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United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development
Publications

Climate change and desertification: Anticipating, assessing & adapting to future change in drylands - Impulse Report

Publication Year: 2015 Publisher: UNCCD

Background

Climate change and desertification: Anticipating, assessing and adapting to future change in drylands
The ‘Impulse report’, a preparatory document for the Third Scientific Conference of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), to be held in Cancún Mexico this 9-12 March 2015 has been published today. Professor Graciela Metternicht has contributed to the preparation of this document that will assist and drive discussion of delegates in the science-policy interface. The Conference will focus on the contribution of science, technology, traditional knowledge and practices for combating drought, land degradation and desertification for poverty reduction and sustainable development.

The report sheds light on current knowledge, and raises key questions about the anticipated effects of climate change on land degradation and desertification, with a view towards supporting pro-active adaptation in specific regions, especially drylands. The report emphasizes the role of local knowledge, and promotes adjusting sustainable management principles to local specificities such as geographical or cultural features. Graciela’s contributions focused on knowledge gaps around monitoring and assessment approaches and tools for assessment the vulnerability of ecosystems and human populations to the combined effects of climate change and land degradation, with emphasis on practices that incorporate geo-spatial tools and models.