Saudi-hosted U.N. talks end with no drought deal: participants
The Hindu
UNCCD COP16 in Saudi fails to reach binding agreement on drought response, progress made for future discussions at COP17.
Saudi-hosted United Nations talks failed to produce an agreement on how to respond to drought, participants said on Saturday (December 14, 2024), falling short of hopes for a binding protocol addressing the growing scourge.
The 12-day meeting of parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), known as COP16, concluded early Saturday (December 14, 2024) morning, one day later than scheduled as parties tried to hammer out a deal.
Prior to the talks, UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw said the world expected negotiators “to adopt a bold decision that can help turn the tide on the most pervasive and the most disruptive environmental disaster: drought”.
But addressing the plenary before dawn on Saturday (December 14, 2024), Mr. Thiaw acknowledged that “parties need more time to agree on the best way forward”.
An unofficial final decision posted online said the UNCCD, which brings together 196 countries and the European Union, would “continue discussions” on drought based on progress made in Riyadh.
A press release issued on Saturday (December 14, 2024) said countries “made significant progress in laying the groundwork for a future global drought regime, which they intend to complete at COP17 in Mongolia in 2026”.
Droughts “fuelled by human destruction of the environment” cost the world more than $300 billion each year, the U.N. said in a report published on December 3, the second day of the talks in Riyadh.
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