Abstract
Humankind is facing one of the biggest tests for striking a proper balance between developmental needs and environmental imperatives. However, ironically, much of the development in the world today is not sustainable. Many of our economic, monetary and trade policies in sectors such as energy, agriculture, forestry and human settlements tend to induce and reinforce non-sustainable development patterns and practices. Apart from irreversible squandering of our biological capital, we are confronting a growing problem of environmental refugees-people who are forced to abandon their traditional habitat as the land cannot sustain them. In fact, the human quest to conquer nature through science and technology has brought us on to the present brink.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Preamble to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa. http://www.unccd.int/en/about–the-convention/Pages/Text-Prologue.aspx.
- 3.
Para 12.2 in chapter 12 (Managing fragile ecosystems: Combating desertification and drought) of Agenda 21; see United Nations, Agenda 21: The United Nations Programme of Action from Rio. New York, 1993.
- 4.
UNCCD, Land Degradation Neutrality: Resilience at Local, National and Regional Levels (Bonn, UNCCD, 2014), p. 4.
- 5.
The United Nations General Assembly resolution 68/232 adopted on 20 December 2013; see preamble to the UN Doc. A/RES/68/232 of 7 February 2014.
- 6.
- 7.
See Article 2 of Annex II on Regional Implementation Annex for Asia, n. 2, p. 56.
- 8.
FAO, Global Soil Partnership-World Soil Charter, 39th Session, 6–13 June, 2015, Rome. http://www.fao.org/3/a-mn442e.pdf.
- 9.
UNEP, Global Environment Outlook 2000 (Nairobi: UNEP, 1999), p. 851. http://www.grida.no/publications/other/geo2000/?src=/geo2000/.
- 10.
See n. 4, p. 2.
- 11.
For general discussion, see Kassas (1995), pp. 115–128.
- 12.
Addressing desertification, land degradation and drought in Asia (UNCCD: Bonn). http://www.unccd.int/en/regional-access/Asia/Pages/alltext.aspx.
- 13.
For general discussion, see De Jong (2013), pp. 155–177.
- 14.
- 15.
See the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa; see http://www.unccd.int/en/about-the-convention/Pages/Text-Prologue.aspx. For further discussion on UNCCD, see Kjellen (2003), p. 127; Bryant (1996), p. 445; Stringer (2008a, b), pp. 2065–2074.
- 16.
Article 1(a) UNCCD.
- 17.
Article 1(b) & (c) UNCCD.
- 18.
See Article 2 of Annex II on Regional Implementation Annex for Asia, n. 2, p. 56.
- 19.
Article 9 & 10 UNCCD.
- 20.
Tal (2015), p. 25.
- 21.
For more discussion, see Conliffe (2011), pp. 44–63.
- 22.
The United Nations General Assembly resolution 66/288 adopted 27 July 2012. https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N11/476/10/PDF/N1147610.pdf?OpenElement.
- 23.
Id.
- 24.
See Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, The United Nations General Assembly resolution 70/1 adopted 25 September 2015. http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E.
- 25.
The Secretary-General, Remarks at UNSD Summit for the adoption of the post-2015 Development Agenda, New York, 25 September 2015. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/20229sg.pdf.
- 26.
See Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, The United Nations General Assembly resolution 70/1 adopted 25 September 2015. http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E. For more information on SDG 15. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg15.
- 27.
Ibid.
- 28.
There has been churning on having a protocol under UNCCD on Zero Net Land Degradation, see Tal (2015), pp. 25–32.
- 29.
See UNCCD Secretariat: A Stronger UNCCD for a Land-Degradation Neutral World (Bonn: Germany), 2013, p. 7.
- 30.
See Decision ICCD/COP(12)/L.4; available at: http://www.unccdcop12.gov.tr/en/Home/Icerik/101.
- 31.
Id.
- 32.
UNCCD COP12: From the UN General Assembly to the Paris Climate Change Conference; see http://www.unccd.int/en/about-the-convention/the-bodies/the-cop/COP_12/Pages/default.aspx.
- 33.
Although the Convention came into force in 1996, its implementation has been tardy and there has been no scientifically verifiable assessment how much amount of land degradation/desertification/drought has been reversed in the drylands during these 20 years of Convention. For further discussion, see Bassett and Talafre (2003), pp. 133–139. More recently, Canada pulled out of UNCCD citing “membership in this convention was costly for Canadians and showed few results, if any for the environment”. http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-only-un-member-to-pull-out-of-droughts-and-deserts-convention-1.1214065.
- 34.
See Statement of Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary UN Convention to Combat Desertification, “Moving to Zero-Net Rate of Land Degradation”, UN Headquarters, New York, 26 March 2012. http://www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/secretariat/2012/UNCCD%20ES%20Statement%20at%20PR%20in%20NY%20on%2026%20March%202012.pdf.
- 35.
Id.
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Desai, B.H., Sidhu, B.K. (2017). Striving for Land-Soil Sustainability: Some Legal Reflections. In: Ginzky, H., Heuser, I., Qin, T., Ruppel, O., Wegerdt, P. (eds) International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy 2016. International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy, vol 2016. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42508-5_6
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