This year’s COP15 theme, ‘Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity’, is a call to action to ensure land, the lifeline on this planet, continues to benefit present and future generations.
COP15 brings together leaders from governments, the private sector, civil society, and other key stakeholders to drive progress in the future sustainable management of one of our most precious commodities: land.
As a leader in climate adaptation, along with our strong commitment to supporting communities in drylands, IFAD will have a significant presence at COP15, including hosting various side events.
Tuesday 10 May: Smallholder agriculture: The untapped business opportunities for the private sector
15:15-16:15 GMT
Despite smallholder-farming playing a crucial role in food systems, jobs, income, food security, nutrition, and poverty reduction, smallholder farmers often lack access to credit and technical assistance. COVID-19, climate change, and conflict exacerbate these barriers.
Rural financing and investment is key to improving on-farm productivity and awareness of climate risks and their impacts. To achieve the SDGs and address global challenges, private sector funding, knowledge, and expertise are needed.
This event will showcase different investment models to de-risk private funding into rural Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, expand markets, and increase income and job opportunities for small-scale farmers.
Wednesday 11 May: A new Momentum on the Great Green Wall
18:00-20:00 GMT
The eleven countries of the Great Green Wall (GGW) are among the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries to climate change. The GGW aims to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land, sequester 250 million tonnes of carbon, and create 10 million green jobs in rural areas across the Sahel by 2030.
Since 2007, the GGW has evolved from a natural barrier of trees into a comprehensive and integrated development approach to address growing complex and interrelated challenges in the Sahel.
This side event will present key lessons learned, showcase the best innovations, and highlight challenges and opportunities for investments.
Saturday 14 May: Integrated approaches for sustainable land management in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia
11:30-13:30 GMT
The Resilient Food Systems programme (RFS) engages smallholder farmer groups, private sector entities, governments, and scientific institutions to advance environmental management for food security.
This event will highlight innovative approaches that promote smallholder farmers’ resilience by managing the natural resources that underpin food and nutrition security, including land, water, soils, trees and genetic resources.
Lessons learned on scaling up sustainable land management in Cambodia will be shared, and we will hear about ecosystem services payments in Nigeria, Senegal, and Burundi.