Scientists, governments and civil society organizations will converge at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany, from 9-19 April to carry out the first ever comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of desertification, land degradation and drought.
Also, for the very first time, governments will provide concrete data on the status of poverty and of land cover in the areas affected by desertification in their countries. The advance reports put the costs of land degradation at about 3-5 percent of the global agricultural Gross Domestic Production.
The cost of siltation of water reservoirs is estimated at USD18.5 billion per year, and salinity in global agriculture at about USD12 billion per year. And according to the most recent national reports, desertification affects 168 countries today.
These are some of the findings that will be considered by three meetings to be convened under the aegis of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) - the third Special Session of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST S-3) and its 2nd Scientific Conference that will take place from 9-12 April 2013, and at the eleventh session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 11) that will follow on 15-19 April 2013.
For information on how to participate, visit: http://www.unccd.int/en/media-center/Pages/mediahome.aspx
