Fighting desertification

Rome, Jly 8-10

ISPRA in cooperation with the Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, organized a congress which will take place on July 8, 9, 10 in "Sala Fazzini", in via Curtatone. The congress' title is "Regional Meeting of Northern Mediterranean countries and other countries affected by desertification processes, in preparation for the ninth session of the Conference of Parties (COP 9) and meetings of its subsidiary bodies (9 CST and CRIC 8)" of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The meeting represents a critical time for the preparatory process of the COP 9: the so-called Regional Preparatory Meetings are designed to allow the consultation of the countries affected by desertification and to foster the debate about the documents to be approved and the decisions to be taken.
Representatives of the countries of Annex IV of UNCCD (Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Malta, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Turkey) and of France, United States, Canada, Israel and European Commission have been invited. Among the partecipants: the Executive Secretary of UNCCD, H.E. Luc Gnacadja, the Environment Secretary Roberto Menia, ISPRA's sub-commissioner Stefano Laporta and the Italian Focal Point of the UNCCD Georgio Sfara.