Exploring new avenues of CSO participation in UNCCD processes
Enhancing inclusivity within UNCCD processes and its implementation by strengthening the involvement of civil society organizations (CSOs) and Indigenous Peoples.
This side event focuses on discussing participation of CSOs within the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) processes, emphasizing the need to support the involvement of civil society organizations (CSOs) and Indigenous Peoples. Since 2009, the Conference of the Parties (COP) has encouraged CSO engagement through decisions (5/COP.9 to 5/COP.15). However, challenges persist in achieving meaningful participation in UNCCD processes. This event will present the outcomes of a comparative study on CSO participation in the UNCCD and the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and promote dialogue on new ways to involve, represent and engage CSOs in UNCCD processes.
The objectives of this side event are to:
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Present key findings from the comparative study on civil society participation in the UNCCD and CFS, highlighting gaps and opportunities for improvement.
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Examine the challenges faced by the UNCCD’s CSO Panel in UNCCD processes, such as independence from the secretariat, ensuring continuity of knowledge within the panel and among CSO observers, enhancing the engagement and participation of CSOs, and sustainable financial support for CSO participation.
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Formulate concrete recommendations for meaningful participation of CSOs and Indigenous Peoples within the UNCCD.
This side event aims to contribute to COP16 by advocating for new avenues to meaningful participation of CSOs in UNCCD, both in preparation of and during COP, CRIC, CST, SPI IWGs, and other processes, ensuring their voices are integral to decision-making. The discussions will provide actionable recommendations to improve meaningful participation of CSOs.
Provisional list of speakers:
- Nathalie van Haren, Both ENDS
- Jes Weigelt, TMG Research
- Ana di Pangracio, Representative of the UNCCD CSO Panel
- Representative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
- Representative of the UNCCD Secretariat
- Representative of the African or European Group of Negotiators
- CSO observer to the SPI: Jia Jia Luo from Geen China (current), or Noel Oettle, Indigo – South Africa (former)
- CSO observer to the IWG on Mid Term Evaluation of the UNCCD: Manon Albagnac, CARI - France
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Dossier /Communities Regreen the Sahel
In various countries in the Sahel, vast tracts of land have been restored by the local population by nurturing what spontaneously springs from the soil and protecting the sprouts from cattle and hazards.
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Environmentally Just Practice /Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration
In various countries in the Sahel, vast tracts of degraded land have been restored by the local population by nurturing what spontaneously springs from the soil. They do this using a method called 'Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR)'.
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Dossier /Small Grants Big Impacts
Small grants funds offer an effective, alternative way to channel big money from large donors and funds to local groups and organisations that are striving for a sustainable and just society everywhere around the world.
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Environmentally Just Practice /A Negotiated Approach for Inclusive Water Governance
A Negotiated Approach envisages the meaningful and long-term participation of communities in all aspects of managing the water and other natural resources on which their lives depend. It seeks to achieve healthy ecosystems and equitable sharing of benefits among all stakeholders within a river basin. This inclusive way of working is an essential precondition for the Transformative Practices that are promoted by Both ENDS and partners.
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Dossier /Rights for People, Rules for Corporations – Stop ISDS!
Indigenous communities in Paraguay saw their attempts to regain their ancestral lands thwarted by German investors. In Indonesia, US-based mining companies succeeded to roll back new laws that were meant to boost the country’s economic development and protect its forests. This is the level of impact that investment treaties can have on social, environmental and economic development and rights. Why? Because of the ‘Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement’ clauses that are included in many such treaties.
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Blog / 25 November 2025COP30 shows why dismantling ISDS is essential for real climate action
Standing in Belém during COP30, I felt the weight of the moment. We came to the Amazon hoping for decisive progress on phasing out fossil fuels, yet the final outcome fell far short of the ambition science and justice demand. The agreement brought welcome commitments on adaptation finance and global indicators, but it refused to confront the structural forces that make climate action so difficult.
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Dossier /Wetlands without Borders
With our Wetlands without Borders program, we work towards environmentally sustainable and socially responsible governance of the wetlands system of the La Plata Basin in South America.
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Publication / 17 November 2025
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Environmentally Just Practice /Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)
About one in every six people, particularly women, directly rely on forests for their lives and livelihoods, especially for food. This shows how important non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and forests are to ensure community resilience. Not only as a source of food, water and income, but also because of their cultural and spiritual meaning.
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Dossier /Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA)
GAGGA rallies the collective power of the women's rights and environmental justice movements to realize a world where women can and do access their rights to water, food security, and a clean, healthy and safe environment.
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News / 5 November 2025Interview: Both ENDS at COP30 for Climate Justice and Systemic Change
Both ENDS is present at COP30 to advocate for genuine access to climate finance for locally led, gender-just climate solutions and the mechanisms that facilitate this, including those for farmer-led restoration. Furthermore, the organisation participates to ensure the crucial connection between the climate negotiations and the trade and investment frameworks that shape them.
Learn more about the Both ENDS team at COP30 below, and find all the activities and side-events in which Both ENDS will participate.
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News / 5 November 2025Overview of Both ENDS events at COP30 in Belem, Brazil
Both ENDS is present at COP30 to advocate for genuine access to climate finance for locally led, gender-just climate solutions, and for the mechanisms that make these possible, including those supporting farmer-led restoration. The organisation also engages to highlight the crucial connection between climate negotiations and the trade and investment frameworks that shape them.
Below is an overview of the Both ENDS team at COP30 and a detailed look at the activities and side-events in which Both ENDS will participate.
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News / 14 October 2025Communities regreening the Sahel: strengthening resilience from the ground up
How can communities in the Sahel strengthen their food systems in the face of climate change and other shocks? Through the ARFSA Programme, Both ENDS and its partners SPONG (Burkina Faso), CRESA/INRAN (Niger) and IED Afrique (Senegal) are working together to show that locally led landscape restoration works. -
Publication / 9 October 2025
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Dossier /International trade and investment with respect for people and planet
The network of international trade and investment treaties is large and complex. The Netherlands alone has signed more than 70 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and is party to the trade and investment agreements concluded by the EU, like the EU-Mercosur and EU-Indonesia trade deals.
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Dossier /Amplifying environmentally just practices
Because of the close relationship with their living environment, local communities often have the best ideas for the sustainable and equitable use and governance of land, water and forests. These environmentally just practices and processes successfully protect and restore ecosystems and address climate change. They are essential in the light of the multiple crises the world faces, but are in dire need of financial and policy support.
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News / 6 October 2025From Entebbe to Accra: civil society is rewriting the rules of investment
By Fernando Hernández Espino and Bart-Jaap Verbeek
Almost a year after African civil society gathered in Uganda to adopt the Entebbe Declaration, the call to transform international investment governance continues to gain strength. From the 6th to the 9th of October, over 50 civil society organisations from across West Africa, including from Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Gambia, Sierra Leone, as well as from Kenya and Latin America, are convening in Accra to deepen and operationalise the Declaration’s vision.
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Publication / 2 October 2025
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Dossier /Towards a socially and environmentally just energy transition
To address the climate crisis we need to urgently transition away from fossil fuels towards clean, renewable energy. However, this transition is not only about changing energy sources. It requires an inclusive and fair process that tackles systemic inequalities and demanding consumption patterns, prioritizes environmental and social justice, and which does not repeat mistakes from the past.
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News / 16 July 2025Case Study: Women Advocating for Gender and Climate Justice in Burkina Faso
The Women Environmental Programme Burkina Faso (WEP BF or WEP) is leading the way in gender-just climate solutions, putting the power of advocacy directly into the hands of women farmers. “In Burkina Faso, women play a crucial role in food production and natural resource management, yet they continue to face systemic barriers to land ownership,” explains a WEP team member. “Despite legal provisions, deeply ingrained customary norms remain dominant, restricting women’s access to land as user rights only, which need to be mediated through male family members.” Without secure access to land, they face significant obstacles in sustaining their agricultural activities, improving local food security, and fully participating in their communities.
