India has kickstarted the COP14 (14th meeting of Conference of Parties) meeting to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Greater Noida today. India has taken over the presidency for two years from China. The agenda for this year’s meeting has been kept- Reversing the land degradation and fixing the critical gaps in land management.
It is expected that the 12-day conference would see the participation of as many as 196 nations with over 5,000 participants from across the world. The hopeful outcome of the summit can be the signing of the ‘New Delhi declaration‘ which would be signed on by all the nations to iterate their commitments towards climate change.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has graced the meeting with his presence. Along with him, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves & Union Minister Prakash Javadekar are also present. Beginning his speech, Narendra Modi said that India is looking forward to taking the presidency of COP with its contribution.
PM Narendra Modi at the 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh: India looks forward to making an effective contribution as we take over the COP Presidency for a two-year term. pic.twitter.com/A65MwL6hzh
— ANI (@ANI) September 9, 2019
HIGHLIGHTS of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech-
- Climate change affects both land and biodiversity. The negative effect of climate change is leading to the issue of land degradation. As a result of which, the world is witnessing erratic rainfalls, the rise in sea-level and much more.
- The holistic strategy of land and water use should be used to address the degraded land and water scarcity problem.
- India will put an end to the use of single-plastic use in the forthcoming years.
- Between 2015 to 2017, India’s tree and forest cover saw an increase of almost 0.8 million hectares.
- India announced to raise its ambitious target of restoring degraded land from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares between now and 2030.