By Atoyebi Nike
Representatives from 196 countries and the European Union will meet in Panama from December 1 to 5, 2025, for the 23rd session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC23) under the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. Around 500 delegates from governments, civil society and academia will assess global progress in tackling desertification, land degradation, and drought.
Panama, which joined the UNCCD in 1996, will host the meeting as part of its commitment to achieving Land Degradation Neutrality by 2030. The country has identified 31 hotspots for restoration and is advancing major reforestation and Dry Corridor adaptation programmes. Its role as host follows a year of severe drought in 2023, which disrupted traffic through the Panama Canal and highlighted the global ripple effects of local climate shocks.
Panama’s Environment Minister, Juan Carlos Navarro, noted that 2025 marks the first time a country will host all three major UN environmental conventions in the same year on climate, biodiversity and desertification. He said the meetings underscore Panama’s commitment to nature conservation and sustainable land management.
UNCCD Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad warned that worsening droughts and land degradation are threatening food and energy security worldwide. She said Latin America and the Caribbean are severely affected, with at least 20 per cent of the region’s land degraded. Hosting CRIC23, she added, places Panama at the centre of global efforts to advance drought resilience and land restoration.
This year’s review will place strong emphasis on gender, highlighting best practices and barriers to engaging women—particularly Indigenous women who face disproportionate impacts from land degradation despite playing key roles in sustaining food systems.
Recent UNCCD data show the world loses nearly 100 million hectares of healthy land each year, while over 70 per cent of global land has become drier in the last three decades. Meeting restoration goals will require an estimated USD 1 billion per day until 2030.
CRIC23 will take place at the Panama Convention Centre, where delegates will review global progress, discuss the post-2030 strategic agenda, and engage with women, youth, Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The meeting will also see the launch of the Panama Nature Pledge and several key reports.
