The largest, most influential event on how governments are handling land is the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which this year convened for the 15th time: UNCCD COP15. For two weeks in May, leaders ranging from presidents, ministers and financiers to heads of community and youth representatives gathered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire to strategize how to limit land degradation, raise funds for sustainable land management, and further the land rights of marginalized groups, women and young people.

Many decisions were made. The host country launched a new restoration strategy, delegates collectively pledged to increase efforts on handling drought, and food and agriculture were given more attention than at any UNCCD COPs past. In this GLF Live, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim – one of the most pronounced and respected voices at COP15 – gave a short summary of which outcomes are most important and how they will be taken forward in other global climate negotiations this year.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim is an expert in the adaptation and mitigation of Indigenous peoples to climate change. She is a member of the Mbororo pastoralist people in Chad and President of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT). Oumarou Ibrahim is an advocate for the greater inclusion of indigenous people and their knowledge and traditions in the global movement to fight the effects of climate change. Oumarou Ibrahim received the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award and was appointed as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocate. She serves as a Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues; Member of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC); Member of the Advisory Committee to the Secretary-General’s 2019 Climate Action Summit; and Conservation International Senior Indigenous Fellow. In 2019, she was listed by Time Magazine as one of 15 women championing action on climate change.