By IPS Correspondents
BONN, Dec 14 2000 (IPS)

One hundred and thirty-two developing countries constituting the Group of 77 (G77) and China have expressed concern over the slow pace of progress in combating desertification world-wide.

Their anxiety is shared by parliamentarians from around the world and non-governmental organisations closely watching the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Climate Change (UNCCD).

The developing countries, parliamentarians and NGOs articulated the worry this week at the Fourth Conference of Parties to UNCCD, taking place in the former western German capital from Dec 11 to Dec 22. The global gathering is known as COP4 in U.N. jargon.

Nigeria’s Environment Minister, Imeh Okopido, conveyed the anxiety of the G77 countries and China this week at COP4.

Speaking to some 2000 delegates from about 170 countries Monday, Okopido said: “The Group of 77 is concerned with limited progress made in the implementation of the Convention with regard to capacity-building, transfer of technology and mobilisation of predictable financial resources.”

The Convention to Combat Desertification entered into force four years ago. One hundred and seventy-two countries, including the United States have, by now, ratified the Convention – which is legally binding.

The Nigerian Environment Minister said: “It is evident that this process is lacking the support enjoyed by other UNCED-related conventions, in terms of financial assistance from the international community for its timely and effective implementation.”

UNCED is the abbreviation for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“The UNCCD, regrettably, is presently the only major UNCED- related convention on environment without a funding mechanism,” Okopido added.

In that context, it had become clear that the international community misjudged the importance of the issues at stake when it decided not to grant the Convention direct access to Global Environment Facility (GEF).

“This must be readdressed,” the Nigerian Environment Minister pressed on behalf of the G77 and China, adding: “GEF project base should be expanded to accommodate projects and programmes on desertification in developing countries.”

The World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) established the GEF in 1990.

It operates as the financial mechanism of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Bio-diversity Convention (UNCBD).

The GEF was created to provide grants and concessional funds to developing countries to finance incremental costs for programmes, projects, and activities to protect the world’s environment.

Anti-desertification projects, relevant to the focal areas of climate change, bio-diversity, ozone depletion, and international waters may be eligible for funding.

However, the GEF is not the financial mechanism of UNCCD.

Established under the Convention, the Global Mechanism is in charge of promoting actions for the mobilisation and channelling of substantial financial resources, including for the transfer of technology, on a grant basis and – or – on concessional or other terms, to affected developing country parties.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD, which has its headquarters in Rome, hosts the Global Mechanism, and functions under the authority and guidance of the Conference of the Parties.

IFAD Assistant President, Takao Shibata, said Tuesday: “We…remain fully committed to the success of the Global Mechanism and the goals of the Convention.”

“Unfortunately, the experience of the Global Mechanism does not bode well here,” he added.

This is because it continues to lack the necessary resources to fulfil its role outlined within the Convention.

In a declaration Wednesday members of parliament from 25 countries said they were “greatly concerned with the lack of progress in combating desertification world-wide”.

Drought and desertification are affecting 1.2 billion people around the world. Nearly 40 percent of the Earth’s land surface has fallen prey to degradation.

The parliamentarians met – with the full support of the Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU), a global organisation – for a third roundtable Tuesday and Wednesday. The first two gatherings took place in Recife, Brazil, last year and in Dakar, Senegal in 1998.

The parliamentarians’ declaration urged the international community to seriously consider the ordeal and marginalisation of heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs).

It also called for the implementation of “appropriate relief measures”, particularly in those countries seriously affected by drought and desertification.

The parliamentarians also reaffirmed “the importance of ensuring access to appropriate financial resources, including new and additional ones, for affected developing countries in order to allow them to fully deliver the obligation contracted under the UNCCD”.

Similar concerns were articulated by Juergen Gliese from the ‘German NGO Forum – Working Group Desertification’ on behalf of the non-governmental organisations from different parts of the world.

Gliese said, “there is a definite need for Northern countries to step forward and to contribute to the consolidation of efforts undertaken to increase the quality and the impact of NAPs.”

NAP is an abbreviation for National Action Programmes. They are the heart of the Convention and constitute the conceptual and legal framework for implementing it at the national and local levels.

Their purpose is to identify the factors contributing to desertification and practical measures necessary to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought.

“Notwithstanding the financial difficulties, more than 80 reports have been submitted this year from affected country Parties for consideration at the COP-4,” according to the UNCCD permanent secretariat in Bonn, headed by Ambassador Hama Arba Diallo.

The Convention indicates that affected countries shall elaborate and implement them the full participation of local communities and all interested stakeholders. Furthermore, they should be fully integrated with other development programmes.

Gliese regretted that civil society participation was “not taken more into account in the design and implementation of the National Action Programmes, although parties to this Convention have accepted the obligation to fully integrate civil society and local communities in the process foreseen by this Convention.”

He also pleaded for ensuring the implementation of GEF funding, but warned against underestimating the potentials that lie in the Global Mechanism, hosted by IFAD, which has its headquarters in Rome.

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