National and international experts and political leaders have addressed measures and solutions aimed at combating desertification and drought during a high-level conference held today at the Reina Sofía National Museum in Madrid, organized by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) in collaboration with the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Spain, host of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2022, has made its commitments to the sustainable use of water and land resources and wanted to make a call to action to mitigate land degradation and act in the face of the scarcity of available water, a major problem that is affecting more and more people in the world.

Between 1900 and 2019, droughts affected 2.7 billion people worldwide and caused 11.7 million deaths. In addition, current scientific forecasts predict that these will increase and that they could affect more than three-quarters of the world’s population by 2050.

Ultimately, desertification is expected to lead to the irreversible deterioration and availability of terrestrial natural resources: soil, water and vegetation, limiting development opportunities and the living conditions of affected populations.

This year the event is celebrated under the slogan “Overcoming drought together” and focuses on the urgency of adopting policies and measures at the local, regional and global levels to avoid the effects of desertification and drought, as well as on creating societies that are more resilient to these environmental problems.

The event, held at the Reina Sofía National Museum, was attended by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez; the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres; the executive secretary of the UNCCD, Ibrahim Thiaw; the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius; the president of COP15, Alain-Richard Donwahi; Vice President Teresa Ribera and environmental activist Patricia Kombo. Likewise, several experts have shared some success stories at the national and international level in mitigation and adaptation to drought.

During his speech, Pedro Sánchez announced ‘Restoring landscapes and water for adaptation and resilience’, the Government’s new initiative that will strengthen collaboration links with Africa to fight desertification on the continent. The project, which aims to increase the resilience of areas where there is a high risk of land degradation , aims to catalyse cooperation between science, the policy community and social communities to address the water-landscape nexus.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has recalled that droughts are becoming more frequent and intense in all regions. “The well-being of hundreds of millions of people is compromised by increasing sandstorms, forest fires, crop failures, displacement and conflict,” he said.

For his part, UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw said: “Drought is a natural hazard, but it does not have to be a disaster. We call on all countries to make this year’s global commemoration a pivotal moment when we commit towork together to restore our lands, protect natural resources and increase the resilience of communities to drought to ensure that no country becomes Droughtland.”

The Vice-President and Minister for Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, insisted on the need to prevent land degradation through sustainable soil and water management and to restore already degraded land, “essential actions to achieve food and water security, slow down global warming, reduce the magnitude, intensity and recurrence of risks (pandemics, droughts, floods) and facilitate the recovery of natural habitats and biodiversity”.

In the national context, due to the coexistence with droughts and their consequences for decades, Spain has integrated this phenomenon into the new hydrological planning and management of water resources, avoiding as much as possible emergency actions when severe situations have already been reached.

The third-cycle hydrological plans, in the final stage of their approval process, aim to reverse a growing trend in water use, reducing the allocations established for the different uses by more than 1,000 hm3 to adapt them to these future scenarios. Added to this are the special drought plans, which tell us, based on a system of indicators, when and how to act in each phase.

NATIONAL STRATEGY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION

The Government of Spain, in addition, in its Declaration of Climate and Environmental Emergency approved on January 21, 2020, committed to developing a National Strategy to Combat Desertification within the framework of strengthening synergies with rural development policies, biodiversity protection and recognition of environmental services.

The Strategy, which is being finalized and will be adopted soon, is fully aligned with the new UNCCD Strategic Framework 2018-2030 and the 2030 Agenda, in particular the achievement of target 15.3 on Land Degradation Neutrality. It establishes a framework of actions and measures articulated in three axes: the planning and execution of soil and water conservation measures and the restoration of degraded areas; the strengthening of institutional cooperation and coordination (intersectoral and territorial) and improvement of governance; and increasing knowledge and awareness in society.

This tool will promote the application of sustainable land management measures in the different sectors with an impact on the territory: forestry, agriculture and water resources management.

The Strategy envisages the creation of an Atlas of Desertification that will improve and update the tools for risk analysis and decision-making in the fight against desertification, as well as a Plan for the Restoration of Lands Affected by Desertification to articulate coordination with the restoration strategies already in place at national and European level. It also plans to promote a national law on the conservation and sustainable use of soils, aligned with the EU Strategy for Soil Protection for 2030.

The protection, revaluation and restoration of Spain’s natural capital also occupies a prominent place in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (RTRP), allocating 1,642 million euros for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration and sustainable forest management in the period 2021-2023.

SPAIN, AT RISK OF DESERTIFICATION

Both droughts and desertification seriously affect Spain, where 74% of the territory is susceptible to being affected by desertification, of which 20% are already considered degraded.

In addition, climate change is aggravating this situation with the progressive aridification of the climate and the increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts. Pressure on the use of soil and water, together with the abandonment of agricultural and forest areas of traditional use, also favor land degradation processes.

The most arid climates of our country, such as those in the southeast of the Peninsula and the eastern Canary Islands and, to a lesser extent, the Ebro Valley and areas of the Southern Plateau could spread to other regions. Natural areas such as the Ribera de Navarra, the landscapes of the Regional Park in the southeast of the Community of Madrid, the island of Menorca, the Special Area of Conservation of El Piélago, or the climate of the Salar de Agramón micro-reserve in Albacete, will notice a rise of 1.5 ºC on average and a decrease in rainfall of up to 14% between now and 2065.