Alassane Ouattara opens COP15 in the face of "the climate emergency"
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara at the opening of COP15 in Abidjan, May 9, 2022. AFP - SIA KAMBOU
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Abidjan is for two weeks the world capital of the fight against desertification, on the occasion of the COP15 which opened on Monday 9 May.
A dozen heads of state are there, including nine Africans.
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Alassane Ouattara opened this Monday morning the
COP15 against desertification
by painting a gloomy picture of the environmental situation.
"
Our summit is being held in a context of climate emergency which is having a severe impact on our land management policies and exacerbating the phenomenon of drought
", he warned.
“ Land
degradation affects 52
% of agricultural land and threatens 2.6 billion people.
12
million hectares of arable land are lost.
»
The Ivorian Head of State recalled that his country was particularly affected by desertification and land degradation and, in particular, forests.
The country has lost 80% of its forest cover since independence, recalls our correspondent in Abidjan,
Pierre Pinto
.
To counter this phenomenon and restore 3 million hectares of forest by 2030, Alassane Ouattara wishes in particular to focus on agroforestry and involve the private sector.
And to enable Côte d'Ivoire to restore these degraded lands and sustainably strengthen agricultural productivity, the Ivorian president has therefore asked international donors to contribute 1.5 billion dollars over five years.
Objective: to make Côte d'Ivoire – a quarter of whose GDP depends on agriculture – the laboratory of a new strategy for restoring degraded land.
Nine African heads of state, including the Togolese Faure Gnassingbé, the Liberian George Weah, the Nigerian Mohamed Bazoum or the Nigerian Muhammadu Buhari, surrounded President Alassane Ouattara.
French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were to participate in the debates by videoconference.
Participants in COP15, which runs until May 20, will attempt to propose other concrete measures to combat soil degradation over the next ten years.
The theme of this event “Lands.
Life.
Heritage: From a precarious world to a prosperous future" is "
a call to action to ensure that the earth, which is our source of life on this planet, continues to benefit present and future generations
", underlines the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in a press release.
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COP15 Desertification
Ivory Coast
Environment
Alassane Ouattara