United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in the United States

Article 15

Regional implementation annexes

Elements for incorporation in action programmes shall be selected and
adapted to the socio-economic, geographical and climatic factors applicable to
affected country Parties or regions, as well as to their level of development.
Guidelines for the preparation of action programmes and their exact focus and
content for particular subregions and regions are set out in the regional
implementation annexes.

Section 2: Scientific and technical cooperation

Article 16

Information collection, analysis and exchange

The Parties agree, according to their respective capabilities, to
integrate and coordinate the collection, analysis and exchange of relevant
short term and long term data and information to ensure systematic observation
of land degradation in affected areas and to understand better and assess the
processes and effects of drought and desertification. This would help
accomplish, inter alia, early warning and advance planning for periods of
adverse climatic variation in a form suited for practical application by users
at all levels, including especially local populations. To this end, they
shall, as appropriate:

(a) facilitate and strengthen the functioning of the global network of
institutions and facilities for the collection, analysis and exchange of
information, as well as for systematic observation at all levels, which shall,
inter alia:
(i) aim to use compatible standards and systems;

(ii) encompass relevant data and stations, including in
remote areas;

(iii) use and disseminate modern technology for data
collection, transmission and assessment on land degradation; and

(iv) link national, subregional and regional data and
information centres more closely with global information sources;

(b) ensure that the collection, analysis and exchange of information
address the needs of local communities and those of decision makers, with a
view to resolving specific problems, and that local communities are involved
in these activities;

(c) support and further develop bilateral and multilateral programmes
and projects aimed at defining, conducting, assessing and financing the
collection, analysis and exchange of data and information, including, inter
alia, integrated sets of physical, biological, social and economic indicators;

(d) make full use of the expertise of competent intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations, particularly to disseminate relevant
information and experiences among target groups in different regions;

(e) give full weight to the collection, analysis and exchange of
socio-economic data, and their integration with physical and biological data;

(f) exchange and make fully, openly and promptly available information
from all publicly available sources relevant to combating desertification and
mitigating the effects of drought; and

(g) subject to their respective national legislation and/or policies,
exchange information on local and traditional knowledge, ensuring adequate
protection for it and providing appropriate return from the benefits derived
from it, on an equitable basis and on mutually agreed terms, to the local
populations concerned.

Article 17

Research and development

1. The Parties undertake, according to their respective capabilities,
to promote technical and scientific cooperation in the fields of combating
desertification and mitigating the effects of drought through appropriate
national, subregional, regional and international institutions. To this end,
they shall support research activities that:

(a) contribute to increased knowledge of the processes leading to
desertification and drought and the impact of, and distinction between, causal
factors, both natural and human, with a view to combating desertification and
mitigating the effects of drought, and achieving improved productivity as well
as sustainable use and management of resources;

(b) respond to well defined objectives, address the specific needs of
local populations and lead to the identification and implementation of
solutions that improve the living standards of people in affected areas;

(c) protect, integrate, enhance and validate traditional and local
knowledge, know-how and practices, ensuring, subject to their respective
national legislation and/or policies, that the owners of that knowledge will
directly benefit on an equitable basis and on mutually agreed terms from any
commercial utilization of it or from any technological development derived
from that knowledge;

(d) develop and strengthen national, subregional and regional research
capabilities in affected developing country Parties, particularly in Africa,
including the development of local skills and the strengthening of appropriate
capacities, especially in countries with a weak research base, giving
particular attention to multidisciplinary and participative socio-economic
research;

(e) take into account, where relevant, the relationship between
poverty, migration caused by environmental factors, and desertification;

(f) promote the conduct of joint research programmes between national,
subregional, regional and international research organizations, in both the
public and private sectors, for the development of improved, affordable and
accessible technologies for sustainable development through effective
participation of local populations and communities; and

(g) enhance the availability of water resources in affected areas, by
means of, inter alia, cloud-seeding.

2. Research priorities for particular regions and subregions,
reflecting different local conditions, should be included in action
programmes. The Conference of the Parties shall review research priorities
periodically on the advice of the Committee on Science and Technology.

Article 18

Transfer, acquisition, adaptation and development of technology

1. The Parties undertake, as mutually agreed and in accordance with
their respective national legislation and/or policies, to promote, finance
and/or facilitate the financing of the transfer, acquisition, adaptation and
development of environmentally sound, economically viable and socially
acceptable technologies relevant to combating desertification and/or
mitigating the effects of drought, with a view to contributing to the
achievement of sustainable development in affected areas. Such cooperation
shall be conducted bilaterally or multilaterally, as appropriate, making full
use of the expertise of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.
The Parties shall, in particular:

(a) fully utilize relevant existing national, subregional, regional
and international information systems and clearing-houses for the
dissemination of information on available technologies, their sources, their
environmental risks and the broad terms under which they may be acquired;

(b) facilitate access, in particular by affected developing country
Parties, on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential
terms, as mutually agreed, taking into account the need to protect
intellectual property rights, to technologies most suitable to practical
application for specific needs of local populations, paying special attention
to the social, cultural, economic and environmental impact of such technology;

(c) facilitate technology cooperation among affected country Parties
through financial assistance or other appropriate means;

(d) extend technology cooperation with affected developing country
Parties, including, where relevant, joint ventures, especially to sectors
which foster alternative livelihoods; and

(e) take appropriate measures to create domestic market conditions and
incentives, fiscal or otherwise, conducive to the development, transfer,
acquisition and adaptation of suitable technology, knowledge, know-how and
practices, including measures to ensure adequate and effective protection of
intellectual property rights.

2. The Parties shall, according to their respective capabilities, and
subject to their respective national legislation and/or policies, protect,
promote and use in particular relevant traditional and local technology,
knowledge, know-how and practices and, to that end, they undertake to:

(a) make inventories of such technology, knowledge, know-how and
practices and their potential uses with the participation of local
populations, and disseminate such information, where appropriate, in
cooperation with relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations;

(b) ensure that such technology, knowledge, know-how and practices are
adequately protected and that local populations benefit directly, on an
equitable basis and as mutually agreed, from any commercial utilization of
them or from any technological development derived therefrom;

(c) encourage and actively support the improvement and dissemination
of such technology, knowledge, know-how and practices or of the development of
new technology based on them; and

(d) facilitate, as appropriate, the adaptation of such technology,
knowledge, know-how and practices to wide use and integrate them with modern
technology, as appropriate.

Section 3: Supporting measures