17 December 1981

Study on financing the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 32/172 of 19 December 1977, in which it approved the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification, and its resolutions 33/88 and 33/89 of 15 December 1978, 34/184, 34/185 and 34/187 of 18 December 1979 and 35/72 and 35/73 of 5 December 1980, dealing with the various aspects of the implementation of the Plan of Action, Taking note of the relevant sections of the report of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme on its ninth session and Governing Council decisions 9/22 A and B of 26 May 1981 on the implementation of the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification,

1. Notes with concern that the problem of insufficient financing and the increasing demands on the scarce resources of countries suffering from desertification are constraining the implementation of the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification;

2. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General and the annex thereto containing feasibility studies on and detailed modalities for financing the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification prepared by a group of high-level specialists in international financing;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to obtain the views of Member States on the feasibility studies and concrete recommendations for the implementation of the additional measures of financing deemed practicable by the Secretary-General, and also on the modalities for obtaining financial resources, as described in paragraphs 13 to 17 of the report of the Secretary-General;

4. Also requests the Secretary-General, in co-operation with the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, to obtain the views of Member States on the establishment of an independent corporation for the financing of desertification-control projects on the basis of the plan presented in the annex to the report of the Secretary-General and also to ascertain the views of Governments as to their interest in participating financially therein;

5. Further requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh session.