UN talks to tackle degraded land 'emergency' begin

UN talks to tackle desertification and land degradation that have devastated large swathes of Africa began in Ivory Coast Monday, as climate change wreaks havoc on the continent.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), involving 196 countries plus the European Union, is meeting for the first time in three years, in Abidjan.

Decades of unsustainable agriculture have depleted soils worldwide and accelerated both global warming and species loss, the UNCCD says, with an estimated 40 percent of land degraded globally. "Our summit is taking place in the context of the climate emergency which harshly impacts our land management policies and exacerbates drought," Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara announced.

"Our people put great hope in us. We don't have the right to disappoint them.

"Let us act swiftly, let us act together to give new life to our lands," he urged.

Nine African heads of states including Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari, Niger's Mohamed Bazoum and DR Congo's Felix Tshisekedi were among the continent's leaders listening to the Ivorian host.

Bazoum spoke of "agricultural yields that fall from year to year", while Tshisekedi pointed to "the lengthening of the dry seasons" and "the advance of the Sahara and Kalahari deserts" on the continent.

Ouattara presented the "Abidjan Legacy Program" Initiative to raise $1.5 billion over five years to restore Ivory Coast's "degraded forest eco-systems" and promote sustainable soil management.

The African Development Bank and the European Union are among the main donors to the project.

Ivory Coast is among numerous African nations badly affected by desertification. Forest cover has fallen by 80 percent since 1900 -- from 16 million hectares (39.5 million acres) to just 2.9 million (7.1 million acres) last year.

"At the current rate, our forest could totally disappear by 2050," Ouattara warned.

French President Emmanuel Macron, addressing the meeting by videoconference, said more than 3.2 billion people were living on degraded land.

"There is an urgency to act," Macron added. "These crises are not irreversible and solutions exist."

COP15, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change, is due to hear new proposals to try to halt the spread of desertification and deteriorating land quality.

The talks run until May 20.

The conference will pay particular attention to the restoration of one billion hectares of degraded land by 2030, futureproofing land use and drought resilience, the UNCCD said.

Debate is expected to include the question of the "Great Green Wall" scheme to restore 100 million hectares (247 million acres) of arid land from Senegal in the west of Africa to Djibouti in the east by 2030.