Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 May 2021
113. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress to date on the UNCCD Great Green Wall project and Ireland’s engagement with the UNCCD; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23961/21]
View answerThe Great Green Wall is a Pan-African initiative to restore and sustainably manage land in the Sahel-Saharan region, covering more than 20 African countries. The intervention zone dedicated to the Great Green Wall spans a length of at least 7000 km between Senegal and Djibouti and is home to some 232 million people.
To reach its targets the initiative needs to rehabilitate 8.2 million hectares per year between now and 2030. The initiative involves a broad range of organisations, including the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
In 2020, UNCCD reported that eleven countries participating in the Great Green Wall have collectively rehabilitated approximately four million hectares of land between 2007 and 2019. This has resulted in a number of environmental and socio-economic benefits, including the creation of 335,000 jobs.
US$14 billion was pledged at the recent One Planet Summit for Biodiversity, organised by the Government of France in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank, to help assist the completion of the Great Green Wall by 2030.
Ireland makes an annual core contribution to UNCCD, and in 2020 this amounted to €27,426. In addition, Ireland has made specific contributions to the Great Green Wall initiative.
- In 2018, Irish Aid provided €50,000 to support the production of a documentary on the Great Green Wall. This was released in 2020 and can be viewed at www.greatgreenwall.org/film.
- In 2018, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications provided funding of €1.2 million to UNCCD to help develop a detailed implementation and reporting plan for the initiative.
