About the Event-The 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) held at Indian Expo Centre, Greater Noida.India is the host country of the ongoing UNCCD COP14 which began from 2ndSeptember and will culminate on 13thSeptember 2019.
The drought toolbox collates a large number of tools organized in 3 modules.
- Drought Monitoring and Early Warning.
- Drought Vulnerability and Risk Assessment.
- Drought Risk Mitigation Measures.
‘Drought Toolbox’-
- IT will not only warn of an impending drought, but also suggest means to mitigate the adverse impact of acute water scarcity,which can be used by countries to assess drought risks in their regions much in advance, and prepare to deal with the water scarcity.
- The drought toolbox, which uses 30 parameters, including soil moisture, rainfall data and temperature data of the present and past, can accurately evaluate the vulnerability of different geographic regions to drought. Already 70 countries have shown interest in making use of the toolbox, said UNCCD officials.
- Developed By:The need for a better tool to forecast droughts and minimise their socio-economic impact was felt long ago and two years ago many countries suggested that the UNCCD come up with a template.Subsequently, UNCCD experts began working on the drought toolbox together with their counterparts from other UN organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Meteorological Organization, as well as from the University of Nebraska in the US.
- The SDG-15 refers to: Protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The 17 SDGs are integrated—that is, they recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability.