On 11–12 March 2024, the principals of the GEO-LDN Flagship (Leadership, Steering Committee and Secretariat) met in Bonn, Germany to review progress and agree on next steps for the initiative. The two-day workshop brought together principals from across the globe, including AfriGEO, Conservation International (C.I.), Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), Centre de Suivi Écologique (CSE), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), European Space Agency (ESA), Group on Earth Observations (GEO), Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani, Ghana (UENR) and the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT).
The meeting followed up on pending items from the 2022 principals’ meeting and set out the key steps for 2024 and beyond. Participants reflected on 2023 milestones and previewed the 2024 operational plan, which includes a strong presence at UNCCD COP 16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A significant portion of discussions focused on strengthening GEO-LDN’s international network.
A major emphasis was on sustained country engagement and ensuring strong national and GEO-LDN visibility at COP 16. Ideas were gathered to foster country presence and exchange through pavilion design, event planning, peer-to-peer learning, and networking among countries with shared LDN targets and use cases. COP was noted as a key incentive to drive progress towards Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).
Many principals also contributed to the UNCCD workshop on revising the Good Practice Guidance for SDG indicator 15.3.1 (monitoring and reporting), held in the days immediately following the Principals’ Meeting.
