FROM THE NEWS HEADLINES

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1 LAND SCAN - What's New March UNCCD Library information service - All about desertification, land degradation, drought, drylands, sustainable land management, and more related issues compiled from the Web FROM THE NEWS HEADLINES In Year of Climate Ambition, Cape Town Blazes a Trail for Urban Action. Prominent Figures in the Field of Climate Change Congratulate the South African City for Winning Earth Hour City Challenge (Vancouver/ Bonn/New York, 28 March 2014) Three prominent personalities in the field of climate action congratulated Cape Town for winning this year's Earth Hour City Challenge. The Earth Hour City Challenge is a year-long competition to promote renewable energy and prepare for climate change. It is organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Cape Town received this year's award at a special ceremony in Vancouver on Thursday night. arthhour.pdf WORLD WATER DAY: UN HIGHLIGHTS WATER, ENERGY LINKS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT New York, Mar :00PM To mark World Water Day, the United Nations is highlighting the key role that water and energy play in economic development and the eradication of poverty worldwide, and calling for strong measures to ensure their efficient and equitable use. In his <" for the Day, focused this year on the interdependence between the management of water and energy, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that "they interact with each other in ways that can help -- or hinder -- our efforts to build stable societies and lives of dignity for all." OPINIONS and ANALYSIS No-till farming is on the rise. That s actually a big deal. Fascinating trend in U.S. agriculture that's been going on for the past few decades. It's the dramatic rise... of no-till farming: The pros and cons of no-till: As the technique became more widely used, U.S. farmers found that they could conserve water, reduce erosion and use less fossil fuel and labor to grow crops. Cropland erosion in the United States dropped nearly 40 percent between 1982 and But the practice can have downsides too: For one, it often leads to heavier use of chemical herbicides to kill weeds, which makes many farmers and consumers uneasy. (It's worth noting, however, that heavy herbicide use may not be inevitable 1

2 IN THE BLOGS THIS WEEK World s 36 Most Water-Stressed Countries WRI s Aqueduct project recently evaluated, mapped, and scored water risks like these in 100 river basins, ranked by area and population, and 180 nations the first such country-level water assessment of its kind. We found that 36 countries face extremely high levels of baseline water stress (see list at bottom). This means that more than 80 percent of the water available to agricultural, domestic, and industrial users is withdrawn annually leaving businesses, farms, and communities vulnerable to scarcity. World s 18 Most Water-Stressed Rivers REPORTS/RESEARCH ARTICLES/PAPERS Urban China: Toward Efficient, Inclusive and Sustainable Urbanization" By 2030, up to 70% of the Chinese population - some one billion - will be living in cities. How could China prepare for that? Find the answers in the report "Urban China: Toward Efficient, Inclusive and Sustainable Urbanization", as World Bank Country Director for China Klaus Rohland introduces it. Water in the Arab world: From droughts to flood, building resilience against extremes Water scarcity is also reaching alarming levels in MENA, with droughts the third most prevalent natural hazards after earthquakes, despite the growing intensity of rains. Djibouti has carried out the world s first Post Disaster Needs Assessment of its kind on its drought. Disaster risk assessments, early warning systems, risk management laboratories, and knowledge centers have been established. THE LIBRARY FOCUS FAO launches new satellite-based data on forest resources on the International Day of Forests Better information on forest resources is vital to halt deforestation 21 March, 2014, Rome - New data released on the occasion of the International Day of Forests confirm that forest areas continue to decline globally, with the biggest losses of tropical forests occurring in South America and Africa. 2

3 Improving information on forest resources is a key factor in halting illegal deforestation and forest degradation, said FAO on the International Day of Forests (IDF), celebrated by the United Nations today. FAO is using this year's celebration to discuss ways to improve the availability of information on the state of forests at all levels: nationally, regionally and globally. "If we want to be serious about halting deforestation, in line with FAO's Zero Illegal Deforestation challenge, this must be premised on the availability of sound information and data," said FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva. FOR YOUR EASE OF REFERENCE Facts and figures extracted from World Water Development Report 3 (WWDR3) Infographics >>Thirsty Energy: Energy and Water's Interdependence World Bank's Infographics from Thirsty Energy Initiative. Information briefs >>Information brief on water and energy >>Information brief on water and energy efficiency >>Information brief on securing access to water and energy >>Information brief on water and energy sustainability Fact Sheets >>Facts and figures on Water and Energy This web section offers a selection of facts and figures extracted from World Water Development Report 3 (WWDR3), Water in a Changing World, The section provides various facts on water and energy interdependencies. >>Facts and figures on Water and Industry This web section offers a selection of facts and figures extracted from WWDR3). In this section you will find about industry s water and energy demand and how it varies across countries; it also addresses global water pollution issues. Sustainable food production: Facts and Figures Soil damage, climate change, water and energy availability are all challenges for farming S&T have made key contributions to increasing food production, but new strategies are needed 3

4 Sustainable agriculture can benefit from 'system' approaches and farmers' participation Farming must feed more people more sustainably. Zareen Bharucha looks at scientific approaches past and present. Sand, rarer than one thinks..why is this issue important?globally, between 47 and 59 billion tonnes of material is mined every year (Steinberger et al., 2010), of which sand and gravel, hereafter known as aggregates, account for both the largest share (from 68% to 85%) and the fastest extraction increase (Krausmann et al., 2009). Surprisingly, although more sand and gravel are mined than any other material, reliable data on their extraction in certain developed countries are available only for recent years (Krausmann et al., 2009). The absence of global data on aggregates mining makes environmental assessment very difficult and has contributed to the lack of awareness about this issue. One way to estimate the global use of aggregates indirectly is through the production of cement for concrete (concrete is made with cement, water, sand and gravel). The production of cement is reported by 150 countries and reached 3.7 billion tonnes in 2012 (USGS, 2013a). For each tonne of cement, the building industry needs about six to seven times more tonnes of sand and gravel (USGS, 2013b). Thus, the world s use of aggregates for concrete can be estimated at 25.9 billion to 29.6 billion tonnes a year for 2012 alone. This represents enough concrete to build a wall 27 metres high by 27 metres wide around the equator. Added to this are all the aggregates used in land reclamation, shoreline developments and road embankments (for which the global statistics are unavailable), plus the 180 million tonnes of sand used in industry (USGS, 2012). Aggregates also contribute to 90% of asphalt pavements and 80% of concrete roads (Robinson and Brown, 2002). China alone built 146,400 kilometres of road in one year (EDE, 2013) an indication of the world demand for aggregates. =110 FORTHCOMING EVENTS Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty Conference Research on Responses to Land Degradation and Desertification", which will take place in Berlin on March Land degradation is becoming a major concern in Europe and at the global level, negatively affecting soil productivity, the provision of ecosystem services, and people s livelihoods. The most common land degradation problems include soil erosion, water stress, ecosystem fragmentation, biodiversity decline, and land desertification. Land degradation caused by unsustainable land use practices may be 4

5 influenced by socio-economic factors, leading land users to make land management decisions which contribute to rather than alleviate desertification. Various types of actions are being taken to respond to land and ecosystem degradation and desertification (LEDD), seeking to address both land and ecosystem-related problems and a range of socio-economic concerns. The 2014 LEDDRA Policy Conference marks a milestone in the LEDDRA project research and also closes this research project. The primary aim of the Policy Conference is to present selected, policy-related, project findings and to discuss associated policy recommendations, as well as to develop new critical thinking to support future initiatives addressing LEDD. The conference brings together LEDDRA researchers, policy makers from international, EU organisations, and Member States, as well as stakeholder groups and NGOs. The discussion and questions raised by the presentations and dialogue at the conference will contribute to the ongoing efforts to combat land degradation and desertification at the international, European, and national levels. DID YOU KNOW? The anthropogenic causes of desertification In 1989, in La Chanson d Azima, French singer France Gall sang: When the desert advances / Life flees / It is our decline / An impossible fight. The song ended with these alarming words of caution: The night is falling / Upon this dreadful emergency / And it is towards our tombstones / That the desert advances. In the Seventies and Eighties, desertification and aridification became important concerns, as people became increasingly aware about human-induced climate change. 25 years later, desertification remains a major ecological and environmental problem. But thankfully, it is not an irreversible phenomenon. In an attempt to counter France Gall s pessimism, here are some positive actions we can take to reverse deforestation/ from the Danone Group DID YOU KNOW? This TUNZA magazine is the first totally electronic issue, coming out initially story by story on (why not follow that). Then, we ll produce a compilation volume - like this one - for reference, on TUNZA magazine is for youth, by youth and about youth - so there ll be lots about what young people are doing, what they have achieved, and ideas about what others could pick up and run with. We ll also look at issues of concern to us all - from mega concerns such as climate change, resource use and food waste, to things like green jobs, green opportunities and how we can move to a green economy. This new issue is all about opportunities. We are majoring on young innovators - the Bayer Young Environmental Envoys, all of whom are working to make our world more sustainable. Some of their work focuses on research, some is about raising 5

6 awareness and provoking change, while other efforts explore using waste as a resource. We have a saying here: "ideas have legs". Many of these innovations are highly replicable. Some are potential business ideas that someone else could take up. Or perhaps the research interests you. So could you contribute or help in some way? Whatever you can do, if you want to talk to any of these young innovators and benefit from their experience and imagination, please contact us through these pages or through Facebook ( and we ll put you in touch. Prepared by UNCCD LIBRARY 6