资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

As International Day of South-South Cooperation approaches on 12 September we interview Linxiu Zhang, Director of the United Nations Environment Programme-International Ecosystems Management Partnership, on moves to restore ecosystems and promote livelihoods along Africa’s Great Green Wall.

Q: What is the United Nations Environment Programme-International Ecosystems Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP)? 

A: UNEP-IEMP is the first UNEP collaborating centre in the South for the South. It is a joint venture between UNEP and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, supported by the Government of China. UNEP-IEMP is implementing the UNEP Flagship Programme on Climate, Ecosystems and Livelihoods designed to improve livelihoods by building climate resilience and restoring and conserving key ecosystems in developing countries. It encourages and promotes South-South cooperation through monitoring and assessment, capacity-building, technology demonstration and science for policy.

Q: How did UNEP-IEMP get involved with the Great Green Wall for South-South Cooperation?

A: At the third session of the Pan African Agency on the Great Green Wall (PAGGW) Summit in 2015, Jian Liu, the founding Director of UNEP-IEMP, and a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences were invited to share China`s restoration experiences. This paved the way for UNEP`s South-South cooperation endeavour with Sahel countries on Great Green Wall issues. It was during this summit that cooperation with China was listed as a Great Green Wall priority, based on a consensus that China`s experiences and technology are applicable to Africa. To enhance science and technological cooperation, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the PAGGW office and the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science at the 13th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in 2017.

Q: What does China bring to the table in terms of land restoration experience?

A: China has long experience in ecosystems-based adaptation such as the Grain for Green programme and the Green Wall in the heart of the Taklamakan Desert. From the Taklamakan Desert in western China to the Sahel, we share the same golden sand, similar climate and desertification-related issues. China has decades of science-based experience in combating land degradation and is keen to share its experience to help promote the Sustainable Development Goals.