Pinoy talks of a perfect storm, the UN listens

Scientists working on people-and-land management in the world´s vast dry areas are gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina this week to (a) understand desertification and land degradation, which is critical to the success in mitigating the effects of climate change, and (b) harness the best of science in solving related local, regional and global problems.

The desertification-climate change nexus is the focus of the global scientific conference being held in support of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

With the theme 'Understanding Desertification and Land Degradation Trends,' this conference is the first of its kind being organized by the Dryland Science for Development (DSD) Consortium under the auspices of the UNCCD Science and Technology Committee (CST) in connection with the Ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP9).

The CST is perfect for the job; the Chair is perfect for the CST. The history-making conference happens as the CST is chaired for the first time by a Filipino, William D Dar, the team-building, history-making Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). This year, he was appointed to an unprecedented 3rd term by the Governing Board of ICRISAT. Years back, he was the Secretary of Agriculture of the Philippines who, despite the ravages of the El Niño phenomenon, agriculture registered an unprecedented growth of 12% in 1999! (Related story, 'Drylands Dar,' americanchronicle.com).

Dar had the perfect metaphor for climate change: The world is facing a perfect storm, with a number of huge problems converging around land issues. At the center of this storm are the poor, who depend on the land for survival – yet, they are unable to fight off the massive storm clouds that are abuilding.' (See complete text of speech below.)

The conference highlights the importance of developing and implementing science-based methods for monitoring and assessing land degradation and underlines the need for a holistic approach to understanding and overcoming the devastating impact of desertification .

The conference is designed to analyze and summarize leading scientific knowledge to generate practical and workable recommendations for deliberation by the UNCCD COP9 in effectively combating desertification around the world. The main outputs will include policy recommendations.

Elaborating on idea of the perfect storm Dar said, 'Climate change threatens ever harsher temperatures, droughts and storms, all of which can send the poor right back to the bottom of the development ladder. Increasing population pressure and poverty will just increase the intensity of this perfect storm, and the suffering that it will cause.'

With the key message 'People and Land Matter,' Dar then advocated that 'We need science to better understand this storm, and to devise solutions that work for the poor. We need options for people that reduce their vulnerability and increase their resiliency. We need options for the land that prevent irreversible losses of precious natural resources like soil, biodiversity and water. We need both policy and technical options – the two go hand-in-hand.' Not to mention public and private development support. - Frank A Hilario, iNews

Opening Remarks by William D Dar to UNCCD 1st Scientific Conference on 22 September 2009 at Buenos Aires. Dar is the Director General of ICRISAT; Chair, UNCCD Committee on Science and Technology (CST) 8; and Chair, Scientific Conference

Dear Friends,

It is an honor with a deep sense of humility to discharge this responsibility of chairing the UNCCD 1st Scientific Conference under the Ninth Session of CST.

Our journey from CST8 in Madrid to CST9 here in this beautiful city of Buenos Aires, has been a busy and fruitful one. We have handled many fundamental issues of reform called for by the 10-Year Strategy of UNCCD. We were asked to reshape our processes and our program of work, and we have done so. We have launched a Scientific Conference format, and we have adopted a very inclusive, consultative and evidence-based approach. We must continue to carry these reforms forward.

This is a path-breaking scientific conference of UNCCD, one that pledges to make room for substantive scientific discussions on combating desertification, land degradation and drought. We should recall the reasons why this new path is so important. The world is facing a ´perfect storm´, with a number of huge problems converging around land issues. At the center of this storm are the poor, who depend on the land for survival – yet, they are unable to fight off the massive storm clouds that are abuilding.

Already beset by poverty and hunger, the World Bank estimates that developing countries will bear 80% of the environmental costs to mitigate climate change. Yet, climate change threatens with ever harsher temperatures, droughts and storms, all of which can send the poor right back to the bottom of the development ladder. Increasing population pressure and poverty will just increase the intensity of this perfect storm, and the suffering that it will cause.

Our whole UNCCD community recognizes that we need science to better understand this storm, and to devise solutions that work for the poor. We need options for people that reduce their vulnerability and increase their resiliency. We need options for the land that prevent irreversible losses of precious natural resources like soil, biodiversity and water. We need both policy and technical options – the two go hand-in-hand. Again, the key message is that: 'People and Land Matter'

Let us have your positive engagement for a rich scientific discussion in our First Scientific Conference. Many eyes are watching us to see if we are brave enough to walk down this new path. If we hesitate or turn back, they may walk away from us. But if we are bold and continue forward, we will find many new friends along the way. And together we will find ways to weather the perfect storm.

Thank you.