Sweden represents the EU at UN negotiations in Buenos Aires
A Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is currently under way in Buenos Aires.
Charlotta Tiderman and Martina Smedberg, chief negotiator, from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
The Conference of the Parties to UNCCD is the ninth session of its kind and gathers 193 Parties that have ratified the Convention. Participants in the Conference in Buenos Aires include almost 2 000 delegates and representatives from member states, the UN and civil society, as well as scientists and experts in the area.
The Convention deals primarily with issues concerning land degradation and drought, which are closely related to important areas such as food supply, migration and sustainable development as a whole.
The Conference of the Parties will primarily discuss a newly adopted 10-year strategy, methods for regional coordination and ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Convention's institutions. On behalf of the EU, Sweden is trying to achieve greater efficiency for cooperation within the framework of the Convention, and greater involvement from civil society in the work of the Convention. One important issue for the EU in light of the coming climate meeting in Copenhagen is also how to make use of synergies and links to the issue of climate change as a whole.
During the Conference of the Parties, there will also be a high-level meeting bringing together political representatives of the Parties to the Convention and leading scientists in the area. The dialogue of the high-level meeting will take the form of three 'round tables', where State Secretary Åsa-Britt Karlsson from the Environment Ministry will chair the discussion on the subject of 'Partnership and institutions for combating desertification, land degradation and drought - the path to improvement'.
Climate meeting 1992
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)is one of three conventions that were established following negotiations at the climate meeting in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which resulted in the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and the UNCCD.
