physics

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification rather than just read about it. In short: The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) is a Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs that incorporate long-term strategies supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements. The Convention, the only convention stemmi…

Key takeaways

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) is a Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs that incorporate long-term strategies supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements. The Convention, the only convention stemming from a direct recommendation of the Rio Conference's Agenda 21, was adopted in Paris, France, on 17 June 1994 and entered into force in December 1996. It is the only internationally legally binding framework set up to address the problem of desertification. The Convention is based on the principles of participation, partnership and decentralization—the backbone of good governance and sustainable development. It has 197 parties, making it near universal in reach. To help publicise the Convention, 2006 was declared "International Year of Deserts and Desertification" but debates have ensued regarding how effective the International Year was in practice.

States Parties

The UNCCD has been ratified by the European Union and 196 states, including all 193 UN member states, the Cook Islands, Niue, and the State of Palestine. On 28 March 2013, Canada became the first country to withdraw from the convention. However, three years later, Canada reversed its withdrawal by re-acceding to the convention on 21 December 2016, which resulted in Canada becoming party to the convention again on 21 March 2017. The Holy See (Vatican City) is the only state that is not a party to the convention that is eligible to accede to it.

Executive Directors 1993–2007: Hama Arba Diallo 2007–2013: Luc Gnacadja 2013–2019: Monique Barbut 2019–2025: Ibrahim Thiaw 2025–present: Yasmine Fouad

Secretariat The permanent Secretariat of the UNCCD was established during the first Conference of the parties (COP 1) held in Rome in 1997. It has been located in Bonn, Germany, since January 1999, and moved from its first Bonn address in Haus Carstanjen to the new UN Campus in July 2006. The functions of the secretariat are to make arrangements for sessions of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and its subsidiary bodies established under the Convention, and to provide them with services as required. One key task of the secretariat is to compile and transmit reports submitted to it. The secretariat also provides assistance to affected developing country parties, particularly those in Africa. This is important when compiling information and reports required under the Convention. UNCCD activities are coordinated with the secretariats of other relevant international bodies and conventions, like those of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

2018–2030 Strategic Framework At its thirteenth session in 2017, the Conference of the Parties adopted the UNCCD 2018–2030 Strategic Framework and encouraged parties to apply it in national policies, programmes, plans and processes related to desertification, land degradation and drought. The framework includes a vision, strategic objectives and an implementation framework. Its objectives include improving affected ecosystems, combating desertification and land degradation, supporting land degradation neutrality, improving the living conditions of affected populations, strengthening drought resilience, generating global environmental benefits and mobilizing resources for implementation.

Conference of the Parties The Conference of the Parties (COP) oversees the implementation of the Convention. It is established by the Convention as the supreme decision-making body, and it comprises all ratifying governments. The first five sessions of the COP were held annually from 1997 to 2001. Starting 2001 sessions are held on a biennial basis interchanging with the sessions of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC), whose first session was held in 2002. COP16 was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 to 13 December 2024, under the theme "Our Land. Our Future". According to the UNCCD, parties at COP16 focused on land restoration, drought resilience and international cooperation, while more than US$12 billion was pledged to address desertification, land degradation and drought, especially in vulnerable countries. The conference also requested the creation of a Caucus for Indigenous Peoples and a Caucus for Local Communities, continued the Convention's Science-Policy Interface and left further work on a global drought regime for COP17 in Mongolia in 2026. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin reported that parties did not reach agreement on whether future drought negotiations should result in a framework or a legally binding protocol.

List of COP

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

In research: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1994 in France, 1996 in the environment, Desertification, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in simple terms?

Why does United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.