN CBD under the 2026 reporting process. We have a problem actually in the arid and in fire and hybrid arid ecosystem with the because there is a sparse vegetation. It's very difficult to assess the parameters such as land productivity, vegetation cover, soil carbon content. So what we did in the NCCV, our team, they survey all the countries, field survey, plus satellite imagery they use, 10 meters scale. And they use all the three UNCCD three methods, 2021, 2026, FAO, Wocat. And this is the first time that a field survey very truly throughout the kingdom is being used. 16 countries was trained by the NCVC and most of them fall within the arid and semi-arid environment. What we did first, we organized five online training sessions that provide an overall on reporting requirement to the five strategy objective, explain the feature of the price for workable. All country presented efforts in meeting reporting requirement and challenges. All sessions were recorded. presentation and also recorded and shared with all participants about 40 to 50 participants attend each online session then in June 2026 there is on there is a a training uh where they came to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia for three days they share uh field work The focus of activity will demonstrate reporting for the strategy objective, practical exercise working to involve all participants, live broadcast of all in-person session. About 30 participants attended in-person session. All countries presented effort toward combat desertification and drought on World Desertification and Drought Day. After the training, the NCBCE kept in touch with all the participants in the countries. In addition, there is a dedicated expert who are assigned to provide technical and logical support to each individual country. Shared information between support hubs and countries was available instantly. Review and implementation of information prepared by each country is presently in progress. So what approaches and innovation have been proven most effective on supporting countries focus facing hybrid arid condition? As I said, we use all the three methods of the UN CDCDD, the 2021, 2025, FAO, WOCAT. In addition, we use the field survey, we use the 10 meter scale of the satellite photos, what we found that 2025 works better in arid and semi-arid environment. This work is still going on. We have an international expert we are working with. Some of them are known for the UNCCD and we hope that our result will be coming within six to one year to be published in a report. As I said, there is there was five webinar words most effective in identifying the technical gaps and understanding reporting requirement before in person training workshop, training materials and video recorded enable participant to use as ready reference working relationship strengthening after in person training between technical expert of of regional support hub and concerned stakeholder in member countries. Thanks a lot.


CRIC · Chair [1:05:34]:

Thank you very much, Dr. Saud Laili Al-Ruwaily. I will now give the floor to Ms. Andiswa Mlisa, Digital Earth Pacific Program Manager, Pacific Community. You have the floor.


SPC · Digital Earth Pacific Program Manager · Andiswa Mlisa [1:06:03]:

Thank you, Chair. And thank you to the UNCCD Secretariat for inviting SPC to contribute to this panel. It is a pleasure to share our Pacific experience as one of the UNCCD support hubs for the 2026 reporting. SPC or Pacific community is the principal scientific and technical organization in the Pacific region. We are owned and governed by our members and we work across many sectors. We work across many sectors from land, agriculture, climate to ocean, data, statistics and governance. Through the Digital Earth Pacific, one of SPC's integrated programs, we provide shared earth observations infrastructure decades of satellite data, technical expertise and capacity building to Pacific Island countries. This allows us to bring data, sector knowledge and country priorities in ways that support decision making and sustainable development. SPC is the UNCCD support hub. During the 2026 reporting cycle, SPC is supporting 14 Pacific countries in the region. We help the countries understand the reporting requirements, access and assess available data, use tools such as the PRAIS4 and the Trends Earth, and development of national voluntary targets. So the key activities and achievements to date, As we have supported through multiple channels, we participated in the UNCCD convened original capacity building workshop in Rarotonga, Cook Islands in April this year. And we used this as also an opportunity to hold bilateral discussions with each and every country. We've established a support hub help desk to check requests from countries from first contact up through to resolution of the support that's requested. We hold recurring regional webinars. This is aimed to encourage peer learning and also share progress on reporting. We have also delivered targeted national training. An example of this is a five day virtual training for Solomon Islands that was focused on the reporting tools and the LDN indicators that we held early in July. In addition, we've developed practical guidance products, including consultant terms of reference templates, inclusive consultation guidance and other materials as countries put their requests forward to us. Data suitability is an ongoing technical assistance where we're looking at the validation and data needs and gaps assessment. The question for SPC has been how can reporting support mechanisms be better tailored to the specific challenges and priorities of small island developing states? There's maybe five points that I would like to highlight in our reflection on this. One is the data needs to fit, be fit for the islands. So global data sets are very essential as we all know, but they do not always capture the realities of small islands. For some Pacific countries, a single pixel can represent large proportion or even an entire island feature. This is why high resolution national data sets are often necessary if reporting is to accurately reflect conditions on the ground. The second is to simplify and accelerate support. Countries value the reporting assistance, but support is most effective when it arrives early. Many Pacific administrations have small teams and often the same people have multiple responsibilities. So early access to funding and simple administration processes would allow countries to undertake reporting in a more consultative and nationally owned manner. We also need to connect reporting to implementation. Countries do not report to meet, to simply meet the obligations as we know. They report because they want to improve land management, restore ecosystems, and build resilience. When countries are implementing land degradation neutrality activities between the reporting cycles, they are also generating better information for future reporting. So we can say better implementation leads to better data, better data leads to better reporting. We also need to recognize the realities of geography. Pacific countries are spread across vast oceans, often with small technical teams and high travel requirements. Field validation and consultations require time and resources. Reporting models and timelines therefore need to recognize the realities geographically dispersed island states face. And lastly, to strengthen partnerships. Regional institutions such as Pacific Community and the rest of the panel members here, bring trusted relationships, technical expertise and regional context. Global networks such as the Group on Earth Observations bring access to innovation, methodologies and specialized expertise at the global level, as we have seen with the GEO-LDN toolkits. When these capabilities are connected, countries receive more coordinated support and can better address reporting needs across the Rio Conventions and other frameworks such as the Sendai. So for the SPC in participating in this support hub, this model has demonstrated the value of linking global methodologies and expertise with regional expertise and national priorities. Looking ahead, We could say our collective objective should be to ensure that the reporting is not only about submitting reports, but also about helping countries guide action, mobilize investment, and advance land degradation neutrality on the ground. Thank you, Chair.


CRIC · Chair [1:12:43]:

Thank you very much, Ms. Melissa. I will now give the floor to Mr. Ronan Francis, Executive Director of the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management.

You have the floor.


PISLM · Executive Director · Ronan Francis [1:12:57]:

Okay, thank you chair. Um to this, well, this afternoon, I just want to briefly share with the audience our co-production between the countries, PISLM and our technical partners, Apachetta, help to strengthen national ownership and improve the quality of the data that is built and leads to a more sustainable reporting. Now, just to touch a little bit on who PISM are So we are a intergovernmental organization in the Caribbean sanctioned by Caricom. And our aim is to further SDG fifteen with particular emphasis on on land degradation neutrality. And we function more to coordinate in terms of policy and practice. And strengthen capacity throughout Caribbean seats. And we tend to share these experiences with our global seats partners. Now, we believe that countries that that build data tend to own the report. Currently, we are working with 13 countries within Caribbean and our focus really is to bring that collaboration and that unity when where the reporting is concerned. Now we know that global methodologies are really essential for consistency and compatibility but they don't always capture the peculiarities and the particular circumstances on the ground for small islands. So data development and institutional capacity building and national circumstances can differ especially in our small islands. So it's important for us to support these countries in terms of bringing all of those points to the floor and ensuring that the production of these data sets and and the technical output is sound. So our objective really here is therefore not simply to to complete the reporting but to also strengthen the country's ability to understand and validate and use the evidence ehm behind that report. So in our Caribbean seats, the area is a partnership that we would have, would have developed between ourselves, our and the countries. And each partner has its particular role to help to deliver on the reporting and to strengthen capacity. Um in our 13 countries that we work with. So PISLM we provide that regional coordination among the countries. And we convene national focal points, the technicians, the stakeholders, and we facilitate dialogue among the countries. so that we can maintain that momentum throughout the reporting cycle and after. A Pachetta brings to the table their technical analysis. Um they have a lot of experience in high resolution land cover, data products and PIS element have been developing or co-producing new LPD data products as well and other tools to compare the data products available to the countries and those that we are working with. so that they can make sound decisions. Now the countries, they remain at the center. So the national experts, they they review the information, they test this data against the national conditions on the ground. They identify the issues and they determine what is the appropriate national circumstance for them and and the quality of their data. But most importantly that I want to emphasize is that the countries are the ones who make the final decisions. We are only the technical support and providing that backstopping. So, as it regards to the the co-production of the data and on the screen here we have an example. Um this is Sin Kits. So firstly countries are allowed to ah um assess their global data. their default data sets and determine whether or not they are adequate enough and they reflect the national conditions for their small islands. Further to that, we as a technical group we support in terms of comparing and refining those data sets. So where necessary the national data sets and the technical models and the outputs are compared and we assist the countries in understanding the differences, the assumptions and the implications of the available options. But in the end, it is the countries that again needs to validate. Thus far, we have done validation workshops in five, five of the nine countries that have completed using new LPD products out of the thirteen and in particular here the the the cases in kids they had two data sets to choose from. So they had the national team and they identified the ML 30 LPD data set from 2001 to 2015 and also the customized data product that we developed between ourselves and Aparcheta. Um however, you know, there were some areas that were showing some false positives across the the the mapping and we were able to work with the country to iron out these misclassifications, we would have gone on the ground with the national team and did some manual digitization so that we could have reclassified the map and have something that is more stable and that was co-produced and would be inputted into the report. So why this strengthened an ownership of the collaboration between ourselves um, and the countries. For one, it first, it's, it builds national capacity and that is something that we are encouraging. So, national exports, working on the data themselves, they tend to have a deeper understanding of the praise process, the indicators, the data sets, the technical methodologies as well, which underpin the reporting and that is quite important so that the countries can start to own the process. Second, it strengthens the institutions. So the national working groups, the custodians, the GIS units, we help to connect because it sometimes you may consider our islands are small. But even within those small spaces, that connectivity is not always there. So we help to connect all of the major players, the institutions, and to ensure that that knowledge is shared, it's built, and not lost between reporting cycles. Thirdly, we want to ensure that we create reusable data. So the data, the data sets that are developed and validated through the process can maintain, can be maintained and used beyond the UNCCD reporting cycle and this is where we refer mostly to, you know, our conventions and being able to reuse those data sets in our other national activities. So national capacity and institutional memory must be maintained and the evidence that is there needs to be usable for the long term. So finally three commitments that we think that are essential for the furtherance of the reporting and the building among our countries. First we need to sustain regional support. and the regional technical hubs that have made their presentations here today, PISLM, one of them, we need to encourage more peer learning among the help desk and we should continue the reporting and the dialogue beyond the reporting cycle. So countries should not have to rebuild their technical capacity every time there is a reporting deadline. So that continuity needs to flow beyond the submission of of the the praise reports. We also recognize that there needs to be more investment into national data systems. So we need to strengthen the national data custodians, validate the mechanisms and institutional capacity. So not simply finance and production of the reports but going forward and deeper into the process. And finally we need to make the praise build one platform that services across all your conventions. So the same data that is produced under this praise reporting cycle could be used under the CBD or the UNFCCC process where this this data can inform decision making surrounding ecosystem services and all the other activities. So as I opened it's important to build confidence and an institutional memory among the systems so that they can endure beyond the reporting process. So, as I said, countries that are involved in building the data tends to to own, own the report. And when countries own the data, they are better positioned as we have seen in the Caribbean to maintain it, to use it, and to make decisions for the longer term. Thank you, chair.


CRIC · Chair [1:22:40]:

Thank you very much, Mr. Francis. And I wish to thank again all of the other representative of the support hubs present today for their presentation. We will now hear interventions from representatives of the technical advisory institutions supporting the 2026 UNCCD reporting process. I request each representative to limit their intervention to two minutes maximum. I now give the floor to the representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. You have the floor. Please give the floor to 256.


UNDP [1:23:41]:

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is UNDP. May I go ahead?


CRIC · Chair [1:24:15]:

I now give the floor to the representative of the FAO please.


FAO [1:24:22]:

Hi, thank you Madam Chair, thank you for the technician also. Thank you for the opportunity to address the audience. FAO through this reporting cycle has been acting as technical advisors, support hub and JF implementing agency in close coordination and cooperation with UNCCD and partners. Through this effort, FAO has supported the enhancement of the overall quality of the report and specifically on SO1 and SDG 15.3.1. FAO has also contributed to strengthening the national land stewardship through participatory process and co-design analytical tool. And FAO has facilitated and reinforced peer-to-peer exchange amongst country. As technical advisor and support hub, FAO has co-organized the regional capacity building and peer exchange for Annex III and contributed to the regional capacity building workshop for Annex II while also providing support through the PRIS Hubdesk. As GEF implementing agency, FAO is providing direct support to 21 countries under the pilot project for GEF8 enabling activity for enhanced data and reporting. FAO support enabled early engagement with country well ahead of the in-country project operationalization. This Tailored technical backstopping and in-depth training delivered results. By July 2026, 50% of the countries supported had completed their SO1 reporting process with data ready to be uploaded. More importantly, this participatory and flexible approach has strengthened national ownership of results and greater use of national data. In this way, FAO contributes to robust, country-driven and country-tailored approaches that are pivotal for effective land degradation neutrality policy, programmes and projects, well beyond reporting. In closing, FAO reaffirms its commitment to this reporting cycle and future ones, We will continue to draw on our technical expertise and our extensive network of decentralized offices to support UNCCD parties. FAO would like to express its appreciation to the UNCCD Secretariat, the parties and partners, including the other support hubs, for the true spirit of partnership mutual learning and experience sharing.

Thank you.


CRIC · Chair [1:27:33]:

Thank you very much to the representative of the FAO and sorry again for the technical difficulties. I will now give the floor to the representative of the European Space Agency on behalf of Group on Earth Observations Land Degradation Neutrality Initiatives. I think you're speaking from the microphone 270. Oh, we have you.


ESA · GEO-LDN · GEO-LDN Co-Chair [1:27:57]:

Thank you. I would like to thank the chair and the panelists for their insightful presentations. As representative of the European Space Agency and GEO-LDN co-chair, I'm giving this statement on behalf of GEO-LDN. We would like to highlight once again the tremendous opportunity that Earth observation offers for supporting the implementation of the Rio conventions. However, the challenge today is no longer only about data availability. The value of Earth observation is not only measured by the quality of the data provided, but by how effectively these data reach countries and support implementation through trusted regional partnerships. This is where regional support mechanisms become essential. Regional institutions understand the local context, can provide continuous technical assistance and help countries build long-term capacities beyond individual reporting cycles. In response to decision 2 COP16, GEO-LDN has enhanced its collaboration with regional institutions, initiatives and organizations to provide data and technical support to parties, For example, through its regional dialogue forum in the Pacific and its global dialogue forum. It creates a bridge between the Earth observation community, regional technical institutions and the needs of countries implementing the Rio Convention. GeoLDN, under the umbrella of GEO, provides an opportunity to better coordinate existing capacities and initiatives, helping countries navigate the growing ecosystem of Earth observation services while avoiding duplication of efforts. This coordination is particularly important as many other observation datasets and services can support not only the UNCCD, but also the implementation and reporting requirements of the other Rio Conventions. Looking ahead, we see great potential in the coordination network of regional support hubs by combining regional expertise with capabilities of Earth observation community. Thank you.


CRIC · Chair [1:30:13]:

Thank you very much to the representative of the European Space Agency. I will now give the floor to the representative of the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies, WOCAT.


WOCAT [1:30:30]:

Thank you, Madam Chair. It is a pleasure to speak on behalf of WOCAT and the Center for Development and Environment of the University of Bern. First, I would like to thank the UNCCD Secretariat, particularly the STI unit and the support hubs, the parties and our fellow global technical advisors for the excellent collaboration throughout the still ongoing 2026 reporting process. What gives us the greatest satisfaction is seeing approaches that we in WOCAD have advocated for together with the parties for many years now being embraced and scaled up. For WOCAD, reporting is not an end in itself. It is an opportunity to buy to build national capacities, strengthen institutions, connect science with policy, and ultimately move from data to decisions. We have long championed a very simple principle. Global methodologies must be scientifically robust and transparent while remaining flexible enough to recognize national data, national knowledge, national capacities and national priorities. Country ownership is essential in the reporting process. We have translated this principle into concrete guidance. Two key publications were recently co-produced and published with the UNCCD. the land story and the addendum to the good practice guidance for SDG 15.3.1. The addendum strengthens guidance on participatory approaches and the use of national data for mapping land condition. And for the first time, it provides an open methodology to assess the balance between degradation and improvement. and therefore actually track progress towards LDM. But guidance alone is not enough. WOCAT has been working with the support hubs and directly with countries to build the capacities needed to put these approaches into practice. WOCAT and CDE have invested significant effort in making this possible. Much of this work has been supported through CDE and WOCAD's own core resources because we do believe that this process matters. And this is also why global technical advisors are important. While diversity and regional national contexts must be recognized, UNCCD reporting also requires a common and coherent global approach. Technical advisors help provide that bridge. Our role extends well beyond developing and explaining methodologies. We help translate global guidance into regional and national contexts, connect institutions and experiences across countries and regions, respond to emerging technical challenges, and ensure consistency while maintaining the flexibility needed for country ownership. Looking ahead, We therefore encourage parties to recognize and strengthen the role of not only the support hubs that are in the plenary, but also of us, the global technical advisors in the current and future reporting processes. If reporting becomes a learning process rather than simply a reporting exercise, we are not only measuring progress towards LDN, we are helping parties achieve it. Thank you very much.


CRIC · Chair [1:35:03]:

Thank you very much to the representative of WOCAT. I will now give the floor to the representative of APACHETA. You have the floor. Speaking from microphone 276, I think.


APACHETA [1:35:37]:

Thank you, Chair. It is a privilege to be here on behalf of Pacheta Foundation. I would like to thank the Secretariat of the UNCCD, the support hubs, the technical advisors, and all our colleagues for creating this space for collaboration. APACHETA is the smallest organization in this network. We are a young nonprofit, but not new to this work. We were born from many years of collaboration with UNCCD and many of the institutions that are present here and our partners in developing practical solutions for countries working on land degradation neutrality. One area where this joint work has been particularly important is in the SEEDS context. Together with PISLM, Conservation International and Cebas, we have developed high resolution land cover maps and land productivity dynamic map, both key indicators for this reporting process. What has been most encouraging is seeing countries take ownership of this data, use it beyond reporting. This is exactly what we believe technical innovation should enable, putting information and tools into the hands of countries so that they can make better decisions. Our work with PISLM in the Caribbean Seas has shown has shown us how powerful this approach can be. And it points to the importance of longer term programs that can provide continuity and capacity development between reporting periods so that technical work translates into actions and does not stop when reporting cycles ends. Through our role as technical advisors, APACETA was able to support countries in several regions in coordination with different support hubs using methods first developed for SEEDS, helping non-SEEDS countries report at high resolution for the first time. We are also supporting the UNCCD Reporting helpdesk here at COP17, you will find us in Pavilion C and in seats pavilion if you have any further questions. We may be a small organization, but our experience is clear. This is not a process any one institution can deliver alone. The way forward is through partnership, is country driven, and APACETA stands ready to keep contributing to that effort. Thank you, Chair.


CRIC · Chair [1:38:39]:

Thank you very much to the representative of APACHETA. And now I will give the floor to the representative of Conservation International. You have the floor.


CI [1:38:50]:

Thank you, Madam Chair. Conservation International has been honored to support the convention since 2016 by developing geospatial tools, data, and methodologies that assist countries. in monitoring land condition, assessing SDG indicator 15.3.1, and advancing the goal of LDN. In the current reporting cycle, Conservation International is pleased to serve as technical advisor supporting the UNCCD Secretariat, the regional support hubs, and country parties in the application of Earth observation data and geospatial analytical tools. In addition, we've been pleased to collaborate with GEO-LDN flagship to respond to decision 20 COP15 by developing a report on incorporating climate futures into LDN planning. We deeply appreciate the decisions, requests and invitations from parties through the UNCCD, including the invitation for Conservation International to continue enhancing the trends.earth platform and to address technical issues identified in the previous reporting cycles. Through a GEF8 funded project, Conservation International is leading the development of 30 meter spatial resolution datasets for all small developing states. In close collaboration with the regional support hubs, we have contributed to four capacity building workshops for the 2026 reporting cycle, providing technical support to national focal points and experts from approximately 90 countries. As global coordinator of the GEF8 Ecosystem Restoration Integrated Program, Conservation International is supporting 21 countries in advancing restoration and LDN growth. ERIP is helping drive the restoration of approximately 1.7 million hectares while advancing implementation of UNCCD strategic framework. And as countries prepare their next round of indices, Conservation International is providing tools and technical support to help ministers set finance-ready nature-based targets through 2035. Conservation International remains committed to supporting UNCCD, its country parties and partners in delivering timely, consistent and high-quality national reporting.

Thank you.


CRIC · Chair [1:41:13]:

Thank you very much to the representative of Conservation International and I thank all the representatives of the technical advisory institutions for their contributions. I will now give the floor to the Chair of the Committee on Science and Technology to conduct the exchange with Parties and observers.


CST · Chair [1:41:35]:

I thank the Chair of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention. It's a pleasure to co-chair this joint meeting with you. Participants are advised that the floor is now open for comments and questions by parties and observers. Participants wishing to take the floor are requested to press the microphone button now. We will proceed to hear statements from the floor. I give the floor to the representative of Liberia.


Liberia [1:42:08]:

Thank you, Chair. At the outset of this first time since we're taking this floor, the Libyan delegation wishes to express appreciation to the government and people of Mongolia for the warm hospitality extended to our delegation since we arrived in this beautiful city of Ulaanbaatar, and to the COP presidency, the UNCCD Secretariat, and all parties for the constructive manner in which the work of this conference is being conducted. Liberia aligns itself with statements made on behalf of the African Group and wishes to offer a few additional observations in our national capacity on this important agenda item. Chair, Liberia welcomes the continued efforts to improve the quality, consistency, and usefulness of national reporting under the Convention, including through PRAIS IV, regional support hubs, Earth observation, and strengthened technical assistance for Liberia. However, national reporting must be understood as more than a periodic obligation under the Convention. It should also be an investment in lasting national capacity. The resources, technologies, and technical assistance provided for reporting should leave countries with stronger institutions, trained national experts, improved geospatial datasets, and functioning monitoring systems that can continue to support land use planning, restoration, drought preparedness, and national development long after a reporting cycle has ended. In this regard, Liberia wishes to emphasize three points. First, nationally reported information and official national reports must remain under the authority of parties. Global and default datasets are valuable, particularly where national data gaps exist, but they should support and complement, not replace, technically sound and nationally validated information. Second, the increased application of GIS, earth observation, cloud technologies and artificial intelligence presents tremendous opportunities for implementation of the Convention. However, these technologies must be accompanied by sustained capacity building, technology transfer and institutional support for affected developing country parties. Our objective should not simply be to give countries access to externally generated information. It should be to strengthen their ability to generate, validate, interpret, and apply that information themselves. Third, Chair, improved reporting requires adequate, predictable, and timely financial support. Delays in accessing enabling resources inevitably affect National consultations technical analysis data validation and ultimately the quality and timeliness of national reports Liberia therefore supports strengthening Regional support hubs African technical institutions South South cooperation and peer learning while ensuring that these mechanisms remain responsive to National circumstances and needs cheers as we consider the future reporting architecture of this Convention, Liberia believes that one principle should guide us. Reporting should not only measure implementation, it should strengthen our capacity to implement. A successful reporting system should therefore leave every reporting country better equipped to manage its land, understand its vulnerabilities, and to make evidence-based decisions for its people. The Republic of Liberia stands ready to work constructively with the CRIC, the CST and all parties toward a reporting system that is scientifically robust, nationally owned, adequately supported and genuinely useful for national decision-making and implementation. Chair, I thank you.


CST · Chair [1:46:42]:

I thank the representative of Liberia. I now give the floor to the representative of Argentina, followed by Uganda and Algeria. Can we give the floor to Argentina, please?


Speaker 34 [1:47:18]:

Okay.


Argentina [1:47:20]:

Thank you.

Gracias, senor.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Madam Chair of the Creek as well. Argentina should also like to thank the institutions represented in the panel. Thank you to those who took the floor before. All of you have made a great effort in this reporting process. I thank the Secretariat as well for the efforts deployed in preparing this process and in the document and in preparing the document that we are commenting on. The document underscores that even though we have seen a solid basis for high quality reporting, there are challenges that remain, disparity in national capacity being one, as well as the long processing time of big data sets. Argentina is part of the FAO program for reporting, and we should note the efficient time management and resource management as well as the technical support and true involvement and buy-in of the national offices of the FAO in this process. Added to this, there are the exercises that we have undertaken in previous reporting periods and thus we are optimistic that we will have a better report now at the end of the period. Argentina uses national data and we appreciate the data nationally that have supported the process. We should like to underscore that with the support of the reporting team and the executive secretariat, we have been able to resolve mapping problems referring to border issues that arose in the 2022 report. In preliminary testing, we do see load load problems for countries such as ours with large volumes of data. This does give rise still to difficulties in processing. We should like to underscore the role of the reports as truly useful tools in decision making nationwide and to note the importance of the implementation of the convention also across the country for the report to be used and leveraged There is a need for broadening and contextualization. This is a detailed process. Currently, we don't have the resources to do this. Those in charge of this process and reporting are just barely sufficient for the drafting of the core report and for undertaking minimal validation processes. These processes should be borne in mind when designing reports after 2030. I thank you kindly.


CST · Chair [1:50:30]:

I thank the representative of Argentina. I now give the floor to the representative of Uganda.


Uganda [1:50:44]:

Distinguished guests, distinguished delegates, Uganda appreciates UNCCD efforts of giving technical backstopping and assistance through regional and international institutional partners towards capacity building for PRAIS reporting and beyond. This effort is enabling parties to achieve their goals beyond PRAIS reporting to the implementation of various land management activities. Having in place regional hubs to give technical support to national reporting is a great idea. The recent related capacity building on PRAIS reporting exposed CSTs to tools that enable participatory examination and comparison of various datasets before selecting the appropriate ones. CST also had an opportunity to connect with the technical experts in these regional hubs. In this context, Uganda appreciates RAC MRD, APACHE, OSS, Conservation International, and WACAT for the Nairobi-based joint technical support workshop given to enable parties to progress with the PRAIS reporting process. We are moving towards a situation where more and more local experiences will be integrated into the development of global datasets. The current tools should be developed further to enable the local scientists to use local experiences in the classification of satellite data through partnerships and synergized investments at multilateral and party level. We are also of the view that support should go beyond the reporting to sustaining national databases. Under the Sentinels for Land Degradation Neutrality project, funded by the European Space Agency, ESA, led by Vito Remote Sensing, in collaboration with Lund University, GFZ, Wageningen University, and Conservation International, Uganda was involved in the development of high resolution datasets for use in LDN reporting. We are looking forward to the possibility of using these datasets for the current PRAISE reporting. I thank you.


CST · Chair [1:53:56]:

I thank the representative of Uganda. I now give the floor to the representative of Algeria.


Algeria [1:54:08]:

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My delegation thanks the Secretariat for the progress made in improving the information reporting system and the quality of reports. At the outset, we would like to stress that the reporting process is not merely an obligation under the convention. It must first and foremost generate useful knowledge that enables countries to guide their policies and field interventions. In this regard, we welcome the progress made under the praise for reporting system. the growing use of earth observation data and the development of high resolution data. However, we believe it is essential to maintain a balance between global data and data produced at the national level. Satellite based data and international databases are necessary to ensure a shared vision and enable comparison between countries. Yet their accuracy and relevance must be significantly improved. when measured against field conditions and national scientific knowledge. This issue is of a particular importance for Algeria, given the diversity of its landscape and territories, which extend from north to south, starting from the Mediterranean zone through mountainous and step areas to the southern regions characterized by an arid climate. We would like also to emphasize that harmonizing methodologies should not lead to a standardization of ecological reality. It is essential to provide internationally comparable indicators while at the same time enabling countries to use their own complementary data and methodologies whenever they are able to characterize the specific features of their territories. We therefore encourage greater involvement of national scientific institutions in the reporting process, not only to supply data, but also to produce it, validate it, and interpret it, and contribute to its use in planning. We also support strengthening regional support centers and helping them develop lasting expertise. Regional cooperation and peer learning among countries should enable the exchange of results as well as methodologies, challenges encountered and solutions developed in similar contexts. Finally, we believe the real objective lies in moving beyond the traditional reporting cycle, monitoring, measurement, reporting, towards building a more meaningful cycle based on data, analysis, decision, action, follow up on results. This evolution is what we will make information reporting system a genuine tool for monitoring land degradation, droughts and the restoration of degraded land in the service of national policies and the implementation of the convention. Thank you.


CST · Chair [1:57:10]:

I thank the representative of Algeria. I give the floor to the representative of the European Union, followed by Uruguay and Lesotho.


EU · EU [1:57:22]:

Thank you, Mr. Chair, distinguished delegates and representatives. The EU and its 27 member states fully support the 2026 UNCCD reporting process, a cornerstone for achieving land degradation neutrality and the UNCCD strategic framework 2080-2030. We welcome the regional support hubs. Their contribution in methodological guidelines, geospatial tools, and participatory processes have been instrumental in strengthening national reporting capacity. We support exploring the possibility for regional support hub to serve as centers of excellence. We emphasize that the procedure for selecting or designating regional support hubs and technical advisory institution must be open, fair and transparent. We also highlight the critical role of technical advisory and the role of the group on Earth observation, land degradation neutrality flagship to continue to offer a space for dialogue between Earth observations, community and parties. We commend the regional workshop train 231 participants from 92 countries, thereby promoting peer learning and gender balance participation. The EU and its 27 member states acknowledge the critical role of international and South-South cooperation particularly through the Pacific SEEDS Forum and UNCCD SEEDS Forum in advancing sustainable land management and climate resilience. We appreciate the financial and technical support from the Global Environment Facility, which benefit more than 100 countries, and the contribution of Conservation International, IUCN and UNDP/WOCAT in participatory monitoring and the integration of land neutrality. We also recognize the contribution of Jeff medium size project led by conservation international. IUCN UNDP workout which enhances participatory monitoring and LDN integration. In the light of growing demand for both moderate as well as high resolution long time series data set, we recommend exploring ways to engage with and roll on existing research infrastructure such as the operational Copernicus data space ecosystem, an open free access platform providing Sentinel satellite data and derived products and cloud-based processing services for Earth observation user. With this, it could play a key role in enhancing data availability and analytical capacity, particularly for developing countries and small island developing states. As the deadline of 30 November 26 for SO1 and 26 February 2027 SO the other SO approach we urge all parties to meet this timeline we reaffirm our commitment to the 2026 UNCCD reporting process and call for continued collaboration to achieve our shared goals thank you


CST · Chair [2:01:18]:

I thank the representative of the European Union. I give the floor to the representative of Uruguay.


Uruguay [2:01:27]:

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Uruguay appreciates the drafting of the document on the improvement in the procedures for communicating information. And likewise, for the work from the Secretariat for making operational the decision COP 16.4, we particularly appreciate the support received by the GEF and the FAO. We appreciate the cooperation and dovetailing with other initiatives and organizations when it comes to capacity building for the parties in drafting their national reports. Likewise, we underscore the importance of the opportunity to share information, experiences, and progress with our region. We urge continued efforts towards this exchanges between and among parties. Turning to information, we do value the work on initiatives and platforms that provide global data. However, we also believe that efforts and resources should be channeled towards the generation of capacity information and data on the national level for the reporting of all strategic objectives. And this would increase the trust and ownership of the results of the evaluations. Subsequently, this can be incorporated into policy design and used in the establishment of national goals and decision making. Lastly, we would like to underscore that access to and availability of financial resources is essential if parties are to continue strengthening their capacity to generate information and reports and thus pass along progress in their implementation of their strategic framework. We believe that it is important to consider support between reporting periods that contribute to compiling and making systematic field data on the national level with indicators and mapping on areas that are degraded and restored. Uruguay is committed to strengthening of information systems that are solid, transparent, evidence-based, and this is essential for the effective implementation of the Convention. Much obliged.


CST · Chair [2:03:39]:

President of Uruguay. I give the floor to the representative of Lesotho, followed by the Republic of Korea and Brazil.


Lesotho [2:04:01]:

Thank you, Chair. Distinguished delegates, the Kingdom of Lesotho welcomes the process made in strengthening the UNCCD national reporting process, particularly efforts to improve the quality of data, technical capacities, knowledge sharing and the use of nationally relevant information in reporting. The Kingdom of Lesotho also acknowledges with appreciation the important contribution of WOCAT in advancing the documentation, exchange and application of knowledge on sustainable land management globally. We particularly welcome WOCAT's work in promoting inclusive and participatory decision support approaches that bring together earth observation data, scientific knowledge and local knowledge. In this regard, the Kingdom of Lesotho is pleased to work with WOCAD under the GEF-8 initiative on inclusive decision support for land degradation neutrality. This collaboration will strengthen participatory land degradation monitoring, and support the integration of scientific and spatial information with national and local knowledge. Chair, as the Kingdom of Lesotho updates its current national report on PRAIS4, we are committed to strengthening the use of national data and evidence to ensure that global datasets are complemented by national information, local knowledge, and appropriate validation against ground realities. We believe that reporting should not only fulfill our international obligations, but also generate information that is relevant and actionable for addressing our national land degradation challenges. For the Kingdom of Lesotho, this means moving towards evidence-based and context-specific solutions, bringing local knowledge national data and scientific evidence together to develop local solutions for local land degradation challenges. Chair, we believe that this approach will strengthen the credibility and usefulness of UNCCD reporting platform, PRISD4, while contributing to informed decision making on land degradation neutrality, sustainable land management, land use planning, climate resilience and biodiversity conservation. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:06:50]:

I thank the representative of Lesotho. I give the floor to the representative of the Republic of Korea.


Republic of Korea [2:07:01]:

Thank you, Chair. At the outset, the Republic of Korea would like to express its sincere appreciation to the Secretariat global mechanism and all technical partner and expert for their report in preparing this report and supporting parties in 2026 reporting process. We particularly welcome continued improvement of praise for establishment of regional support hub Capacity building workshop, an effort to enhance the quality and… accessibility of default data. The Republic of Korea would like to highlight four points. First, national reporting should go beyond fulfilling reporting obligation. Information generated through the UNCCD reporting process should also support national decision-making on sustainable land management, LDN implementation, restoration priorities, and drought resilience. In this regard, strengthening national ownership of data and national technical capacities is particularly important. Second, global default data and national data should be used in a complementary manner. Default data provide an important common basis for comparability among Parties. However, where national data are more appropriate to national circumstances, scientifically robust and transparently documented, Parties should be able to make appropriate use of such data. We also welcome to increasing availability of higher resolution Earth observation data. However, higher spatial resolution does not necessarily mean higher accuracy. Changes in land cover or land productivity may reflect climate variability, land use history or management practices. Therefore, remote sensing information should, where possible, be complemented by field observation, national dataset and relevant expert knowledge. Third, sustain the technical and financial support together with long-term capacity building remains essential. The Republic of Korea appreciated the important role of regional support hub and technical partners. We engaged continued support throughout the reporting cycle, particularly for developing country parties in need of technical and data capacities. We also believe that capacities developed through the 2026 reporting process should expand beyond a single reporting cycle. They should contribute to strengthen long-term national monitoring system and over time help reduce the reporting burden on parties. First, greater interoperability of data and reporting tools should be encouraged including where appropriate with related processes under the other real conventions in order to help reduce unnecessary duplication in national reporting. At the same time, such effort should respect the distinct mandate and objectives of each convention as well as national circumstance and priorities. The Republic of Korea will continue to contribute, including through the Chaon Initiative, by sharing our experiences in international cooperation, land and forest monitoring, field-based validation in support of more reliable and policy-relevant UNFCCC reporting system. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:11:42]:

I thank the representative of the Republic of Korea. I give the floor to the representative of Brazil. followed by Senegal and United Arab Emirates.


Brazil [2:11:56]:

Thank you, Chair. Brazil recognizes the importance of improving reporting procedures while emphasizing that such requirements should reflect different national capacities and circumstances. Reporting must remain an instrument of implementation, not merely information provision, We therefore support proportionate requirements, adequate means of implementation, including finance, capacity building, technology and access to quality data, and greater recognition of nationally generated data. Default data should complement, not replace national information. We also encourage south-south, north-south, and triangular cooperation, as well as regional support. Finally, reporting should be simplified and interoperable, reducing duplication and administrative burdens while ensuring that new requirements are accompanied by adequate and predictable support. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:13:09]:

I thank the representative of Brazil. I give the floor to the representative of Senegal.


Senegal [2:13:17]:

Thank you, Chair. Madam Chair of the CRIC, thank you as well. The delegation of Senegal thanks the Secretariat and the JEF as well as the technical partners for the quality of this note and this work. We commend the Secretariat for the event in Dakar, the capacity building regionally in West Africa for Francophones that was held together with our observatory for the Sahel and Sahara and the regional center for Africa as well as other stakeholders for southern Africa that is showed the way that some of this can be decentralized. We hailed the tools and the spatial data through Trans Earth and other tools. However, the addressing all of this data remains complex for the majority of our national team of national teams. Our regional workshop shows that horizontal learning between among countries accelerates the mastery of these top of these topics and this helps to create a community for moving ahead towards the SD with the SDG's out of the regional center should be maintained and strengthened for national ownership that is effective and doing work on the ground with reliable and comparable data. Senegal encourages the Secretariat and the JEF to make these exchanges ongoing as well as capacity building beyond the mere submission of reports. Reports should not just be a conformity exercise. These are crucial operations. Data collection should be fed directly. by national territorial work to address the degradation of land and to strengthen synergies with other Rio Convention bodies. We reaffirm our commitment to submit our national report with robust, high quality data within the time frame established for the 2026 cycle. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:15:20]:

I thank the representative of Senegal. I give the floor to the representative of the United Arab Emirates, followed by Niger and China.


United Arab Emirates [2:15:32]:

Thank you, Chair. The United Arab Emirates would like to express its sincere appreciation to the Government of Mongolia for its warm hospitality and excellent organization, and to the UNCCD Secretariat for its efforts in facilitating the negotiations. The United Arab Emirates support strengthening targeted capacity building as an important means of advancing the effective implementation of the convention. We welcome continued support for the national reporting, land degradation neutrality, drought resilience, and sand and dust storms, as well as the great use of earth observation, geospatial technologies, digital tools, and artificial intelligence. We also encourage practical knowledge exchange, technology transfer and regional cooperation, taking into account different national circumstances, capacities and needs. Regarding the possible future role of regional support hubs or centres of excellence, the UAE supports regional mechanisms are demand-driven and responsive to the needs and requests of the Parties. Such mechanism should remain advisory and complementary to the existing UNCCD institutions and should not limit the ability of Parties to seek direct technical support from the secretariat when needed. Any further formalization or evolution of these arrangements should be informed by lessons learned from the 2026 reporting process and remain subject to the consideration and guidance by the parties, while avoiding the creation of parallel structures. In considering possible future arrangements, the UAE also encourages drawing on relevant experience and good practices under other multilateral environmental frameworks where appropriate, particularly in facilitating technical cooperation, mobilizing expertise and responding effectively to Parties' needs. The UAE further encourages an inclusive approach to regional cooperation, providing opportunities for interested countries and experts from across the region to contribute their knowledge and experience. This would strengthen the regional ownership and help ensure that support remains responsive to regional priorities and national needs. Finally, capacity building and reporting support should fully respect national ownership and authority over reporting and data. The validation, approval, and submission of national reports, as well as authorization of access to national reporting information, should remain the responsibility of the party concerned. The UAE looks forward to supporting a capacity building approach that is a practical, inclusive, flexible, party driven and responsive to the different needs and capabilities of parties. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:19:10]:

I thank the representative of the United Arab Emirates. I give the floor to the representative of Niger, followed by China and Bangladesh.


Niger [2:19:23]:

Thank you, Chairperson. Niger thanks the Convention for all of the efforts made to achieve land degradation neutrality. In a country like ours, where degradation is a central problem, this is so important. Niger welcomes the strong presence and commitment of the OSS, the Observatory for the Sahel and Sahara, in supporting a better knowledge and a more effective monitoring of its natural resources. In particular, the OSS has contributed to the improvement and harmonization of biophysical and socioeconomic data collection methods, as well as to the establishment and development of ecological and environmental monitoring observatories. However, in the context of the implementation of land degradation neutrality, it would be important first to achieve a baseline at a sufficiently fine cartographic scale adapted to the needs of users. Such an approach would allow local communities to access data that can be directly used as decision-making tools. This baseline would also provide an essential basis for better monitoring and objective evaluation of land restoration efforts.

In

conclusion, Niger appeals to the institutions and organizations that produce and make available satellite imagery to facilitate access to data at a resolution fine enough to allow it to be used at farm level. And at community level, so it is truly useful to producers and communities. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:21:31]:

I give the floor to the representative of China.


China [2:21:41]:

Thank you, Chair. China expresses its appreciation to the UNCCD Secretariat for its highly effective work on national reporting, as well as to FAO for the technical support provided regarding strategic objective one. China also highly commands the hard work of the regional support hubs, which have played critical role in facilitating the preparation and completion of high quality national reports. China hopes that within the framework of UNCCD, the cooperation with organizations such as the Group of Earth Observation and WAIQO, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization could be strengthened in order to provide better data and tools to all parties. We have the following suggestions. First, the Secretariat should, at the request of state parties, further consider how to improve the praise for online reporting plan. platform and indicator system, taking into full account the relevance of indicators, the availability of data, the scientific soundness of methods and the reliability of results.

Second, through capacity

building and technical support, the Secretariat should provide more guidance on how national monitoring systems can be aligned with global indicators and methodologies, including indicator conversion. Substantive encouragement should be given to parties to use their own data and proven methods of monitoring assessment so as to avoid duplication, to reduce reporting costs and to ensure the long-term sustainability of reporting. Third, the secretariat should provide greater flexibility in the use of default data and improve the accuracy of default datasets. Fourth, it would be advisable to share with parties the outcome of regional workshops on reporting and to encourage research institutions to take part in related work

and to facilitate their contribution to the global framework of indicators.

Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:23:52]:

I thank the representative of China. I give the floor to the representative of Bangladesh, followed by Zimbabwe and Mexico.


Bangladesh [2:24:06]:

Respected Chair, distinguished delegates, Bangladesh thanks to secretariat, the global mechanism and the government and people of Mongolia for hosting COP17. We appreciate the JEF enabling activities umbrella project and all partners for supporting country parties in preparing their 2026 national report. Mr. Chair, We particularly welcome the establishment of regional support hubs. Bangladesh is pleased to be included under the CBS support hub. And we thank the organizers of the regional workshop for extending our expert technical capacity. Bangladesh is preparing its 2026 report using global and national data, national expertise, and country-specific information. which should remain at the heart of the reporting process. Global data set and Earth observation products are available when accurate and suited to national conditions. Mr. Chair, however, as a coastal Delta T country Bangladesh faces unique challenges high could cover Dynamic coastal erosion and salinity intuition require continuously updated high resolution Earth observation data of 30 M or finer which default medium resolution data set often fail to capture we therefore call on the secretariat and Global mechanism to develop such high resolution data set ahead of the reporting period. We also stress timely access to Jeff resources as funding delays affect national preparation. Reporting should not be seen merely as an obligation but as the foundation for land degradation neutrality and evidence based decision making. Bangladesh looks forward to completing in 2026 report on time and working with all partners on the draft decision before this committee. Thank you, Mr. the Chair.


CST · Chair [2:26:16]:

I thank the representative of Bangladesh. I give the floor to the representative of Zimbabwe.


Zimbabwe [2:26:24]:

Chairperson, distinguished delegates, the government of Zimbabwe supports efforts to improve procedures for communication of information and reporting under the Convention, including simplified reporting templates, harmonized indicators, strengthened national reporting systems, we wish to express our appreciation for the support being provided to parties in the national UNCCD process. Improved reporting must be matched by adequate, predictable and accessible financial and technical support. Many developing countries face real constraints in data collection, monitoring infrastructure, geographic information systems and remote sensing capacity and institutional resources. Increasing reporting requirements without corresponding means of implementation places an additional burden on parties with limited capacity. Zambia's own experience, including national land degradation neutrality monitoring, environmental statistics, the national forest monitoring system, and the national drought monitoring early warning system demonstrates that effective reporting depends on sustained investment in technology,

technical expertise and institutional capacity.

In the United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification, reporting should make maximum use of existing national systems. The Government of Zimbabwe therefore encourages the Convention to, one, continue providing adequate financial and technical support to developing countries, and secondly, facilitate access to appropriate technologies and Earth observation tools. I submit, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:28:11]:

I thank the representative of Zimbabwe. I give the floor to the representative of Mexico, followed by Cabo Verde and Zambia.


Mexico [2:28:20]:

Thank you, Chair. Mexico recognizes the importance of strengthening technical support and national capacity development to improve the quality and consistency of national reports. prioritizing the use of existing national data information scientific capacities and monitoring systems we acknowledge the development of these tools however a suggestion will be to consider the ability to incorporate data constructed and validated by the parties as a winner as in our experience for this reporting cycle Products developed in-house and validated at national scale, broad results that most closely reflect the country's actual situation. In this sense, it is very important to have access to funding to reinforce national monitoring systems and to keep engaged at the multiple stakeholders beyond this reporting cycle. This is particularly important for long-term outcomes and decision making.

Then,

future improvements to reporting procedures, methodologies and tools must continue to take into account different national capacities, circumstances and needs. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:29:39]:

I thank the representative of Mexico. I give the floor to the representative of Cabo Verde.


Cabo Verde [2:30:14]:

Thank you, Chairperson, President of the CST and President of the CRC. Good afternoon, distinguished delegates. Since I'm taking the floor for the first time, allow me to thank the government and people of Mongolia for the warm welcome and the masterful organization of this COP17. welcome the excellent presentations made on the studies, data and results on the issue of soil heritage conservation with its implications for all sectors that play a key role in the quality of human life, namely water, plant cover and agricultural production. The exercises carried out as part of the preparation of national reports for us are seen as important instruments for making an x-ray of our natural resources and also represent an opportunity for our human resources to take advantage of these tools in order better to understand, manage and ensure sustainable management of our natural resources. However, for Cabo Verde, Given our insularity, the orography of our islands and their geographical location, mapping the vegetation cover is a real challenge. This means that the new geospatial technologies are an excellent solution for Cabo Verde, although we are still swimming in a sea of patterns, approaches and strategies which can sometimes leave us confused. Cabo Verde is ready to continue working with the Convention and the various partners present here, including the SPC and the PISLM, given their experience with small island states. Thank you, Chairperson.


CST · Chair [2:32:12]:

I thank the representative of Cabo Verde. give the floor to the representative of Zambia followed by Dominican Republic and Turkey


Zambia [2:32:27]:

I thank you chair Mr chair distinguished delegates Zambia wishes to join others in expressing sincere appreciation to the unccd secretariat and its Partners in providing support and strengthening National capacities in land cover changes mapping and reporting through the praise for reporting processes we recognize that this support represents a significant significant step towards the attainment of sustainable management and the advancement of climate and drought resilience. Through the PRAIS4THES, Zambia has been able to generate reliable information of decision making, enhanced transparency, integrity, coordination, and strengthen national capacity for planning, monitoring, and reporting on LDN. This has further enabled us to better align our national policies and other frameworks with objectives of the convention. while ensuring that communities, youths, policymakers, and partners have access to reliable information. Mr. Chair, Zambia further wishes to underscore the importance of continued technical and financial support of the provision of high resolution data sets, which will enhance the quality and reliability of reports to foster effective sustainable land management and social economic development. We remain committed to working collaboratively with other parties and partners to ensure that the praise for evolves as a robust tool for accountability, knowledge sharing, and the achievement of our collective vision for restoring land and restoring hope. I thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:33:55]:

I thank the representative of Zambia. I give the floor to the representative of Dominican Republic.


Dominican Republic [2:34:03]:

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to all the speakers for their presentation. From our experience with the 2026 reporting process, we believe that reporting should not be seen not only as an obligation, but as a tool for implementation. Countries report to better understand the condition of their lands, providing information that can help inform ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation, and efforts to strengthen resilience. For the Dominican Republic, the ongoing process has strengthened collaboration among national institutions and sectors, including through national workshops and regional peer-to-peer exchange. We also highlight that for this reporting cycle, we have made greater use of national data than in previous cycles, which strengthened national ownership and the relevance of the information generated. We encourage parties to use the data generated beyond that report to translate this information into concrete actions on the ground. We thank the GEF for its financial support, the UNCCD Secretariat for its coordination, and FAO and other partners for their technical support throughout the

ongoing process.

We also believe that continued access to resources for these processes is important to enable Parties to further strengthen their capacities, sustain the progress achieved, and continue improving the quality of future reporting cycles. Because the true measure of reporting cycle process is not only the quality of the information we submit, but the change that that information helps us create on the ground. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:36:04]:

I thank the representative of the Dominican Republic. I give the floor to the representative of Turkey, followed by Sudan and Burundi.


Türkiye [2:36:18]:

Thank you, Chair. Turkey appreciates the effort of the Secretariat, the regional support hubs and technical partners in supporting parties through the 2026 reporting process. Turkey attaches Particular importance to national ownership and the use of national produced and validated data and national expertise in the preparation of national reports. Where national data are available, Turkey prioritizes their use. At the same time, we recognize the important contribution of global datasets and Earth observation products, particularly in addressing data gaps and supporting consistency and comparability across parties. In our view, global datasets should complement rather than replace national data, national expertise, and national monitoring system. We also believe that the technical support provided through the reporting process should contribute to strengthening long-term national capacities. Access to high resolution data, GIS, remote sensing and other technological tools should therefore be accompanied by capacity building, knowledge transfer and support for national institutions to generate, validate and apply these data independently. In this regard, Turkey welcomes the regional support hub approach and encourage continued technical support that responds to national circumstances and strengthens sustainable institutional capacity beyond the single reporting cycle. Finally, Turkey believes that reporting shouldn't be seen only as an obligation under the convention. but also as an opportunity to strengthen national monitoring, policy development and the implementation of land degradation neutrality. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:38:37]:

I thank the representative of Turkey. I give the floor to the representative of Sudan, followed by Burundi and Burkina Faso.


Sudan [2:38:54]:

In the name of God, peace be upon you all. I would like to thank the Chair for providing us this opportunity. I would like to thank all the centers that gave reports addressing droughts. the desertification and land degradation requires stronger international support, particularly with -- when it comes to capacity building, technology transfer and finance, as well as scientific information and the improvement of early detection systems. Given the circumstances that the Sudan is facing, strengthening regional cooperation in Africa is indeed a priority. including making the best use of the specialized regional hubs specialized in droughts, desertification, and remote sensing. The Sudan stresses that support must not be exclusive to reporting, it should go beyond that to strengthen institution capacity and data analysis and use of such data in decision making. Therefore, we call for strengthening technical and financial support to African states, prioritizing the most vulnerable countries. The support should translate into sustainable country capacities beyond the projects. Reporting should not be made to, should not be limited to improving reports, but rather to sustainably analyze data. We call for enhancing capacities and remote sensing capabilities, as well as the geographical information system, so that national reports will be improved. We call for further cooperation with all regional hubs and expertise and further cooperation with other countries in this aspect. Thank you, Mr. Chair.


CST · Chair [2:41:20]:

I thank the representative of Sudan. give the floor to the representative of Burundi.


Burundi [2:41:30]:

Thank you, Chairperson. We thank the Secretariat for its organizational efforts for the LDCs. This is a significant contribution to our national capacities with analysis of data reports and steps to implement the convention. The 2026 report for this, we thank the secretariat of the convention for the efforts made. As regards progress on the national report, we have made considerable progress collecting data, with the support of all of the relevant institutions. And this is an important stage. Considering as regards capacity building, Burundi believes this is crucial. It must make it possible to produce and analyze national data and supply them to the convention. Thus, we call for resources to be made available to strengthen the national team, train it in the use of the platform and increase detection capacities. This is one of the most pressing needs for our country because of the strategic aspects It is crucial to hold specialized training on degraded lands. Burundi needs to cover the three indicators land, organic carbon and so on. analyzing the temporary trends and identifying zones and indicators. We also need follow up for goal three. We need to strengthen our capacities to work on drought indicator quality, to map the risk zones and to include the relevant data. We must also strengthen capacities to produce data on populations affected by land degradation, poverty, vulnerable coastal zones and on living conditions. We need a national quality reference mechanism to manage inconsistencies, document sources and conserve meta data, comparing national data to regional ones. Burundi also needs to create a national database to hold the statistical data metadata previous reports and information on financing burundi reiterates its commitment to continuously improving the quality of its data and reporting and for the implementation informing policies to prevent land degradation and build resilience. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:45:47]:

I thank the representative of Burundi. I give the floor to the representative Burkina Faso, followed by Kuwait.


Burkina Faso [2:46:03]:

Madam Chair, ladies and gentlemen, delegates, Burkina Faso affords great importance to national reporting for CP9 in the framework of the implementation of the Convention. We'd like to report that the, or confirm that this is not just follow up, the reporting that is. It is also a tool, a crucial tool in decision making. It allows for us to measure progress made and identify gaps. It allows us to better guide policy and investment in fighting desertification, land degradation, and drought. Burkina Faso encourages the Secretariat to continue its efforts to ensure that these reporting tools are simple, coherent and adapted to national capacity, including in Africa. To the chairs, I say that we commend the efforts made to better bear in mind the existing national data and systems in order to avoid biased results and to reduce the load for the countries. We call also upon the results of the ninth cycle to be effectively used to improve the implementation of the convention, mobilize financing and strengthen follow-up of the land degradation neutrality goals as well as the implementation the effective implementation of a new framework post 2030. Burkina Faso reaffirms its willingness to contribute actively to this process and we thank the Secretariat for the support provided to the parties. I thank you kindly.


CST · Chair [2:48:01]:

I thank the representative of Burkina Faso. I give the floor to the representative of Kuwait.


Kuwait [2:48:16]:

The state of Kuwait recognizes that land degradation, desertification, drought, and increasing aridity are closely connected to water, food, environmental security. As an arid country, Kuwait would like to highlight three priorities. First, stronger monitoring and early warning systems. We support the use of satellite imaging, remote sensing, and scientific indicators designed specifically for arid environments. Second, as integrated approach to land and water security, sustainable land management should be linked with efficient water use. Kuwait also encourages practical solutions such as treated wastewater and native vegetative for land restoration. Third, stronger scientific and regional cooperation Land degradation and sand and storms cross national borders. We therefore encourage greater sharing of scientific data technology, research and successful practices among countries facing similar challenges. So Kuwait hopes that the CST here focus on turning scientific knowledge into practical and measurable actions. Our goal must be to protect the land. for future long-term environmental security. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:49:43]:

I thank the representative of Kuwait. I give the floor to the representative of Cook Islands.


Cook Islands [2:49:51]:

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the UNCCD Secretariat, Global Mechanism, and the panellists. Thank you, SPC, our Pacific support hub, for highlighting the realities we face in the Pacific. The Cook Islands welcomes the report and also acknowledges the GEF implementing agencies and technical partners who support has enabled the 2026 reporting process, including the Pacific workshop we hosted in Nauru Tonga Cook Islands. As highlighted through that workshop and again today, access to appropriate high resolution data remains important for us. As a small island developing state, global data sets do not always adequately reflect our national circumstances. We therefore welcome continued technical support that responds to our national context, while strengthening national capacity and ownership so that the benefits are sustained beyond the reporting cycle. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:50:43]:

I thank the representative, Cook Islands. I give the floor to the representative, the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development.


AOAD [2:51:04]:

Thank you all in the room.

The Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, AOAD, is a sub-regional organization dealing with sustainable agricultural development and food security in the entire Arab countries, the 22 Arab countries, and it is under the League of Arab States.

I would like to flag.

A persistent problem in our region, the MENA region, which is unrest in our region, where seven countries are under protracted unrest and conflict. This conflict has seriously undermined the limited land restoration effort by the national systems in these countries. And therefore, there is a huge gap that needs to be filled. AOIA-D as I speak is doing its best to help the member countries to meet their targets. We are heavily involved in capacity building, generation of data and reports as well as the implementation of pilot area projects based on our capacities and the partnership with development partners that we have that has yielded some the agencies and organizations on the ground are best positioned to play that role if supported we all have the slogan now restoration or restoring land is restoring hope so with that thank you very much.


CST · Chair [2:52:50]:

I thank the representative of the Arab organization for agricultural development I give the floor to the European Space Agency.


Speaker 85 [2:53:09]:

Microphone to the speaker please.


ESA · CEOS [2:53:11]:

Distinguished delegates, the statement is on behalf of the International Committee on Earth Observation Satellite, CIES. Land degradation, desertification and drought are among the most pressing challenges facing communities and ecosystems worldwide. Effective actions present on timely, objective, reliable and actionable information to support sound decision making and evidence-based policies. Today, Earth observation from satellites provides this capability at unprecedented scale and consistency. CEOS, representing over 15 members agencies in close collaboration with UNCCD and the GEO-LDN, is committed to supporting countries with the data, tools, standard and expertise needed to address these challenges. Through sustainable satellite observation, we can monitor land conditions, detect changes, evaluate restoration outcome and support evidence-based policies. Earth observation is now a cornerstone for monitoring progress towards land degradation neutrality, supporting reporting against the SDG indicators 15.3.1. Harmonized data sets and analysis tools help governments identify areas affected by land degradation, track the effectiveness of restoration efforts, and determine appropriate further actions. Satellite data also strengthen ecosystem restoration efforts by supporting planning, monitoring and tracking recovery. Looking ahead, CEOS reaffirms our commitment to expand access to Earth observation information, which will strengthen national capacities, improve the monitoring of land degradation neutrality indicators, support restoration commitments and enhance cooperation as the global environment. By bringing together satellite observations, scientific expertise, technology innovations and international corporations, we can help transform Earth observation data into actionable knowledge, actionable knowledge into more resilient landscapes, ecosystems and communities. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:55:38]:

I thank the representative of the European Space Agency. I give the floor to the representative of the United Nations Development Programme.


UNDP [2:55:53]:

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a second, please. UNDP is pleased to update you that through the newly approved Jeff finance medium size project on scaling capacities for LDN, UNDP will utilize methodologies co-developed by WACAT with country parties to support countries own decision making processes to align, to plan for and implement LDN. This new project will produce multilingual guidance and training materials for parties, build capacity for parties for LDN and facilitate south-south exchange among parties and other stakeholders. I should note that this project will only support 10 countries in hyper arid countries and SIDS who have specific needs in monitoring LDM. I should also note that this support is highly demanded by countries through the expression of interest. We received over expression of interest from over 70 countries. So we see significant potential to upgrade this kind of initiative to support many other countries that have specific needs. to support LDN monitoring. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:57:20]:

I thank the representative of UNDP. I give the floor to the representative of civil society, Woodwell Climate Research Center.


civil society and indigenous peoples [2:57:29]:

Thank you, Chair. Distinguished delegates, on behalf of civil society and indigenous peoples, we welcome the efforts to strengthen PRIS. improve reporting procedures, enhance data quality and interoperability, and expand capacity building for the 2026 reporting cycle. Civil society emphasizes that reporting is not merely a technical exercise. It is a tool for transparency, accountability, learning, participation, and evidence-based decision-making. To be effective We must reflect the realities and knowledge of those implementing restoration, sustainable land management and drought resilience on the ground. We therefore highlight seven priorities. First, reporting must be inclusive and participatory. CSOs, indigenous peoples, local communities, farmers, pastoralists, women and youth should participate systematically in national reporting, with their contributions reflected in official reports. Reporting should capture local experiences, innovations and lessons alongside implementation results. Second, community generated data must be recognized as valuable evidence. Community based monitoring, participatory mapping, citizen science, traditional knowledge and participatory data collection can strengthen national datasets and improve transparency. Practical mechanisms are needed to integrate this information into reporting. Third, reporting systems must be accessible and user-friendly. Simplified platforms, multilingual interfaces, accessible digital tools, and guidance adapted to local contexts should facilitate participation rather than create barriers. Fourth, capacity building must extend beyond national institutions. Grassroots organizations and communities need support in technical skills, data management, geospatial methods, digital literacy and participatory monitoring to engage effectively in reporting. Fifth, transparency and open access are essential. National reports, data sets and methodologies should be publicly accessible, accompanied by simplified communication products that make results understandable and useful to wider audiences. Sixth, reporting must balance scientific rigor with practical realities. Quantitative indicators should be complemented by qualitative evidence, case studies and local experiences that capture the social dimensions of restoration, drought resilience and sustainable land management. Finally, reporting must be gender responsive and strengthen science policy processes. This requires sex disaggregated data, gender responsive indicators and meaningful participation of women, including from indigenous peoples and local communities. Reporting must measure what is happening on the ground, but it also must help improve what happens on the ground. We end this intervention by expressing our deep concern over the exclusion of gender, civil society participation and synergies from the COP agenda. And we urge parties to reinstate these items and ensure meaningful deliberations in line with the text of the Convention and previously adopted decisions, recognizing that inclusive participation is essential for effective and transformative implementation of the Convention. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [3:01:00]:

I thank the representative of civil society from the Woodwell Climate Research Centre. We have heard the last speaker on the list. I now invite the panellists to respond briefly to the questions and comments raised. In view of time constraints, I request each panellist to limit their response to two minutes. I give the floor to Mr. Lee.


CBAS · Global SDG15 Coordinator · Jang-Sung Lee [3:01:35]:

Okay, so the, lots of the, go to the comments and the, the insights for the, for the future. From the, as the, from the roles of the regional support hub, I think that in the future we would focus on how to improve the, the digitality and its accessibility and especially for some of the suggestions to combine with some of the field to state, I think it's very important. Thank you.


CST · Chair [3:02:15]:

I thank Mr. Lee. I give the floor to Mr. Brink.


JRC · Senior Scientific and Technical Project Officer · Andreas Brink [3:02:21]:

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dear colleagues, I listen very carefully to all the very constructive comments you provided. And I believe we are on the right track as the work we are doing as the support hubs with, of course, the support of the technical advisors. A lot of good messages in the work we're doing now, but also in where we should move to in the future. So this shouldn't be just a one-off. but it should be a continuous process linking the science, linking the Earth observation with the countries, with the field to field knowledge. So we will have follow up work to do certainly as support hubs and technical advisors and I believe we are happy to take this on. Thank you.


CST · Chair [3:03:17]:

I thank Mr. Brink. I give the floor to Mr. Casera.


RCMRD · User Engagement Manager · Kenneth Casera [3:03:22]:

Thank you, Chair, and quite interesting statements coming from the various countries. And we want to state that it's clear that technology is no longer the issue, but leverage. Quite existing efforts from the GEO side and also from the technical side that exist within the national countries. And so we feel and we think that there is time for us to bring this together. to enable us to all have the data that is required to be in. So we believe strongly that it's time for us to leverage on existing efforts GLDN, GEOGLAM, GEOBON, CBD, UNFCCC to make sure that we are able to respond to these matters conclusively. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [3:04:12]:

I thank Mr. Casera. I give the floor to Mr. Mamooni.


OSS · Director · Mustafa Mimouni [3:04:19]:

Thank you, Chair. So we heard so many interesting interventions. Yes, the reporting is very complicated, but it's not only it must not be seen as a burden because the nice reporting will provide actions. Until now, the land degradation maps are not yet used for now. But we think that with this collaborative mechanism where from bottom to up, the technical advisors, the support hubs, plus the parties and science and technical correspondents, I think that we can do a great job in terms of fine tuning the indicators, unlocking the value of whatever we are reporting, because this is the first step to go to impact first, restoration actions second, and then to unlock the investment. Thank you.


CST · Chair [3:05:06]:

I thank Mr. Mamuni. I give the floor to Mr. Alruwail.


Saudi Arabia · Deputy Chief Executive Officer · Saud Laili Al-Ruwaily [3:05:12]:

Thank you. At the NCPC as a supporting hub, we believe what we are doing is more beyond than just available data or training for reports. Yes, we need more reliable data, we need improved quality reports, we need policy decision action can be taken. However, also we see that it's a technical support, it's a sharing experience, facilitating knowledge sharing, promote connect institute, cooperation and partnership with countries. Thanks.


CST · Chair [3:05:55]:

I thank Dr. Al-Ruwaily. I give the floor to Ms. Nisa.


SPC · Digital Earth Pacific Program Manager · Andiswa Mlisa [3:06:07]:

Thank you, Chair. The constructive comments from parties and observers are quite welcome, and I heard the strong reinforcement of the value of the regional support hubs, while also highlighting that reporting support must go beyond compliance to strengthen national capacity, improve access to fit for purpose geospatial and earth observations data, and ensure that these tools are integrated with local expertise, national datasets, fieldwork and local community knowledge. As Pacific community, we look forward to the continued collaboration with our, with the international partners, the UNCCD Secretariat, the technical advisors, and most importantly, with the parties in ensuring that we can address land restoration in a manner that's fit for peoples, for countries. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [3:07:03]:

I thank Miss Malisa. I give the floor to Mister Francis.


PISLM · Executive Director · Ronan Francis [3:07:08]:

Thank you chair. Um at PSLM we believe and and listening to all of the parties that made their interventions. Um co-production really is the central theme of what would deliver on the reporting process and also deliver on for the capacity building and use of the data among all the conventions and the central tendency really here is to ensure that participation in the process would ensure that there is adequate delivery. So when there is co-production, national ownership increases, the reporting quality improves, you know the capacity is sustained, that reporting system remains within the country and PSLM here is geared towards encouraging that sort of thought process and movement throughout the convention. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [3:08:07]:

I thank Mr. Francis. I thank all the panellists for their contributions. I also thank parties and observers for their valuable interventions. Distinguished delegates, in order to prepare a draft decision for this agenda item, the CRIC Chair and I propose that a joint CRIC/CST contact group be established in line with past practice. It is my understanding that the facilitators designated for the respective committees will co-facilitate the joint contact group. May I take it that the committees wish to establish the joint CRIC CST contact group and to appoint the designated facilitators as co-facilitators? I hear no objection. It is so decided. Please be advised that the first meeting of the joint contact group will take place at 6pm today immediately after the adjournment of this meeting in room MET 12. Following the conclusion of the joint contact group meeting, the CRIC contact group will meet in room MET 12 and the CST contact group will meet in MET 13. We have thus concluded this stage of the joint consideration of the agenda item entitled Improving procedures for the communication of information as well as the quality and formats of reports to be submitted to the Conference of the Parties. Before adjourning the meeting, I wish to remind participants that the Committee on Science and Technology will hold its fifth and final plenary meeting on Friday, 21st August at 3pm in the plenary hall. The Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention will hold its sixth plenary meeting on Friday 21st August at 3pm in the main committee room. The joint meeting is adjourned.