The phenomena of desertification, drought and climate change are interlinked and therefore require a collective cooperative effort to tackle land degradation, as laid down in point 15.3 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
In order to raise the awareness of the world, governments, organizations and individuals on the collective responsibility of making a sustainable use of water, the United Nations General Assembly declared the 17th of June World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. In 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), was adopted in Paris and ratified by 200 Countries. The Convention aims to mitigate the effects of drought through international cooperation activities in the hardest hit countries, especially in Africa. The strategies developed focus on improving the productivity of land and the sustainable management of the territory’s resources and of water. Italy is among the Convention’s most active founding members both in the Countries at risk and on its own territory and is the first European country to have adopted a plan to achieve the zero net land degradation goal by 2030.
