• UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has released The Global Drought Snapshot at the beginning of the 28^th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in
• It exposes the devastating consequences of droughts on lives, economies, and various sectors based on reporting by 101 Parties to the UNCCD.

 MAJOR FINDINGS

• It shows that only a few hazards claim more lives, cause more economic loss, and affect more sectors of society than drought.
• 84 billion people are drought stricken and according to the World Bank, 85% of them live in low or middle-income countries.
  • 7 percent of this population was exposed to severe or extreme drought.
• As compared to men, women and children are over 14 times more likely to be killed by climate fuelled disasters.
• Drought’s severity prompted emergency declarations at a national or sub-national level in 23 countries (including India).
  • Europe faced the highest number of declarations, with Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom declaring emergencies in 2023.
• Anthropogenic drivers are causing more frequent and extreme droughts.
• 2023 has broken records when the world breached 2 degrees Celsius of warming on November 17, 2023.

About UNCCD

• UNCCD is one of three Conventions originated at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

2006 was declared as “International Year of Deserts and Desertification”.

• The UNCCD works with the other two Rio Conventions to address the interlinked challenges of land, climate and biodiversity. These are-
  • The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
  • The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• It was established in 1994.
• It is the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
• It obliges national governments to take measures to tackle the issue of desertification.
• It addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, harboring some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and population.
• It focuses on having a bottom-up approach to achieve its goals, by involving the local communities.