(3rd Meeting) Committee on Science and Technology - UNCCD COP17
Conferences
Date: 18 August 2026
Language: English
Transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/zh/asset/k1s/k1st0hutj2?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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CST · Secretary · Olga Andreeva [25:45]:

Is entitled Avoiding, Reducing and Reversing Land and Soil Degradation of Agricultural Lands. This work was requested by parties in decision 19/COP16, which invited the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other relevant partners working within their respective mandates and procedures to collaborate in providing guidance on promoting sustainable land use and responsible governance to prevent and reverse the land degradation of agricultural lands and soils, and on promoting sustainable and diverse cropping systems and crops to improve food security and nutrition in the context of climate change and environmental degradation. In response, the Secretariat collaborated with FAO and other partners to develop the guidance entitled Living Soils, Productive Lands, Resilient Landscapes, Guidance on Avoiding, Reducing, and Reversing the Degradation of Agricultural Lands and Soils, together with a companion compilation of activities and a dedicated digital landing page on the Agri-food system technologies and innovation outlook knowledge base. The guidance is organized around three functional domains, integrated land use planning and sustainable land use systems for land degradation neutrality, integrated diverse and resilient production system across croplands, grasslands, pasturelands, and rangelands. and the enabling environment encompassing governance, tenure, institutional capacity, markets and value chains, science, innovation, data and investment and finance. I'm joined on the podium by the UNCCD Chief Scientist who will present the work summarized in the document CST/4. Thank you.


CST · Chair [28:04]:

I thank the Secretary of the Committee on Science and Technology. I now invite the Chief Scientist of UNCCD, Mr. Baron Joseph Orr, to make a presentation.


UNCCD · Chief Scientist · Baron Joseph Orr [28:29]:

Thank you, Chair. So all of you are aware that this official document spins out of decision 19, COP16, which is of course not the first time agriculture is addressed in UNCCD decisions. It's in many decisions, paragraphs throughout the history of the convention, but it is the first dedicated decision to the degradation of agricultural lands and soils. The main thrust of that decision in terms of the activities of the secretariat and partners was to develop guidance that responded to the many dimensions of degradation of agricultural lands. And this guidance was to be led by the Food and Agriculture Organization and other partners. And even though the decision is fairly broad in this regard, the recognition was there when this was being negotiated that there's a lot of guidance already out there on degradation of agricultural lands, a lot. And so the intent was to find a way to link, if you will, to that guidance rather than create something new. And there was a concerted effort not to make another 700-page handbook, but instead make something that would structure how we looked at this guidance in a way that matched the trajectory of the convention in terms of its work. And you'll see in the purpose here two major developments of the science policy interface in the past which helped focus the bridge between policy on one side and what we do on the ground, management. But there was a large space in between there that was considered bottlenecks, aspects of the work that we need to do in country that unless we had stronger scientific framing, we were failing in those spaces. The first one listed on the slide, integrated land use planning, was the recognition that basically, if you've already converted the land, you've lost natural capital. So if we can get into that planning space more, using the LDN principles of optimizing what we do where to therefore navigate the competing demands for land resources, we would reduce that pressure on land. It was a very big breakthrough. And as you probably know, it's been embraced across the board. It's now built into target one in the global biodiversity framework, for example, entirely modeled off of the innovations in this convention. And then that was followed by feedback from parties that basically said, okay, we're now understanding this focus on planning, land use planning decisions, and doing that in a more integrated way across social, economic, and environmental objectives. And then we fully understand sustainable land management. But still, how do we make this work in a systemic way across the landscape? How do we bridge that? And that was the work of the SPI in the last biennium, sustainable land use systems. So FAO took these as the kind of leading edge of where countries are going in addressing land degradation. And they framed this guidance with these concepts in mind. Oops, sorry, wrong thing. So how was the guidance developed? So it was highly consultative, and this is due to extraordinary effort on the part of FAO that engaged in all of these processes, the only one that they didn't entirely organize themselves is the second to last where we partnered with the Business for Land initiative so that we could work with the World Business Council on Sustainable Development who were already trying to move towards a bridge between how businesses approach working on land and the goal of doing that in a sustainable land management mode. And because they were already doing surveys, that information was also brought in. So it's quite rich and consultative process with all the different stakeholder groups of the convention. And so the scope and structure of the report, it's embedded in LDN, so it's attempting to use the response hierarchy, so we have that end-to-end coverage of avoiding degradation where it hasn't occurred, reducing the risk of it where we've already converted the lands, and fixing what's broken with the reversing degradation. But the idea was to link LDN, food security, ecosystem services, and resilient agri-food systems. So we're taking the food system approach end to end as well when looking at this guidance. And then, of course, trying to bring in what I just mentioned, planning, what we do on the ground, and the enabling conditions to make it successful. And as Olga mentioned just a moment ago, this idea that can we make this guidance a living document? and one that takes advantage of modern technology such as artificial intelligence. And I'll show you how that works in the next slide. But I missed one. So this is that framing where you can see the effort to try to build the structure of the guidance around the fundamental areas that I've just described. And then we move now to ATIO. And ATIO is the Agri-Food Systems Technologies and Innovations Outlook Knowledge Base. You'll notice that it doesn't say guidance. It says technologies and innovations. And of course, many publications on technologies and innovations are guidance oriented. But we sat down with this group in FAO It's the science and innovation side of FAO, very different than our normal partners in the land and water division. And we realized that we were onto something here, that it would benefit their progress with this AI-enabled tool to think about how they would incorporate guidance into the future. And it benefited us because it would make this something where we could use an AI enabled knowledge base, which is prioritizing content. Now, what do I mean by that? ATIO is partnership with 12 organizations that have made their databases, which are largely proprietary. They may not be restricted, but it's their database. available to Atzio so that when somebody makes a query, WOCOT, for example, is one of the elements inside here. If they make a query that's related to a best practice, WOCOT best practices will be findable by that AI long before the broad internet worth of content on best practices. So that way, validated guidance would rise to the top in the way that this works. And so to take that a step further, this is what this is being launched here at COP17 in more than one FAO side event. The idea here is to blend these different approaches to tapping into the guidance through this landing page or digital companion to the physical guidance. So you can see that there's the idea of taking that framework I showed you earlier and understand and explore it. That would be very much many of you would approach it that way because you already know where your question is in the relative relationship of all aspects of guidance. And then there's the traditional smart search and filter, but really tailored towards guiding a user. What was the previous step? What is the next step? And then there is simply ask. So the ask part of this is where we have a bot, just like in any other AI tool online, but again, prioritized. And what's important here is it's all traceable. So even in the bot, any response comes with where that response came from, or at least the majority of the meaning in that response is drawn from such and such a source, making it much easier for you, the user, to check if it's right. Because even though there are many efforts here to make sure of that, in any AI, that risk that there may be a moment where it's not correct is there, but it's much easier to check if the traceability is built in. And so with that chair, thank you very much. That's the guidance that was produced by FAO.


CST · Chair [39:15]:

I thank the chief scientist of UNCCD. I now open the floor for questions and comments. Participants wishing to take the floor are requested to press the microphone button. I ask delegations to limit their comments to no more than three minutes. I thank you for your kind cooperation. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Finland. Does Finland wish to take the floor? I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Argentina.


Argentina [40:24]:

Thank you, Chairperson, and I thank the Secretariat for preparing this document. The introduction to this topic is crucial within this committee and we believe that the agricultural sector is central to Argentina's development. This is in line with what the document states regarding land degradation and its importance. Above all, where there are large land surfaces where the convention has not yet focused on this type of productive development. The proposal for a new data portal gives rise for us to a concern in line with what has been stated already regarding the multiplication of tools and digital portals that require significant resources and an additional workload for the developing countries without supporting resources. the need to support these platforms and their low level of ownership, the low level of ownership among the parties are concerns and we need to consider the ownership of these tools and the balance with the resources required as well as the need for an additional line regarding donor funds. This is more beneficial to large agricultural systems, but there is already the science and technology platform available. I thank you.


CST · Chair [42:44]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Argentina. now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Switzerland, followed by China and Japan.


Switzerland [43:04]:

Thank you, Chair. Distinguished delegates, Switzerland would like to welcome this initiative and the work done so far as it is prescribed in the document. We would like to bring forward some comments that relate to the project of a living digital companion for sustainable guidance. presented under the name ATO Knowledge Base. For us, we consider this project so far a pilot project, which will need considerable future work to further improve the project. We would like to bring to the attention of the CST to several points. First, the partnership responsible for this project needs to be more clearly defined and thoroughly discussed with all potential partners involved. We have come to know that at least some partners indicated on the ATO landing page have not been fully aware of or have not been fully involved in this process. Second, issues of copyrights need to be carefully discussed as currently the AI that ATO uses still produces mistakes and false or inaccurate results. In general, we believe that the data presented through the use of AI need to be checked by humans for their accuracy before the AI product goes online. So this will need considerable time and investment. It will be important also to exploit further the synergies and avoid duplication with the UNCC designated WOCAD repository and landing page. As the Parties have already documented the many best practices on SLM on agricultural land, the substantial work of documenting these best practices with the land users on the ground need to be fully visible, need to be recognized and used in the system proposed by FAO and the Secretariat. We therefore encourage all partners involved to work closely together to avoid any duplication and use any funds efficiently. Switzerland encourages FAO and the Secretariat to propose and present a proof of concept of this project, as well as a plan regarding further development of the tool with a timeline, estimation of necessary investments, potential funders, the responsibilities and the governance of the project, and clearly define the data sharing policies. Thank you very much.


CST · Chair [46:08]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Switzerland. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of

China.


China [46:21]:

Thank you, Chairperson. We thank the Secretariat of the CST for their efforts and their focus on this agenda item. agricultural land degradation is a serious matter and our recommendations are the following: first, determine the types of land covered, whether arable, pasture, grassland, agroforestry, integrated systems, to balance food security and farmers and herders livelihoods, as well as environmental protection, emphasizing the differences in national conditions. Secondly, incorporate sustainable land management localization plans, considering water, soil, air, and biodiversity, and develop diversified production systems such as agroforestry integration to increase incomes. Third, recognize conservation tillage, rotational grazing, rainwater harvesting agriculture, agroforestry mixed management, and traditional agricultural and pastoral knowledge. as effectively, equally effective. For example, actions aimed at improving land productivity and sustainable management may not be considered degradation. Thank you.


CST · Chair [47:44]:

I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Japan, followed by the European Union and Morocco.


Japan [48:09]:

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Japan thanks the UNCCD Secretariat and FAO for developing the guidance as outlined in the official document. We welcome its focus on partnerships, investment, and technology. In this regard, I'd like to share several initiatives by Japan that contribute to sustainable land management. First, From partnerships, I'd like to refer to cooperation between Japan and Brazil. Since the 1970s, Japan has supported efforts to enhance agricultural productivity in Brazil through soil improvement and technical cooperation. From 2025 to 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, MAF in short, and Brazilian partner institutions implemented a pilot project to restore degraded soils and improve agricultural productivity, drawing on technologies developed by the Japanese private sector. Building on the positive results, JICA, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, plans to launch further cooperation projects to scale up the restoration of degraded agricultural land in Brazil. Second, with regard to investment, I'd like to introduce Midori Boost. Formulated by MAF in June this year, Midori Boost is a plan to accelerate environmental sustainability in the food and agriculture sectors with a particular focus on green transformation investment. To promote greater investment, the plan includes measures to enhance predictability for investors, strengthen rural communities' capacity to attract investment, and expand blended finance. The plan will also promote regenerative agriculture. We are developing guidelines tailored to Japan's agricultural conditions. including its warm and humid climate and paddy rice cultivation, which are typical of the Asian monsoon region. Finally, let me turn to Midori Infinity, Japan's initiative on technological innovation. Launched by MAF in May last year, Middle Infinity seeks to contribute to both a stable food supply and net zero emissions through the international deployment of Japan's innovative agricultural technologies and expertise. Through cooperation frameworks such as the joint crediting mechanisms, we will support the adoption of promising technologies developed in Japan. including methane emission reduction in rice paddies and enhanced soil carbon sequestration through biochar. We look forward to discussing these innovative technologies and approaches to regenerative agriculture and sustainable land management at our side event this Friday 00 PM in room met 30. As these examples demonstrate, Japan remains committed to advancing sustainable land management and restoring degraded agricultural land. We look forward to continuing these efforts together with our international partners. Thank you for your attention.


CST · Chair [52:21]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Japan. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the European Union.


EU [52:38]:

Good morning to all. The European Union and its 27 member states reiterate their position that Agricultural land degradation must be treated as a strategic priority for land degradation neutrality and food security. The European Union and its 27 member states warmly welcome the collaborative work undertaken by the Secretariat in partnership with the FAO and other stakeholders in preparing the non-prescriptive guidance entitled Living Soil, Productive Lands, Resilient Landscape, while we regret that the full document was not yet available the time of our review. We recognize its potential to serve as a valuable resource for diverse stakeholders. We strongly support the emphasis placed on agroecological approaches as a cornerstone for avoiding, reducing, and reversing the degradation of agricultural lands and soils. By integrating diversified and resilient production system, for instance, in the framework of agroecology and agroforestry and sustainable rangeland and grazing management, this method enhances soil health, sustainable water use and regulation, biodiversity and productivity while supporting stable livelihoods and reducing environmental and social risk. Linking agroecology with sustainable land and water management and inclusive value chains further strengthens its potential to deliver long-term ecological and economic benefits across agricultural landscapes. We acknowledge the adaptability of this guidance to a wide range of end users, including national focal point, policy makers, land use planners, practitioners, investors, farmers, pastoralists, indigenous people, and civil society organizations. We also commend its ambition to coordinate mechanisms across the Rio Convention, ensuring a more integrated approach to sustainable land management. The guidance effectively covers key element of decision 19/COP16, including amending LDN implementation within integrated land use planning, enabling informed decision on land allocation, management strategies, and trade-offs. including the importance of an enabling environment encompassing secure land tenure, inclusive governance, coherent policies, institutional capacity, functioning markets, innovation and accessible finance, including the recognition that effective LDN starts while with well-being, ensuring that measures to combat degradation also improve the economic security and livelihood of local community farmers and elders. We also appreciate that the text goes beyond decision 19/COP16 by addressing the prioritization of avoidance within LDN response, reducing of over reliance on restoration, particularly in fragile system. To go beyond the integration of future climate shift into planning, ensuring that party can anticipate and adapt to evolving environmental and socioeconomic condition. and the proposed role for a living knowledge system using digital tool as AI-driven guidance to support parties in collaboration with partners. We recommend addressing the remaining gap from decision 19/COP16, including monitoring and assessment of agricultural land to avoid duplication and improve coordination. including maladaptation risk ensuring that intervention remains effective under changing condition ensuring the development of inclusive value chain to support equitable benefit for all land user we further recommend identifying the potential barriers political social economic to transformative changes that may be needed on the future climate condition thank you chair


CST · Chair [57:22]:

I thank the distinguished representative of the European Union. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Morocco.


Morocco [57:30]:

Mr. President, Chair, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, delegates, the delegation of the Kingdom of Morocco would like to express its appreciation to the Secretariat for the quality of the document drafted together with the FAO and the stakeholders. This document directly concerns the life of our rural populations. More than 60% of land degradation is of human origin, affects agricultural land. At the same time, the food demands will increase by 2050. Preserving our soils and land is a strategic imperative for land degradation neutrality. Morocco would like to underscore four messages. First, the hierarchy of action, avoid, reduce and reverse degradation. Restoration prevention must come first nationally. Secondly, The production systems that are integrated and diversified are important agroecology, agroforestry, uh, livestock and agriculture integration, improve the soil health, the regulation of waters and biodiversity is… as long as they are adapted to local realities. Third, the conducive environment. We must ensure land tenure is legitimate, promoting inclusive and responsible governance. We must ensure that small-scale producers and women and the youth have access to financing and value chains with equitable access to the benefits. A fourth innovation, the knowledge database, ATIO facilitates access to proven resources while other tools such as RAIS help to repair zones with potential, the highest amount of productive potential addressing climate and planning. This should remain a central tool. Morocco supports the concluding documents, living soils, productive lands and resilient landscapes this adapted to local context I thank you chair


CST · Chair [59:28]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Morocco I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Kenya


Kenya [59:38]:

uh chair Kenya applies land degradation neutrality response hierarchy on agricultural lands and soils, prioritizing the avoidance of degradation, the reduction of ongoing degradation, and the reversal of past degradation through restoration and rehabilitation, and embeds related assessment, planning, and monitoring within existing integrated land use planning and other related national processes. Kenya welcomes the guidance and the accompanying digital tools and conclusions reached by the CST and its partners on the North on avoiding, reducing and reversing land and soil degradation of agricultural lands and recommends support to state parties on awareness raising of the guidelines and its digital tools for early adoption. Resource mobilization for implementation of the guidelines to avoiding, reducing and reversing land and soil degradation of agricultural land is also our appeal. We call for increased investment in particularly in research technology transfer, innovation, extension services and sustainable financing to enable farmers, particularly smallholders, to adopt resilient land management practices, support to promotion of sustainable commodity production, application of a precautionary approach in the design and implementation of agriculture related policies and investment plans, reduction of ongoing degradation and reversing past degradation and encourages stronger synergies to deliver resilient agricultural systems that enhance food security, restore ecosystems and improve livelihood. Thank you, Mr. Chair.


CST · Chair [1:02:12]:

Thank the distinguished representative of Kenya. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Zimbabwe, followed by Mexico and Bangladesh.


Zimbabwe [1:02:26]:

Chairperson and distinguished delegates, Zimbabwe thanks the Secretariat for the preparation of this important agenda item and takes the floor to offer the following observations. Zimbabwe supports the promotion of sustainable agriculture, soil health, ecosystems restoration, and sustainable land management as central pillars for avoiding, reducing, and reversing land and soil degradation. In this regard, Zimbabwe places particular emphasis on the management of fragile soils and soil degradation, which remain a significant and growing threat to dryland ecosystems and agricultural productivity in Zimbabwe and across the Southern African region. Zimbabwe's national experience demonstrates that sustainable agricultural practices are effective, scalable, and cost effective. cost efficient tools for combating land and soil degradation. In particular, the Pfumvuza Intwaso Conservation Agricultural Program has enhanced soil moisture retention, improved soil fertility, and strengthened smallholder farmer resilience to drought, while our national tree planting program and ongoing conservation works on arable lands have contributed measurably to restoring vegetative cover, reducing soil erosion and reversing degradation trends. These programs offer replicable evidence-based models for achieving land degradation neutrality targets. While these national efforts have shown strong results, their scale and long-term sustainability depend heavily on adequate predictable and accessible financing. Zimbabwe wishes to underscore that increased investment in sustainable agriculture, soil health restoration and sustainable land management would have a transformative impact for developing countries, particularly in Africa where limited fiscal space continues to constrain the pace of implementation. We therefore call upon parties, the global mechanism and financial partners to prioritize and scale up financing mechanisms that support farmer level and landscape level restoration initiatives of this nature. In conclusion, Zimbabwe reaffirms its support for the draft decision under this agenda item, with continued emphasis on financing, technology transfer and capacity building to enable developing countries to scale up proven locally driven solutions to land and soil degradation. I thank you.


CST · Chair [1:05:37]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Zimbabwe. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Mexico.


Mexico [1:05:51]:

Mexico recognized the importance of avoiding, reducing and reversing the land degradation and agricultural soils. as part of efforts to achieve land degradation neutrality, strengthen food security and resilience through approaches based on scientific evidence and adapted national circumstances, needs and priorities, while respecting national legal, institutional and public policy frameworks. It is important to have no duplicated efforts for the parties, And we also want to highlight the need to find funding and non funding ways to reinforce national data and systems for the parties that are already working on this. Thank you.


CST · Chair [1:06:34]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Mexico. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Bangladesh, followed by Yemen and Indonesia.


Bangladesh [1:07:09]:

Mr. Chair, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, good morning. We thank the Secretariat and FAO for this tremendous effort and welcome the guidance. Bangladesh, a densely populated and land scarce country, strongly supports treating agricultural land degradation as a strategic priority. Applying the LDN response hierarchy is highly relevant to our context, where new emerging lands, wetlands and coastal agricultural areas facing degradation from salinity intrusion, riverbank erosion and flash flood pulse dynamics, drivers not always well captured by existing global indicators. we encourage the guidance and the ATIO knowledge base to further reflect such deltaic and floodplain context. We particularly welcome the emphasis on secure and equitable tenure as an enabling conditions. In Bangladesh, land management and tenure clarity remain central to enabling smallholders and vulnerable communities to invest in sustainable land management. We also support the guidance attention to inclusive finance and value chain, which resonate with our efforts to link soil health interventions supported by Soil Research Development Institute with farmer livelihoods. Bangladesh welcomes forward looking planning approaches and look forward to using the ATIO knowledge base to support national implementation with limited technical capacity. We look forward to constructive engagement on this agenda item. I thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [1:09:07]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Bangladesh. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Yemen.


Yemen [1:09:16]:

Thank you, Chair. Yemen welcomes the guidance on avoiding, reducing and reversing land and soil degradation of agricultural lands and appreciates its integrated approach linking sustainable land and water management, resilient production systems, food security and livelihood. For Yemen, this issue is particularly important as land degradation is closely interconnected with drought, water scarcity, pressure on agricultural resources, and vulnerability of rural communities. We particularly welcome the emphasis on the LDN response hierarchy, avoiding degradation, reducing ongoing degradation, and reversing degradation where necessary. and believe that prevention and early action are especially important to countries facing increasing climate and water related pressures. At the same time, we would like to emphasize that effective implementation requires adequate means of implementation for countries such as Yemen, strengthening technical and institutional capacities, improving access to reliable land, soil and water data. facilitating technology transfer and innovation and ensuring accessible finance are essential. We also appreciate the recognition that implementation should respond to national circumstances and local realities. Solutions for agricultural land degradation should be context specific and should meaningfully involve farmers, pastoralists and local communities and youth. Finally, Yemen encourages parties and partners to ensure that these efforts contribute not only to land degradation neutrality, but also to drought resilience, food security and sustainable livelihood.

Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [1:11:19]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Yemen. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Indonesia, followed by Algeria.


Indonesia [1:11:32]:

Thank you, Chair. Indonesia strongly support science-based approach to avoid reduce and reverse land and soil degradation in agricultural areas with particular emphasis on enhancing soil health. This decision significantly strengthen the food, land, water nexus framework. Land degradation directly impairs agricultural productivity. To drive effective action on the ground, future effort must focus on more precisely quantifying the specific impact of land degradation on crop yields. Furthermore, Indonesia notes that current reporting under SDG target 15.3.1 and LDGN relies on land productivity sub-indicators that do not fully capture actual agricultural crop yields. Moving forward, we urge the adoption of indicators that more accurately reflect true crop productivity on the ground. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [1:12:56]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Indonesia. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Algeria.


Algeria [1:13:06]:

Thank you. Chair, ladies and gentlemen, members of the committee, the delegation of Algeria would like to thank the CST and the Secretariat for the work done on land degradation and on agricultural soil, as well as for the guidance proposed in the document. We believe that the work presented in this document are a meaningful scientific contribution to the implementation of neutrality of land degradations, and we support in particular the hierarchy of the priority of actions proposed in the document avoid, reduce, and reversing land and soil degradation. with restoration and rehabilitation. We believe that this hierarchy is particularly relevant for those countries facing aridity, drought, and the progressive degradation of soil. Prevention should indeed be the first priority. It is generally more efficient and effective to preserve the ecological and productive functions of the land than waiting for it to be greatly degraded to undertake restoration. When degradation has already happened, actions should target the reduction of the processes responsible for this degradation, including erosion, the loss of vegetable coverage, land degradation, soil degradation, and excessive pressure on natural resources. When land is greatly degraded, restoration and rehabilitation should be implemented based on a scientific diagnosis bearing in mind the climate environment and socio-economic realities on the ground we also would like to underscore the importance of integrated land management and water management in the arid and semi-arid regions the availability of water is essential for land productivity soil quality and restoration activities we also support the drafting of legal frameworks and strategies that favor land health and the participation of farmers, cattle raisers, local economies in the private sector. We must measure also the recovery of land function, the preservation of soil biodiversity, ecosystem resilience, productivity, and the profits for local populations. Lastly, we encourage the integration of this hierarchy of reducing, avoiding, reducing and reversing in national planning, integrated planning management systems for national soil and in the national evaluation of follow-up systems. This approach will allow for a strengthening of land degradation neutrality, food security, land and territory resilience and the sustainability of subsistence. Thank you very much.


CST · Chair [1:16:08]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Algeria. now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Lao People's Democratic Republic.


Lao People's Democratic Republic [1:16:32]:

Mr. Chair, distinguished delegates, Lao PDR thanks the secretariat, FAO, stakeholders for preparation of the document and guidance, living soil, productive land, resilient landscape. We are strongly welcome this strategic framing, the delegation of the agricultural land undermine food security and the rural livelihoods must be placed at the core pillar of our nation offer toward land degradation neutrality, not second concern. We also welcome the forward looking approach of the guidance for our country. where shifting cultivation rainfed system are widespread and the climate variability is already affect harvest. This planning is essential for adapting crop water management and rural infrastructure. In this regard, we wish to highlight of the request for the consideration. First, remained data and monitoring for agriculture, land degradation in the compact of land landscape. So we call for technical support to strengthen our national capacity. Second, there is the cap in access finance for smallholder, so we encourage simplify community level funding pathway. Thus, the exists in integrating traditional and indigenous knowledge with scientific innovation. We are urging that further guidance including mechanism to increase this knowledge into national plan, national action plan. Lao PDR support the conclusion presents in the document in particular the concern and bring coordination for implementation and community well-being and livelihood and looking forward the reflex in the decision to be considered by convention of the party. Thank you, Mr. Chair.


CST · Chair [1:19:12]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Lao People's Democratic Republic. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Brazil, followed by South Africa and Mongolia.


Brazil [1:19:32]:

Thank you, Chair, for giving us the floor. Brazil believes that addressing the degradation of agricultural lands requires us to look beyond the land itself and consider the broader economic and social conditions that shape how it is managed. Poverty, hunger, and food insecurity can contribute to unsustainable land management when farmers and communities have limited access to productive resources, technologies, and opportunities. At the same time, Land degradation undermines agricultural productivity and livelihoods, reinforcing those same challenges. Breaking this cycle requires approaches that can maintain productive and resilient lands while improving living conditions and generating sustainable economic opportunities. This is particularly important for food security. Sustainable and resilient agri-food systems depend on the productive capacity and resilience of small-scale producers and family farmers, as well as their access to the knowledge and technologies needed to manage land sustainably. Approaches such as social technologies and locally adapted community-based approaches can all contribute to this goal, alongside the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples and local communities. Sustainable bioeconomy can also play an important role in connecting these dimensions. By adding value through the sustainable management of land and biodiversity and supporting diversified and locally adapted value chains, bioeconomy approaches can generate income and sustainable livelihoods while creating incentives for avoiding, reducing and reversing land degradation. In this sense, Sustainable land management can contribute simultaneously to productive lands, food security, and economic opportunities. However, these opportunities depend on the conditions necessary for their implementation. Adequate and accessible finance, together with access to knowledge and technology, are essential, particularly for affected developing countries. In this regard, developed country parties should provide substantial financial resources and other forms of support to assist affected developing country parties in implementing the Convention in line with their obligations under 6 and 20. Mr. Chair, we would also like to comment on the FEO report we are considering for this decision. We would like to highlight that despite the very good efforts provided by the FAO team, the report does not provide in a comprehensive manner issues that are important for many countries in terms of sustainable land management. And in this regard, we would say that we need to consider this report in a very careful manner when we make reference to it in our decision to COP17. For Brazil, integrating perspectives is essential if our efforts to avoid, reduce and reverse land degradation are to translate into more resilient food systems, improved livelihoods and sustainable development. Thank you.


CST · Chair [1:23:24]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Brazil. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of South Africa.


South Africa [1:23:37]:

Thank you, Chair. As South Africa, we welcome the guidance, living soils, productive lands, resilient landscape, and appreciate the collaboration between the FLO and the Secretariat as well as the partners in developing this important resource. We support the application of the land degradation neutrality response hierarchy through the avoidance of degradation, reduction of ongoing degradation and reversal of past degradation through restoration and rehabilitation. South Africa believes that the healthy soils and productive landscape are fundamental to food security, climate resilience and biodiversity conservation as well as sustainable livelihoods. Chair and distinguished guests, South Africa believes that prevention is better than cure. Thus, sustainable management of non-degraded land should be accorded the highest priority as highlighted in the LGN response strategy. South Africa continues to implement sustainable land management through conservation agriculture, range land management, agroforestry, working with smallholder farmers and through research activities. We are also implementing new policies, for example, the Pedala Prevention of the Preservation and Prevention and Development of Agricultural Land Act of 2024, which provides an important national policy instrument to support implementation of this UNCCD objective. because the act promotes protection of agricultural land, agro ecosystem management, land capability assessment, special planning, sustainable land use, and strengthen monitoring through national agro eco information system. Together with South Africa's investment in ICT, GIS, earth observation technology, and sustainable national resource management, The policy strengthens the country's contribution towards achieving LDN, food security and resilient agricultural landscapes. As South Africa, we welcome the emphasis of this integrated land use planning, sustainable land and water management, secure land tenure, responsible governance, functioning value chains, institutional capacity and access to finance as critical enabling conditions for successful restoration. these sentiments also agree with the novel lens to achieve framework. In our country, we have developed a unique lens to achieve model known as the mega living landscape approach that integrates agricultural lands, protected areas, ecological corridors, and community managed landscapes into a single framework for sustainable land management. This creates important synergies across the Rio Convention, delivering multiple benefits for land restoration, biodiversity conservation, climate resilience, water security, and food security. We acknowledge the important role that private sector actors can play in facilitating sustainable land management through investment, market development, innovation, and risk sharing mechanism with producers. As such, capacity development remains a central to implementation. So we encourage the Secretariat to support increased efforts towards investment in activities that will enable implementation of the land degradation neutrality strategy. This would include support for technical advisory systems and some of the community-based land management initiatives. The priority areas include soil health management, agroecology, regenerative agriculture, climate smart agriculture, sustainable grazing, rangeland restoration and monitoring of restoration outcome. South Africa calls for improving the capacity of parties to monitor and prevent land degradation while supporting sustainable livelihood and resilient landscapes. South Africa further encourages stronger governance and regulatory measures. measures for agricultural lands and soils to ensure long-term sustainability and resilience. I thank you.


CST · Chair [1:28:30]:

I thank the distinguished representative of South Africa. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Mongolia, followed by Niger and Australia.


Mongolia [1:28:41]:

Thank you, Chair. Mongolia welcomes the guidance and avoiding reducing reversing the land degradation of agriculture land and soil, including the proposed AI enabled the knowledge platform. Mongolia encourages to promote diverse, integrated, locally appropriate agriculture pastoral practice, recognizing that the effective solution should respond to national circumstances and ecological and production system and knowledge and priority of farmers, pastoralists and local community. Digital tools and artificial intelligence can make the technical guidance more accessible and help decision makers identify appropriate land management options. However, AI must support but not replace scientific assessment, the ground basic evidence and human judgment. We call the responsible for AI founded on transparency, human oversight, data protection, scientific quality, accountability, respect for knowledge and holders. AI system should clearly communicate uncertainty, limitation and shouldn't reproduce the bias or unsuitable recommendation for local condition. Knowledge must remain accessible whole society, including the farmers, herders, women, youth, local authority extension service. This requires national and local languages, understandable formats and alternatives communities with limited digital connectivity. Mongolia supports the guidance and proposes that these principles be clearly reflected in the decision. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [1:30:52]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Mongolia. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Niger.


Niger [1:31:03]:

Merci.

Thank you. On behalf of Niger, I want to say that land degradation speed is faster than restoration and the reason is the demographic pressure, climate change and the lack of financial resources to act on restoration. Niger is very aware of the seriousness of this situation and is trying to be as efficient as possible to reverse degradation. It is working for effective land restoration, monitoring the state of degradation and the effectiveness of restoral actions through activities by the National Environmental Monitoring Centre and research institutions. Niger encourages the training of specialists on soil conservation and restoral of degraded soils. They will certainly contribute to supporting the restoration process in an effective way. Niger is also aware that land productivity in its current state cannot support the needs of communities. Thus, we must work to increase soil performance for greater production. Niger promotes the NDT working with state structures, civil society development projects, and research and training institutions. In conclusion, we want to congratulate FAO on the quality of this report, which reflects the situation as regards the management of agricultural lands. Thank you.


CST · Chair [1:33:20]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Niger. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Australia.


Australia [1:33:31]:

Thank you, Chair. Australian farmers are not only food and fibre producers, they are also stewards of vast natural resources, playing an important role in caring for the land and ecosystems on which their livelihood and rural communities depend. Like many countries, Australia faces challenges from land degradation, including soil erosion, acidity and declining soil carbon levels across agricultural landscapes. Australian farmers are actively adopting innovative and regenerative practices such as no-till farming, rotational grazing and landscape rehydration to improve soil health, increase carbon storage and protect biodiversity. Australia strongly supports the goal of sustainable agriculture and recognises its importance for global security, healthy ecosystems and resilient rural communities. the same time, international approaches and commitments relating to sustainable agriculture should recognise the diversity of landscapes, climates, production systems and management practices across countries. Flexible approaches that account for local contexts are often the most effective in delivering lasting environmental and productivity outcomes. Australia's experience demonstrates that productive agriculture and environmental sustainability can go hand in hand when supported by awareness, innovation, and science-based decision making. Thank you.


CST · Chair [1:35:07]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Australia. Distinguished delegates, we still have nine speakers on the list. Due to time constraints, I hereby close the list of speakers. I encourage delegations to limit their statements to no more than three minutes. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Uruguay.


Uruguay [1:35:35]:

Thank you, Chairperson. Uruguay recognises the fundamental role of agriculture and production systems in food security, livelihoods and sustainable development, as well as the need to strengthen the Convention's contribution to preventing degradation and to the sustainable management of agricultural land. We consider it essential to strengthen national information monitoring and evaluation systems, recognizing the data methodologies and systems already developed by each party. Decision making must be based on precise, territorially relevant information generated at the national level, which allows local knowledge to be considered and the particularities of production systems to be understood and measures adapted to each territory. Science, technology, innovation and knowledge must be at the service of the implementation of the Convention. In this regard, Uruguay considers it especially relevant to make progress in technological and scientific solutions that strengthen national capacities to manage agricultural land sustainably. important that new tools, methodologies and applications promoted within the framework of the Convention be accompanied by adequate resources for the development of national ownership, avoiding generating new reporting burdens or parallel systems that duplicate existing efforts. Uruguay thus reaffirms its commitment to sustainable agriculture based on science, innovation and evidence, and to the strengthening of national systems as a basis for effective implementation of the convention. Thank you.


CST · Chair [1:37:25]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Uruguay. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Cambodia.


Cambodia [1:37:37]:

Mr. Chair, distinguished delegates, Cambodia warmly welcome this timely guidance from the FAO and partners. For Cambodia, this framework is not just guidance, but it speaks directly to the reality we face on the ground. Guidance emphasizes on enabling conditions such as tenure security, inclusive finance, and equitable benefit sharing. It's particularly crucial for Cambodia, for our indigenous people, pastoralists and local community whose livelihood are tied to land and natural resource. Friend caning customary tenure system is fundamental. Cambodia also recognize that bio bio physical measure must go hand in hand with this enabling condition. Cambodia is already advancing regenerative agriculture such as cover crop, intercropping and conservation agriculture. And our Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has set out an ambitious target to bring 30% of agricultural land under climate smart production by 2030. Mr. Chair, for Cambodia, this framework reinforces our own path forward restoring soil health, building climate resilience and securing the livelihood of our rural community. We thank the FAO and partners for this invaluable contribution and we look forward to continue our collaboration. Thank you, Mr. Chair.


CST · Chair [1:39:34]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Cambodia. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Tunisia. Distinguished representative of Tunisia, the floor is yours if you would like it.


Tunisia [1:40:36]:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I did not request the floor.


CST · Chair [1:40:48]:

Thank you. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Senegal.


Senegal [1:40:58]:

Thank you, Chairperson. Distinguished delegates, Senegal congratulates the Secretariat and FAO on the excellent guidance report on resilient landscapes. For a country like Senegal in the Sahel zone, vulnerable to drought, agricultural land are a central pillar of our food system. We emphasize the importance of integrating the assessment and evaluation of land degradation to national policies in order to operationalize this. Senegal is focusing on agroecology approved and integrated approaches, inclusive governance, value chains, and other tools. We note the efforts on the knowledge base and the geolocalization tools. These could be useful instruments, but to do this they must be based on reliable, verified data adapted to national contexts and local knowledge. In order that they may benefit developing countries, capacities must be strengthened. There must be increased partnerships and mobilization of resources. Living soils are crucial for productive land. Senegal reiterates its readiness to work to implement the recommendations. I thank you.


CST · Chair [1:43:05]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Senegal. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of CGIAR.


CGIAR [1:43:19]:

Thank you, Chair. CGIAR is the world's largest publicly funded agricultural research partnership dedicated to transforming food, land and water system in the context of climate crisis. We welcome this item agenda and in particular, its recognition that avoiding, reducing, and reversing land and soil degradation requires integrated management of land, soil, and water. This is particularly important for agriculture. Agriculture is the world's largest land use and the major use of both blue and green water. How we manage agricultural landscapes directly affects soil moisture, groundwater, water quality, and our resilience to drought. For this reason, we need to manage soil and water together. CGAR research and experience across different agricultural landscapes show that integrated approaches to land and water management, soil health, agroecology, agroforestry, biodiversity, and climate resilient agriculture can help restore degraded agricultural lands. Healthy soils retain more water and reduce erosion. while better managed agricultural landscapes can capture rainwater, support groundwater recharge, and strengthen resilience. Together, these approaches can support productivity, water security, and resilience for farmers and rural communities. But to scale these solutions, we also need evidence and accountability. We therefore support strengthening national soil health monitoring, combining information on soil health with agriculture productivity, ecosystem service, and livelihood outcomes. Finally, science alone will not deliver transformation. Our experience showed that long-term outcomes also depends on enable environment, including among others, secure tenure, inclusive governance, institutional coordination, local participation, capacity sharing, and access to finance. Our message to Paris is therefore simple. We cannot manage soil, water, biodiversity, and agricultural production separately. We need to manage the agricultural landscape as one interconnected system. By doing so, agricultural lands can become a central part of the solution of land restoration, drought resilience, food security, and water security. We stand ready to partner with Paris in taking this agenda item forward. Thank you.


CST · Chair [1:45:44]:

I thank the distinguished representative of CGIAR. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, followed by the Food and Agriculture Organization.


IUCN [1:46:10]:

Thank you, Chair.

IUCN applauds the efforts to implement Decision 19/COP16, and we were pleased to contribute to the Living Soils, Productive Lands.

Resilient Landscapes Guidance document.

This is a priority issue for IUCN, as our members have identified food systems and sustainable agriculture as one of eight transformational areas for nature and people in our 20-year strategic vision.

We welcome the report's.

Reference to the LDN hierarchy of avoiding, reducing, and reversing degradation and encourage its consistent reflection throughout implementation efforts. As the report highlights, attention often focuses on restoration while avoiding new degradation and reducing existing pressures receive less emphasis, even though in many.

Circumstances they're the most effective and cost efficient pathways to maintain healthy soils, ecosystem function, and agricultural productivity. IUCN also welcomes the recognition of agroecology, regenerative agriculture and organic agriculture. We encourage further recognition of nature-based solutions for agriculture as a proven approach to support the objectives of the Convention and offer the global standard to ensure their integrity. The increased attention given to soil health is clearly merited, and we support continued efforts to strengthen policy.

Frameworks that promote both soil health and long-term soil security.

In line with IUCN's resolution 8.007 adopted at last year's World Conservation Congress.

Finally, the recognition of farmers and pastoralists as key agents of change and essential partners to address.

Land and soil degradation is critical.

Their meaningful inclusion in policy design, implementation and monitoring is paramount to ensuring effective and lasting outcomes on the ground.

I thank you.


CST · Chair [1:47:56]:

I thank the distinguished representative, the IUCN. now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization.


FAO [1:48:07]:

Thank you, Chair, for giving the floor to FAO. In the face of a growing world population, rising food demand, increasing land degradation and droughts, geopolitical risks and shocks such as the fertilizer crisis, Agri-food systems are under unprecedented pressure. And yet, we need to produce 50% more food, feed, fibers, and biofuel in 2050 compared to the production of 2012. This is why this item is of outmost importance of all of us, governments, farmers, producers, technical, and financial partners. Chair, in response to decision 19 COP16 FAO in collaboration with the UNCCD Secretariat and a broad range of partners, develop the living soils productive lands, resilient landscapes, guidance on avoiding reducing and reversing the degradation of agricultural lands and soils. We would like to sincerely thank all parties, partners and experts who have contributed knowledge and tools to develop the guidance and its digital companion. FAO is encouraged to see that the key messages of the guidance reflected in the conclusions before the committee and in the draft decision under consideration. In particular, We welcome the emphasis on the land degradation neutrality response hierarchy, integrated land use planning, sustainable land and water management, resilient production systems, and the enabling conditions needed for implementation, including tenure, governance, investment, and finance. FAO also welcomes the recognition of the agri-food systems technologies and innovations outlook knowledge base as a living knowledge platform that will provide countries with access to continuously updated tools, innovations and evidence-based solutions. FAO remains committed to supporting countries in translating this guidance into action through technical assistance, capacity development, policy support, knowledge exchange, mobilizing partnerships, including the private sector, investments and resources needed to accelerate implementation on the ground. One of such partnerships we would like to highlight is SoilFAIR program, soil mapping for resilient agri-food systems implemented by FAO in collaboration with financial partners in African and Central America to develop integrated soil information systems and decision support tools, improve fertilizer use efficiency, soil management and productivity to strengthen the resilience of agri-food systems and livelihoods of millions of farmers. FAO looks forward to working with interested countries and partners to move from guidance to implementation, including through supporting parties in strengthening national assessments, mapping agricultural lands and soils, identifying potential areas for restoration and investment, and developing programs to scale up integrated approaches across diverse agricultural landscapes to achieve food security and nutrition, and resilience to drought, increasing aridity and water scarcity. Chair, FAO as one of the consortium partners of WOCAT will continue promoting the use of the global WOCAT SLM database as the UNCCD designated database already used by the parties. Hence, Atio AI aggregator draws on original high quality data sets such as WOCAT to ease data access on its interface. There are already 2000 data points on Atio sourced from WOCAT and we encourage parties and partners to keep contributing to and using WOCAT database. This will enable enrich the guidance and its digital companion with experiences and practices from the field. We hope that the guidance and its digital companion will serve as a source of knowledge and a catalyst for country-led action, innovation, investment and partnerships at scale. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [1:53:31]:

Thank the distinguished representative of FAO. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of United Nations Environment Programme.


UNEP [1:53:43]:

Thank you, Chair. UNEP supports applying the land degradation neutrality response hierarchy and welcomes its specific application to agricultural lands and soils, prioritizing The avoidance of degradation first, followed by reducing ongoing degradation and reversing degradation where it has already occurred. We welcome the development of the FAO guidance, living soils, productive lands, resilient landscapes, and looks forward to its availability as a practical resource to support country level implementation. UNEP encourages an integrated land health approach, recognizing the close connections between soil health, biodiversity, climate, drought, water, and sustainable food systems. Soil health, while often overlooked, remains a critical indicator of land health and is the primary source of the world's food security. It is also a significant carbon sink, critical to drought resilience as well as climate mitigation and adaptation. UNEP supports stronger science, monitoring and integrated land use planning to inform policy, investment and restoration decisions alongside the enabling conditions needed for implementation, including policy coherence, inclusive governance and increased public and private finance. Finally, UNEP supports strengthened cooperation across the Rio Conventions to advance coherent and mutually reinforcing action on land, climate and biodiversity. I thank you.


CST · Chair [1:55:27]:

I thank the distinguished delegate, pardon me, I thank the distinguished representative of UNEP. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of civil society, Fundacion Casa Cultura Ambiental Casa Ecologista.


civil society and indigenous peoples [1:55:49]:

Chair, distinguished delegates, on behalf of civil society and indigenous peoples, we welcome this important guidance on how to avoid, reduce, and reverse land and soil degradation of agricultural land. We hail in particular the recognition that agricultural land is essential when it comes to attaining land degradation neutrality. And also we welcome the fact that the enabling conditions such as secure land tenure, inclusive governance, financing, participation and innovation are essential if we are to succeed in these endeavors. As civil society, we firmly support an integrated approach that brings together the environmental, social, and economic dimensions, and that also puts people and communities at the center of restoration efforts for agricultural land. We urge the parties to ensure that the following considerations be fully incorporated into relevant policies and implementation efforts. Agroecology and regenerative approaches based on the rights of agricultures should be focused on future action. This means improving soil health. biodiversity, food nutritional value, water retention, climate resilience, and long-term productivity. There should be a focus on restoration led by the communities. We call for an increase in investment initiatives for restoration that are led on the local level and that are focused on sustainable management of land and water backed by mechanisms for financing that are direct, accessible, and long-term. Secure land tenure is a fundamental enabling condition. Particular attention should be given to women, the youth, indigenous peoples, small scale agriculturists, pastoralists, and communities whose rights are often not secured or are insufficiently recognized. Inclusive governance and participation are crucial. We urge parties to bolster civil society participation as well as that of communities in the process of planning, implementation, follow-up, and adoption and decision-making regarding land management, agricultural land management. Healthy soils should be recognized as the basis of drought resilience. Investments in healthy soil should be considered a central component of national adaptation and resilience strategies facing drought. Financing, knowledge, and innovation should reach local actors. We call for simplified financing mechanisms. They must also be accessible for small scale farmers, pastoralists, women, the youth and community organizations. We also encourage investment in learning between and among farmers as well as participative services networks of community knowledge and South-South cooperation, as well as dissemination of restoration efforts. We should also see a focus on gender awareness and community-based follow-up. Women play an important and essential role in agriculture. We urge the parties to improve access for women to land, financing, training, technology, and leadership opportunities. Lastly, land restoration, agricultural land restoration should strengthen the synergies among the Rio Convention. Agricultural land is at the intersection of land degradation, climate change, the loss of biodiversity and food systems, as well as rural development. Excellencies, healthy soil and productive agricultural land are crucial for food security, the restoration of ecosystems, climate resilience, and sustainable means of life. Success will not depend merely on technological solutions, but rather we must empower communities that are already restoring land and building resilience the world over. I thank you kindly.


CST · Chair [2:00:18]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Fondation Kolsa. We have heard the last speaker on this agenda item. I now give the floor to the Chief Scientist of UNCCD to respond to the questions and comments raised.


UNCCD · Chief Scientist · Baron Joseph Orr [2:00:38]:

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to all the honorable delegates that provided excellent interventions. And I'll try to hit all of them, or at least as many as I can. I will begin with the inputs that came from the honorable delegate from Argentina. and particularly the emphasis on where UNCCD fits inside of this tool and that ownership question. And what I can assure you is that one of the advantages of the digital companion, ATIO, is the fact that it's essentially a significantly enhanced search engine. So today, if somebody wants to know about, for example, sustainable land use systems, which is a relatively recent UNCCD publication, they would be hard pressed to find it, even with a normal Google search. But because all of UNCCD's guidance documents have been, this is my word, not a technical word, but been ingested by this AI-enabled tool so that they are accessible at the top and prioritized, it means that when a query comes in, that individual will receive information from those guidance documents among all the others that are in that prioritized space in ATIO. In other words, many of you mentioned raising awareness. Well, the reality is, and I'm going to speak very frankly because as the chief scientist, I am regularly tasked with making people aware of this convention. Awareness is low, very low, nowhere near our partner environmental agreements. But to have a mechanism that doesn't attempt to replicate or provide a new platform, but rather as a platform for accessing what we already have at FAO, at UNCCD, CGIAR, IUCN, and I could be speaking for the rest of my time listing the number of organizations who have guidance that has been validated and contributed to the global community that is underutilized, but maybe will be more utilized now if this works. And there is a clear recommendation from Switzerland to be sure that it works. And I guess my approach to that is spinning off the intervention from FAO, this is a living guidance approach. And you are the mechanism that will lead to its accuracy increasing, your use of this. The general public will also use it. They will become aware of everything that you do through the WOCOT database best practices that are there. They will come right to the surface in this space. It doesn't take them away from WOCOT, the traceability is there, and if they're actually considering applying a best practice, they will end up in WOCOT. They won't get the guidance on what to do, and atio, they will find out where they can go to find out what to do. It's therefore a companion, that word was chosen very carefully in the FAO context. In terms of the resources required, actually there are quite a few of you who touched upon resources. So at its foundation, None are required. And I mean that. At this foundation, the investment to build this has already been made. Its fundamental strategic place in what FAO is doing has already been decided, and not by us. It was decided for other reasons. We are leveraging something that already exists. And they're the same countries. The countries that are party to this convention that are members of FAO are one to one, almost to the letter. And so the idea here is that there's no investment required by UNCCD to keep this moving. What will keep it moving is if it works. If it works. and it looks like likely that it's on the right path to work, that investment will come. Then the next thing to think about, and I'm going to be very direct here, is that there was an article recently about how Google may have cut off their own source of income with their AI. What do I mean by that? They have a search engine. They You end up using that search engine, but now you're actually using AI. And AI is providing the answer, not the link to the website. It's providing the answer. That's not the case with ATIO. ATIO is all about finding that real answer and empowering the entities that invest in providing new, new best practices, new guidance, et cetera. This is not intended to replace what we do in the future, it's intended to incentivize it. It actually becomes the basis of investment rather than a resource drain. I'll take it one more step further. If you are a project developer, from the last CUP, you realize the importance of sustainable land use systems. value chain connection to your restoration project, but you've never done it before. You have no idea where to start. If you go into ATEU and you ask that question, it will pull you what the intergovernmental international community has already validated as starting points. It doesn't mean you will start from the first hit that you receive. It means that you will start. You will actually incorporate potentially for the first time in your project a value chain approach because you've discovered how to find out quickly how, and you will go to the appropriate guidance and you will build that in. It's just an example. It's just to be illustrative. But I think it's very important to recognize what this is and what it competes with, which is nothing. There's no competition here except perhaps generic AI. which won't bring you to the source necessarily and might not prioritize what the international community has already decided is important. I think that's really important, that distinction to make clear here. So if we go further in that regard, the question was raised about partnership. So of course, there's a fundamental partnership between UNCCD and FAO and many of the partners that engaged in this process. But I don't think the question was raised there. It was more about the partnership of ATIO, of how that works. And what I would encourage you to do is to meet with the FAO delegation, the people that have been working so hard to solve that problem are here and you can learn firsthand about their federated approach, about the protections that they put in place, et cetera. If it's not strong enough today between any partner of value like Wolcott, then we simply solve that problem. It isn't a barrier to moving forward. It could be that it's needs work, but all partnerships require that. And in this case, because it was specifically referenced in the intervention, FAO sits on the committee for WOCOT, and WOCOT is linked, albeit perhaps not enough at this stage, according to the intervention, is linked to ATIO. So we enhance that. We solve whatever problems are foreseen. We figure it out. And that is going to be true with all the partners in ATIO. They all have different circumstances. Next thing that I would like to raise is the concept of things that are missing. In different ways, it was implied in interventions from China, from Bangladesh, quite a few, right? That this might not yet be in the guidance. So I'll just give a couple of examples. It's very frequently brought to the attention of the secretariat that challenges like soil salinity, sodic soils, very clear issues with black soils, et cetera, are not all incorporated in what the convention is doing directly. But of course, FAO and the Global Soil Partnership and the International Technical Panel on Soils are really, really focused on these areas. So if it becomes evident that there's a lack when you are using ATIO, then we address it. We push, we knock on the door of FAO and basically say, Have you considered these guidance documents? And they get added. If they're validated, if they're part of what the community has agreed, they get brought in. It becomes part of ATIO. That's what was referred to as a living system. So I think that is a good complaint. If you're finding that something's not there, you make that request and it's there, that is powerful for raising awareness in the future. In addition, there was several comments on it will this bring us towards what we call in both FAO and the UNCCD and the Business for Land Initiative investment targeting. How do we know the return on investment of a given initiative that we might be designing? What's the best approach for that piece of land? And while This is not an investment targeting tool. It is designed to point us towards this where there this is a very young area of development and there's been an effort in the business for land initiative to bring the entire community together so that they're working together rather than making many new tools that compete that we we solve that problem that way. If we go a little bit further in the comments, one second, I was very pleased with many comments, Indonesia, Algeria, Brazil, and actually in a very unique way in the Brazil comment, CGIR, IUCN on the integrated emphasis of this, of the response to the decision 20 and what you have before you to consider. It was a big discussion when we first decided, my goodness, to cover all the dimensions of guidance on degraded soils and land would be a monumental task. Of course, the digital companion moved us towards solving that. But one of the first decisions made was to emphasize the response hierarchy, as many of you emphasized, and to take a fully integrated approach, to not uniquely look at crops or at some fine dimension of the rest of it, but rather water, soils, crop, everything, animal, livestock systems. All of it is considered across the board in considering the guidance. And what I found powerful in the comment that came from Brazil in this regard, and now I have to go back and find it very quickly, as it was stated so well. One second, I'm sorry. So Brazil commented on a different aspect of integration, which FAO might have worded a different way, where we have livelihoods in the middle, land on one side, and nutrition on the other. In other words, the link between land health and human health, and why that is directly tied to the economic viability of the individual family, of the community, et cetera. The economic approaches were strongly emphasized in the Brazil intervention. And again, this is an area that is of great focus inside of FAO and therefore it appears in the guidance and can be enhanced in the guidance. So I think it's really important to recognize that this is not a best practices database. You've got that in FAO and there's never going to be anything that approaches the power of what WOCOT does, but to be able to then link when somebody's looking those practices to economic opportunity, that is a gap and it could be at least the starting point for addressing that in this direction that we're taking here. In addition, there were quite a number of comments, many interventions. I'm going to try and name them because I think it's important to give credit where credit is due. The Lao Republic, Brazil again, Mongolia, Uruguay, Cambodia, Senegal, IUCN, all of you mentioned some aspect of farmers, farmers associations, indigenous peoples, local communities. How do we make this powerful for those groups on one side, And how do we bring their unique, context-specific, and powerful knowledge into a system like this? And that's not an easy challenge, as was pointed out by Switzerland in their intervention, that there are risks associated when we embrace something like AI. And when we look at the sensitivities around that unique knowledge that can be so easily abused, if we're not careful, we have to study that problem. And indeed, those that are developing Atio have had a study ongoing in Mongolia with this task. They call it grassroots knowledge to be more comprehensive and not segmented so. But it's the same challenge. And they are going to share progress on this in the Mongolia House on Wednesday. And I encourage you, if you're interested in this, to go in that direction. And I finish finally with this challenge of the vulnerabilities, the risks of AI. So first of all, it's a two-sided coin. If we're not in this space, those risks are entirely on the generic everybody uses AIs and we have no influence whatsoever. And then those risks are off the chart. If we're trying to get countries, organizations, all the way down to individuals, truly understanding what we have gathered as knowledge on addressing degradation in agricultural lands. But the other side of it is equally true. All those unknowns that are tied to AI, the UN is only beginning to scratch the surface on the safeguards. But what I can say to you is that FAO is central to those discussions. And if we feel that the warnings that can come up in other contexts are necessary inside of this companion, then we build them in so that the user knows these are the concerns you should have. At the end of the day, it's about responsible use, and if we can facilitate that responsible use, we can. What we cannot do is guarantee that any guidance document you have ever endorsed in this convention is correct. And we can't do the same for AI. It's equal. What we need to do is make the most of it so that we're there and we're influencing that quality. Thank you very much, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:19:08]:

I thank the Chief Scientist of UNCCD. I thank all participants for their valuable comments and contributions. The committee has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item five. I now invite the committee to begin its consideration of agenda item 6A entitled Work Program of the Science Policy Interface 2027-2030. Before we proceed, I would like to remind that we have two sub-items to consider in the next hour. I request delegations to keep their interventions brief. I now give the floor to the Secretary of the Committee on Science and Technology, Ms. Olga Andreeva, to introduce the documentation under this item.


CST · Secretary · Olga Andreeva [2:20:02]:

Thank you, Chair. Distinguished delegates, I have the honour to introduce draft decision six contained in the document ICCD/COP17/CST/8/10 on the work program for the science policy interface for the 2027 2030 quadr this draft decision provisionally adopts the aspa work program for the 2027 2030 quadr as it set out in the annex to the decision pending its update by the Bureau of the committee on science and technology with the assistance of the secretariat following the three priorities The SPI scientific leadership of the fourth edition of the Global Land Outlook, including its scoping. The SPI supports for the development of fast track assessment, information products and advice. And the SPI's cooperation with other scientific borders. The SPI's cooperation with other scientific borders for 2027, 2028, 28th biennium will include the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, and the Integrated Drought Management Programme, among others. The Committee is invited to consider the information in the corresponding draft decision contained in document CST/8. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:21:40]:

I thank the Secretary. of the Committee on Science and Technology. I now give the floor to the Chief Scientist of the UNCCD, Mr. Baron Joseph Orr.


UNCCD · Chief Scientist · Baron Joseph Orr [2:21:51]:

So I just want to add one more point here so that you are clear on the connectivity between these two draft decisions, the SPI work program and the work program of the CST. the connection between these and what we've already discussed in the previous plenary on the future functioning of the SPI. So in decision 20, COP16, you defined the future functioning of the SPI, including the approach towards setting the work program for the SPI, and those procedures are under your consideration in those discussions. Therefore, the work program of the SPI is tied to that process. It's not a different mechanism for determining what the SPI does. It's defined by decision 20 and how it's interpreted at this point and under your consideration with that draft decision. And in turn, by the same token and through the connections between decision 20 through the SPI work program through to the work program of the CST, which is highly linked to the SPI work program. So I'm not suggesting that there's not things to be negotiated in these work programs, but I wanted to emphasize that they're defined by decision 20 rather than inside the negotiations. Thank you very much.


CST · Chair [2:23:31]:

I thank the Chief Scientist of UNCCD. I now open the floor for questions and comments. Participants wishing to take the floor are requested to press the microphone button now. I ask delegations to limit their comments to no more than three minutes. I thank you for your kind cooperation. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Fondation Ambiente Recursos Naturales.


civil society and indigenous people [2:24:40]:

Thank you, Chair, distinguished delegates. On behalf of civil society and indigenous people, we welcome the proposed 2027-2030 work program of the science policy interface and the proposed program of work for CST18, which will provide an important opportunity to review its implementation and address emerging scientific and technical issues. The four year SPI work program is an important opportunity to strengthen continuity and the connection between science, policy and implementation. We particularly welcome the fourth global land outlook, fast track assessments and cooperation with IPBES, the IPCC and other scientific bodies. For the SPI to effectively serve the convention, however, Its work must be inclusive, accessible and grounded in the realities of people and territories affected by desertification, land degradation and drought. First, meaningful participation and diverse knowledge systems must be central to the SPI and CST. Civil society, indigenous peoples, local communities, women and youth should be recognized not merely as stakeholders to consult, but as knowledge holders and contributors to evidence generation and implementation. Indigenous traditional and local knowledge should be appropriately incorporated while respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and the integrity of their knowledge. We therefore encourage CST18's thematic dialogue to provide meaningful space for these knowledge holders. Second, accessibility is part of scientific impact. SPI products should include plain language, multilingual and accessible formats so that communities, practitioners and decision makers can understand and use them. Third, global assessments should be complemented by evidence from local experience, community-led monitoring, participatory research, and locally developed solutions, particularly from territories underrepresented in global datasets. CST18 should also assess not only what the SPI produces, but whether its outputs are being used and making a difference. Experience from implementation should, in turn, future scientific priorities. Finally, ambition requires adequate and predictable resources. We therefore call on parties to ensure that the SPI has the resources required to deliver high quality outputs without compromising participation, regional balance, accessibility or outreach. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:27:41]:

I thank the distinguished representative of the Fondation Ambiente et Ressources Naturelles. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation, followed by the European Union.


Russian Federation [2:27:59]:

Thank you, Chair. We highly appreciate the work of SPI as an institute, of the UNCCD CST body. And in this case, we consider that the further work of the SPI would be more important. I'm sorry, I started in English. Let me say it in Russian, it would be better.

And we would like to welcome this work by the Science Policy Interface Mechanism and point to the fact that during the work of probably the last ten years of the Convention, a lot of interesting information has been accumulating above all on the status and condition of land degradation throughout the world. And that refers to the reporting information provided by countries and the process on the neutral balance interaction goals. And we would like to see as an outcome from the work of the SPO. A collation of this information probably within the work of the IPCC or the ITBS. And this is the first issue that we wanted to point to the second. And once more we want to point to something here is that in the future work of the science policy interface mechanism, there will be a need to be guided by certain procedures that determine the priorities that will guide the mechanism. And we would like these procedures to be more transparent, clearer, and quite stringent so that we don't see any misunderstandings among the parties as to how they are supposed to work. And thus we point to the fact that these procedures above, before they're implemented in practice, should be broadly discussed among the parties and adopted by means of some additional consensus to be determined by the Conference of the Parties on the basis of the definition given by the Conference of the Parties. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:31:12]:

Representative of the Russian Federation. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the European Union.


EU [2:31:20]:

Thank you, Chair, distinguished delegates and representative. The EU and its member states reiterate, Our strong support for the four year program and the SPI's leadership in developing GL04 and fast track assessment. And we recommend first to enhance coordination with IPBES, IPCC, ITBS, UNEP, IRP, IDMP, We also to enhance a new partnership like with the French Scientific Committee on Desertification and ELD among others to align with UNCCD priority to enhance coordination. Furthermore, subject to the availability of financial resources, The SPI in collaboration with the UNCCD Secretariat should develop and implement concrete joint activities with this organization. For example, the formulation of the shared vision of land stewardship as a JLO4. We strongly support the inclusion of a dedicated agenda item at CRIC 25, CRIC 27 and CST 18 for party to provide feedback on the SPI works. Sorry. The EU and its 27 member states will recommend for JLO scope definition a time-bound consultation with country parties and regional groups, concluding by CRIC 25, followed by a CST Bureau approval of the final scope. All submission and rationale to be made publicly available. We recommend for flagship report procedures, the SPI to lead preparation of both zero draft, zero order and first order draft with enhanced collaboration with the secretariat to ensure effective coordination. For the technical support unit, We endorse the proposed structure for TESU, including the possibility of regional sub-committees to ensure global coherence, diverse expertise and representation of knowledge systems. We acknowledge that the staff and basic operating costs of the TSU are expected to be fully covered by sources other than UNCCD budget, subject to the availability of such resources and without financial implication for the UNCCD budget. We endorse TSU establishment through a transparent process, open call for application by CRIC25, selection and final decision at CST18. Thank you for your attention.


CST · Chair [2:34:23]:

I thank the distinguished representative of the European Union. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of China.


China [2:34:37]:

Thank you, Chair. China appreciates the future SPCR work direction China proposes two ways of improving the reform. First, in the selection of SPI experts, more equitable consideration should be given to candidates from non-native English-speaking countries, in particular by improving the practice of using English-language publications as the sole criteria for professional assessment. and by referring to the extent possible to literature in different languages. Second, we propose drawing on the practical experience of IPCC and IPBES in using multiple channels to include experts from different regions and backgrounds in assessments and review process so as to enhance the quality and credibility of global reports. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:35:27]:

I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Brazil.


Brazil [2:35:36]:

Thank you, Chair. First of all, we would like to show our appreciation for the work of the Secretariat and our general support for the work program. But in line with our previous intervention on the functioning of the SPI, We wish to emphasize the importance of ensuring that the development and implementation of the SPI work program for the 2027-2030 period fully preserves the intergovernmental nature of the science policy interface and remains aligned with the decisions and guidance provided by Parties through the CST. In our view, the CST should continue to serve as the primary oversight body of the SPI, providing strategic direction and guidance on its priorities, outputs, and cooperation activities. As discussions move forward, we would therefore caution against arrangements that could transfer substantive decision-making functions from the Parties to the Bureau, or any other subsidiary structure. Brazil supports a work program that is responsive to parties needs and grounded in scientific excellence while maintaining clear accountability to the CST and ultimately to the Conference of the Parties. Preserving these institutional roles will be essential to ensuring transparency, inclusiveness and the legitimacy of the SPI's work. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:37:27]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Brazil. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Zimbabwe.


Zimbabwe [2:37:37]:

Mr. Chair, distinguished delegates, Zimbabwe welcomes adoption of the SPI's 2027-2030 work program and supports its institutionalization through a four-year planning cycle that ensures continuity and strategic foresight. As a state facing recurrent drought and land degradation, Zimbabwe urges the SPI to prioritize Africa and least developed countries, ensuring scientific outputs directly inform the global drought protocol and strengthen land restoration, range land management, and community resilience. adequate predictable funding remains essential we call on all parties and Partners to resource full implementation of this work program Zimbabwe trust that cop 17 will endorse an ambitious action oriented uh SPI work program that advances land degradation neutrality and drought resilience over the next four years thank you Mr. chair.


CST · Chair [2:38:55]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Zimbabwe. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Iraq.


Iraq [2:39:06]:

Peace be upon you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Iraq believes that the.

Challenge is not confined to the production of knowledge, but rather transforming this knowledge into policies, decisions, and practical measures that can be implemented at the national level. Therefore, promoting the link between science and policy should be at the heart of the work of this committee. And in a country like Iraq that faces many interlinked challenges in terms of land degradation, drought, water scarcity, sandstorms, we need to have scientific outcomes that would help decision makers to identify priorities and direct investments and provide science-based interventions. Therefore, the delegation of Iraq reiterates the need for the program of the SPI for 2027-2030 to be based on the needs of state parties. States parties, especially developing countries, and that the scientific outcomes could be implementable and can be translated into national policies. I thank you, Mr. Chair.


CST · Chair [2:40:31]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Iraq. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Algeria.


Algeria [2:40:39]:

Thank you, Chairperson, distinguished members. Algeria thanks the Bureau of the CST and the Secretariat for the work on the future operation of the science policy interface. This is part of the four-year cycle to 2030. This is an important opportunity to strengthen scientific continuity, long-term planning and consistency and scientific support to the parties however this new method should preserve the fundamental principles of the science policy interface including Excellence transparency inclusivity and balanced representation of regions we also support the principle of a specialized scientific support group to strengthen the operational capacities of the interface, such a mechanism could contribute to improving the coordination of work, data management, scientific assessments, production of reports and dissemination of knowledge. We emphasise, however, that this support must complement and not replace the functions of the Science Policy Interface and the Secretariat, and must preserve the scientific independence and intergovernmental legitimacy We in particular attach importance to the regional dimension of this future architecture. The challenges linked to desertification, land degradation and drought are different in different regions. Mobilising regional expertise is crucial in order to ensure the relevance of the scientific assessments. We believe that National scientific institutions must be fully involved in this process. They should not be seen merely as data providers, but also as partners in the production, validation, interpretation, and transfer of scientific knowledge. In Algeria, our institutions have experience in restoring ecosystems, land monitoring, conservation of biodiversity, management of natural resources and assessment of ecosystem resilience. And this experience should be a useful contribution to the scientific work of the interface. We wish to emphasize the importance of having sufficient, sustainable, predictable financial resources, participation of experts and continuity of scientific work. not be provided in the long term without adequate financing for my delegation the future operation of the interface should make it possible to consolidate the needs of the parties scientific issues overlapping expertise decisions actions followup and evaluation And we support this move encouraging scientific cooperation at a higher level between the regions and among countries facing the shared challenges of drought and land degradation. I thank you.


CST · Chair [2:44:43]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Algeria. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Kenya.


Kenya [2:44:53]:

Chair, Kenya supports the ambitious SPI work program for 2027 to 30 that responds to emerging global challenges and the needs of affected countries. And we want to emphasize that the work program prioritizes the following. Number one, strengthening the science-based solutions for drought risk reduction, land degradation neutrality, ecosystem restoration, sustainable range land management and water security. Number two, advancing integrated assessment and monitoring systems using earth observation, geospatial technologies, digital innovation and standardized indicators to support evidence-based decision making. Three, promoting the integration of scientific research with indigenous and local knowledge to strengthen country-led adaptation and sustainable natural resource management. Four, strengthening regional scientific cooperation, communities of learning, and practices and partnerships among governments, research institutions, academia, the private sector, and local communities. And finally, mobilizing sustainable financial and technical support to enable countries to apply scientific evidence in implementing national drought plans, land degradation neutrality targets, and ecosystem restoration initiatives. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:46:55]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Kenya. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Mexico.


Mexico [2:47:07]:

Thank you, Chair. Mexico takes note of the proposed work program of the SPI for 2027-2030 and recognizes the importance of its activities continuing to provide a sound and relevant scientific basis to support the implementation of this Convention. Mexico supports cooperation between the SPI and other relevant scientific bodies and institutions within their respective mandates seeking to complement efforts and respond to the priorities of the Parties. Thank you.


CST · Chair [2:47:40]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Mexico. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Kiribati.


Kiribati [2:48:00]:

Thank you, Chair. Kiribati wishes to highlight an important dimension of land degradation that requires attention under the convention and SPI program, namely land contamination and soil pollution. For low-lying atoll countries, land, soil and fresh water are closely interconnected. For Kiribati, where soil quality is already poor and land is extremely limited and communities highly depend on a very small land base for food production, settlements, and ecosystem services. Contamination on land can migrate into shallow freshwater lenses and affect coastal ecosystems. With limited land available, even relatively small areas of contaminated land can have disproportionate impact on soil health, food production, water security, and community well-being. For small island states, prevention is far more practical than remediation because there is often no alternate land available when contamination occurs. We therefore urge the Secretariat, global mechanism and relevant partners to support vulnerable countries like Kiribati with appropriate low-cost technologies, capacity building and financing for integrated waste management, pollution prevention, contaminated site assessment and land restoration while incorporating traditional knowledge along scientific approaches. We therefore encourage the Committee on Science and Technology and the Science Policy Interface to give greater consideration to contamination and pollution as drivers of land degradation, including their monitoring and assessment within appropriate land degradation frameworks and future SPI program in avoiding, reducing, and reversing land and soil degradation of agricultural lands. Kiribati also calls for context-specific guidance and technical support for low-lying atolls like Kiribati to identify, monitor, prevent and remediate contaminated land using appropriate scientific methods. Land degradation neutrality for small island states and low-lying atolls must not only mean preventing the loss of land productivity. It must also safeguard the chemical and biological health of the limited land and soils on which our communities depend. Thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:50:31]:

I thank the distinguished representative, Kiribati. Our next and last speaker is the distinguished representative of Cook Islands. I give you the floor.


Cook Islands [2:50:45]:

Thank you, Chair. The Cook Islands welcomes the proposed work program of the SPI for the 2027-2030 quadrennium and supports continued efforts to strengthen the role of science in guiding implementation of the convention. As a small island developing state like our fellow sister from Kiribati, science must be both globally credible and locally relevant. Our countries face increasing pressures from drought, land degradation, soil loss, declining land productivity, and climate change. while often having limited scientific and technical capacity to respond. The Cook Islands therefore encourages the SBI to give greater recognition to indigenous and traditional knowledge alongside scientific evidence. Pacific communities have developed knowledge and practices over generations for managing waters, soil, ecosystems, agriculture in periods of drought. This knowledge should be meaningfully considered in scientific assessments and translate it into practical policy options rather than simply document it. We also support stronger attention to the interconnections between drought, water security, food security, land degradation, and climate change. For small islands, these challenges are inseparable. A prolonged drought can simultaneously reduce agricultural production, place pressure on limited freshwater resources, degrade soils and ecosystems, and increase dependence on imported food. The Cook Islands further encourages the SBI to ensure that its assessments and indicators adequately reflect the special circumstances of small islands and large ocean states. Land area alone does not capture our vulnerability or the scale of our territories, communities, and ecosystems. Our circumstances require approaches that recognize the geographic, environmental, and capacity constraints faced by island countries. We encourage the SPI to make its scientific outputs accessible and practical for countries with limited technical capacity. Global assessments should be translated into tools, methodologies, and recommendations that national authorities can apply directly in land management, drought resilience, food security, and climate adaptation planning. Finally, we support stronger participation of Pacific scientists, practitioners, and knowledge holders in the work of the SPI, including through regional partnerships and capacity building. The Cook Islands stands ready to contribute its experience and Pacific knowledge to this work. We believe that bringing science, traditional knowledge, and policy closer together will strengthen the implementation of the convention and help ensure that global responses to land degradation are relevant, to the realities of vulnerable island communities. I thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:53:46]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Cook Islands. That was the last speaker on my list. I now give the floor to the Chief Scientist of the UNCCD to respond to the questions and comments raised.


UNCCD · Chief Scientist · Baron Joseph Orr [2:54:00]:

Thank you, Chair, and thank you also to all delegates that contributed very useful interventions. I will say for a number of interventions, European Union, China, Brazil, and several others, these are related to your approach to moving this forward and there's no position from the secretariat. Their ideas are all valid and I look forward to the discussion on them in the contact group. There were some interventions that do require a little bit of feedback from the Secretariat. So in the case of the honorable delegate from Zimbabwe, there was a specific emphasis on strategic foresight. And I would draw your attention to both in the work on the Global Land Outlook and in the, particularly in the agricultural guidance decision, this element is there and I would encourage you to take take that into those contexts. With respect to the comment made by the European Union and Mexico with different dimensions of cooperation and in a number of other interventions about the importance of cooperation with these other scientific bodies, I want you to know that as it stands now, the language that you have applied towards this cooperation is basically entirely on the SPI and the Secretariat to create this cooperation. But you should be aware that in all other bodies, there is an invitation across that's made for that cooperation, and you may wish to consider this approach if this is very important to your needs that inviting that cooperation from these other bodies makes it much easier for the Secretariat and the SPI to enhance that level of cooperation. In other words, it's mandate-based, and if it's not heard by those bodies, it's much harder for them to adjust and encompass the SPI. So keep that in mind on those. But the comment made by Algeria and a little bit also by European Union was referring to how to bring this down and to actually create cooperation with national scientific institutions. There has been discussion about whether or not this is something that could be augmented to the current strategic approach for CSOs, for example, that's a possibility. But another one that I would like to draw your attention to that was introduced by Brazil and by South Africa in different ways at COP16 is to actually develop the national science policy interface, but not new, based upon what you're already doing, but bringing the right players to the table so that you're regularly accessing that those institutions inside your country. And those two, if you haven't heard that at COP16, I encourage you, I know there are many others, but I remember hearing these discussed at COP16. It's quite powerful, the mechanisms they've developed to ensure that flow policy science back and forth and therefore a response the scientific community to your needs. It's very encouraging and something there. And last but not least, a number of the comments related to different types of knowledge being brought into the work of the SPI. Of course, some of that is touched upon in decision 20 and was reacted to and actually is significantly enhanced from the past by the composition of the SPI. But I noticed in many of those comments, it was very closely tied to implementation. And what I would encourage is a discussion with all of those parties that are looking for capturing those practices so they can be more effectively used, but of course, in a sensitive way, Maybe those discussions could begin with WOCOT because they have all the mechanisms for capture but are not necessarily tied to those communities. But that can change basically by a strategic set of discussions between you and the organizers of that network. It's a network, one you can join it, but more importantly, the network could be responsive to those needs. Thank you very much, Chair.


CST · Chair [2:59:03]:

I thank the Chief Scientist of the UNCCD. I thank all participants for their valuable comments and contributions. The Committee has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item A of agenda item 6. I now invite the Committee to begin its consideration of agenda item 6, entitled Programme of work for the eighteenth session of the Committee on Science and Technology. In accordance with Rule 33 of the Rules of Procedure, the Committee is expected to submit to the Conference of the Parties for adoption a tentative programme of work for its 18th session. I now give the floor to the Secretary of the Committee on Science and Technology, Ms. Olga Andreeva, to introduce the documentation under this item.


CST · Secretary · Olga Andreeva [2:59:57]:

Thank you, Chair. Distinguished delegates, I have the honor to introduce the proposed program of work of the 18th session of the Committee on Science and Technology, which corresponds to draft decision seven in document ICCD/COP17/CST/8. The Conference of the Parties, recalling Articles 23 and 24 of the Convention, Also recalling decision 13/COP 88 and 21/COP 11 on reshaping the operations of Committee of Science and Technology. Further recalling decision 19/COP 12 on improving the efficiency of the Committee of Science and Technology, in particular paragraph four on the organization of its future sessions. Recalling decision 20/COP16 on the future functioning of the science policy interface, bearing in mind the 2018-2030 strategic framework of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, in particular the implementation framework for the Committee on Science and Technology, Taking note of the programme of work of the seventieth session of the Committee on Science and Technology, which focused on the appreciation of science policy interface processes and mechanism and on facilitating thematic dialogue between parties and the science policy interface, decides that the 18th session of the Committee on Science and Technology should focus inter alia on the implementation of the four-year work programme of the science-policy interface adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its seventeenth session, including progress related to the fourth edition of the Global Land Outlook, fast-track assessments, information products and coordination activities with relevant intergovernmental scientific bodies, institutions and networks. Also decides that 18th session of the Committee on Science and Technology should facilitate a focused thematic dialogue between Parties and the science-policy interface on emerging scientific and technical issues relevant to the implementation of the Convention. taking into account inputs provided by the parties through intersessional meetings of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention pursuant to Decision 20/COP16, requests the secretariat to circulate a provisional annotated agenda and appropriate documentation, including progress reports, relevant scientific and technical outputs, a set of clear and consensus recommendations, and we appreciate draft decision for consideration by parties in all six official languages of the United Nations at least six weeks prior to the 18th session of the Committee on Science and Technology. The Committee is invited to consider the information and the corresponding draft decision contained in the document ICCD/COP17/CST/8. Thank you.


CST · Chair [3:03:10]:

I thank the Secretary of the Committee on Science and Technology. I now open the floor for questions and comments. Participants wishing to take the floor are requested to press the microphone button. As we only have 15 minutes left in this meeting, I ask delegations to keep their interventions brief and no more than two minutes. I thank you for your kind cooperation. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Turkey.


Türkiye [3:03:50]:

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

With reference to the document entitled CST/4.

Under the item five of today's session, Turkey would like to know.

If there will be text negotiations in the relevant contract group.

Also, with reference to the document CST eight, if it will be negotiated in the contract group as we have some amendment proposals. Thank you.


CST · Chair [3:04:30]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Turkey. Are there any more requests for the floor? I see no further requests. I now give the floor to the Secretary Committee on Science and Technology to respond.


UNCCD · Chief Scientist · Baron Joseph Orr [3:05:20]:

So with respect to the intervention by the honorable delegate from Turkey, the Discussions related to CST5, which is related to the SPI activities, which were not brought into the agenda in the opening. There are continued consultations. You can consult with your regional liaison officer to have more information if you would like to engage in that process. But more importantly, Right now they're not solved, so at this point they're not, it's not clear any timing for negotiation on that, although we hope that this will be resolved soon. With respect to CST8, other than the draft decision related to CST5, which I believe is draft decision four, I hope I have that right, I'm pretty sure that's correct. With respect to draft decision four, in other words, the one that spins out of CST5, that will not be introduced at this stage in the contact group for negotiations until the problem related to the agenda is resolved. All other draft decisions, which are tied to all other official documents that have already been introduced in plenary, which is all of them at this stage, will be negotiated in the contact group. There's already progress on the first draft decision and a little bit on the second, and we hope to continue and get to the finish line. I will just emphasize in the group, as you will be hearing a lot from all of us, that the timeline is extraordinarily tight, and we hope that the focus will be on priorities so that we can reach the the conclusions before the end of the week. Thank you.


CST · Chair [3:07:20]:

I thank the Chief Scientist of UNCCD. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Bangladesh.


Bangladesh [3:07:33]:

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Bangladesh wishes to propose an issue for the program of work of CST18. The unchecked and excessive use of agrochemicals in food production is steadily degrading soil health and undermining the land we depend on for our future. A trend that runs counter to land degradation neutrality. We must commit collectively to sustainable production and consumption. Bangladesh calls for an internationally agreed ceiling on agrochemical use supported by due diligence on harmful agrochemical trade. We propose these be included as a dedicated item in CST18 program of work to redirect support towards sustainable land management, nature restoration and climate resilient agriculture. I thank you, Chair.


CST · Chair [3:08:32]:

I thank the distinguished representative of Bangladesh. I thank all participants for their valuable comments and contributions. My apologies. I give the floor to the Chief Scientist of UNCCD.


UNCCD · Chief Scientist · Baron Joseph Orr [3:08:50]:

So in response to the honorable delegate from Bangladesh, and I also realized something similar from the honorable delegate of Kiribati in the previous segment, it's important to, I mean, we're in your hands, so any approach to these work programs would be decided by the parties. But what you have decided in the past and what you're building upon for the the work of the SPI and the CST is an approach where you have requested the CST Bureau to establish the procedures for receiving and prioritizing requests for work of the SPI. Those are under consideration on the previous document, which is CST-6, and will be discussed in the contact group. That is the opportunity to take a look at how these topics get brought into the SPI going forward and those mechanisms. And then, as you heard when Dr. Andreeva walked through the CST the work program of the CST document, it is largely based on the work of the SPI. So it migrates up, if you will, from the SPI to there. There are paragraphs introduced in other decisions that task the CST Bureau, the Secretariat, et cetera, for work outside of the SPI. So you can also take a look at that as well. There's multiple avenues. But I just wanted you to be aware of current practice in case you realize that it's not flowing well when you bring this into the contact group. Thank you very much.


CST · Chair [3:10:35]:

I thank the Chief Scientist of the UNCCD. And I now thank all participants for their valuable comments and contributions. The committee has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of sub-item B on agenda item six, and agenda item six as a whole. Distinguished delegates, we have concluded our program of work for this meeting. The committee will hold its fourth plenary meeting jointly with the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention this afternoon, Wednesday 19 August, at 3 p.m. in the plenary hall. Further information on the programme for CST17 and related meetings is available on the conference website and on the UNCCD app. This meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Well, seven minutes.