General Assembly 2nd Committee: Statement by FAO to Introduce the Secretary-General's Report on Sand and Dust Storms

1. It is an honour to address the Second Committee of the 79th Session of the General Assembly to introduce the Secretary General's report on combating sand and dust storms, which corresponds to item 18(j) of the provisional agenda and is contained in document A/79/254.
2. The report, prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution 78/158 on combating sand and dust storms, provides details on developments within the United Nations system since the issuance of the previous Secretary General Report on this topic (as contained in document A/78/237). The report draws on contributions from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management of ESCAP, the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, and the World Health Organization (WHO).
3. The report covers the period from mid-2023 to mid-2024. It highlights activities and initiatives undertaken by United Nations entities, Member States and a range of stakeholders and underscores achievements made during the reporting period. The report also reflects the growing awareness around sand and dust storms as a result of the economic, social and environmental costs associated with them.
4. The developments and activities in the report are organized in four principal areas:
   1. Cross-cutting developments.
   2. Monitoring, prediction and early warning.
   3. Impact mitigation, vulnerability and resilience.
   4. Source mitigation.
5. Overall, the report identifies three key messages:

First, the transboundary hazards posed to society by sand and dust storms continue to present a formidable challenge to achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions - economic, social and environmental.

Second, the continued importance of mitigating the effects of sand and dust storms, and the transboundary hazards they represent, is reflected in the United Nations Environment Assembly resolution on combating sand and dust storms UNEP/EA.6/Res.7, adopted in March 2024, and UNGA resolution 78/314 which proclaimed 2025-2034 the United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms.

Third, the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, leadership of which will pass from FAO to ESCAP and ESCWA as the incumbents of the rotating chair in December 2024, continues its efforts to move from the planning to the implementation stage, a process that would be accelerated with increased financial and human resources.

I thank you.

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