Ibrahim Thiaw is a Mauritianian public servant who has been serving as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) since 2019. [1]
Ibrahim Thiaw is a Mauritianian public servant who has been serving as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) since 2019. [1]
Born in 1957 in Tékane, Mauritania, Thiaw holds an advanced degree in forestry and forest product techniques. [2]
Thiaw worked in his country's Ministry of Rural Development for 10 years before joining the World Conservation Union (IUCN), where he served 15 years holding different positions.[ citation needed ] He was President of the PanAfrican Archaeological Association from 2014 to 2018. [3]
Thiaw joined the United Nations in 2007 as Director of the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation (DEPI) at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). [4] From 2013 to 2018, he was Deputy Executive Director of UNEP at the level of Assistant Secretary-General, under the leadership of successive Executive Directors Achim Steiner and Erik Solheim. He was appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 2 August 2013. [5] In this capacity, he played a key role in shaping the organization’s strategic vision, mid-term strategy and programme of work, and strengthened collaborations with Governments and other environmental governing bodies, including the United Nations Environmental Assembly. [6]
Thiaw is married and has three children.
Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity.
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) is a Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs that incorporate long-term strategies supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in June 1972. Its mandate is to provide leadership, deliver science and develop solutions on a wide range of issues, including climate change, the management of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and green economic development. The organization also develops international environmental agreements; publishes and promotes environmental science and helps national governments achieve environmental targets.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed in 1971.
Rio Convention relates to the following three conventions, which were agreed at the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet's most pressing environmental problems. The GEF unites 184 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. Since 1992, the GEF has provided close to $20.5 billion in grants and mobilized an additional $112 billion in co-financing for more than 4,800 projects in 170 countries. Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP), the GEF has provided support to nearly 24,000 civil society and community initiatives in 133 countries.
Alicia Isabel Adriana Bárcena Ibarra is a Mexican biologist who currently serves as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Rosa Elena Simeón Negrín was the Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment in Cuba. Her role in government includes raising awareness of environmental issues amongst Cubans.
The Great Green Wall or Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel is a project led by the African Union, initially conceived as a way to combat desertification in the Sahel region and hold back expansion of the Sahara, by planting a wall of trees stretching across the entire Sahel. It has since evolved into a program promoting water harvesting techniques, greenery protection and improving indigenous land use techniques, aimed at creating a mosaic of green and productive landscapes across North Africa.
Luc-Marie Constant Gnacadja or simply Luc Gnacadja is a Beninese politician and architect. He was Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification from 2007 to 2013.
The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) is a high-level intergovernmental policy forum. The forum includes all United Nations member states and permanent observers, the UNFF Secretariat, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, Regional Organizations and Processes and Major Groups.
The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is a United Nations observance celebrated each year on 17 June. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the presence of desertification and drought, highlighting methods of preventing desertification and recovering from drought. Each year's global celebration has a unique, novel emphasis that had not been developed previously.
Environmental governance is a concept in political ecology and environmental policy that advocates sustainability as the supreme consideration for managing all human activities—political, social and economic. Governance includes government, business and civil society, and emphasizes whole system management. To capture this diverse range of elements, environmental governance often employs alternative systems of governance, for example watershed-based management.
Monique Barbut, born in 1956 in Morocco, is a French public servant who served as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from 2013 until 2019. She was appointed to this position by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 16 September 2013.
The Environmental Protection Agency, is an agency of Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, established by EPA Act 490 (1994). The agency is dedicated to improving, conserving and promoting the country’s environment and striving for environmentally sustainable development with sound, efficient resource management, taking into account social and equity issues. It oversees the implementation of the National Environment Policy. EPA Ghana's mission is to manage, protect and enhance the country’s environment and seek common solutions to global environmental problems. Its mission is to be achieved through an integrated environmental planning and management system with broad public participation, efficient implementation of appropriate programs and technical services, advice on environmental problems and effective, consistent enforcement of environmental law and regulations. EPA Ghana is a regulatory body and a catalyst for change to sound environmental stewardship.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is a major assessment of the human impact on the environment, called for by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2000, launched in 2001 and published in 2005 with more than $14 million of grants. It popularized the term ecosystem services, the benefits gained by humans from ecosystems.
Elion Group was founded in 1988 in a saltern in Kubuqi Desert, one of China's deserts and later developed into a national enterprise, aiming at restoring eco-environment. Committed to preventing land degradation and transforming desert back to cities, it has developed Kubuqi mode to restore the ecology of Kubuqi Desert. Based on the Elion's experiment, Kubuqi International Desert Forum, the only desert forum worldwide, was established in 2007 and has received global acclaim.
Professor Reuben James Olembo was a prominent Kenyan academic, scientist and environmentalist. He was a deputy executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which he played a pivotal role in helping found, and United Nations Assistant Secretary General from 1994 to 1998. He became the Acting Secretary General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), after his retirement from UNEP.
Joyce Msuya is a Tanzanian microbiologist and environmental scientist, who serves as the Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at the level of Assistant Secretary-General. She was appointed to this position by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on 21 May 2018, for a 5-year term. She replaced Ibrahim Thiaw of Mauritania, who had served out his term.
Elizabeth Maruma Mrema is a Tanzanian biodiversity leader and lawyer, currently based out of Montreal, Canada, appointed executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2020. She is the first African woman to hold this role. She previously held numerous leadership positions in the United Nations Environment Programme.