Luc Gnacadja

Gnacadja served in the government of Benin as Minister of the Environment, Housing, and Urban Planning from June 1999 to February 2005 under long-time President Mathieu Kérékou.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/french/specials/1618_benin_elex/page5.shtml Page on 2006 presidential candidates], BBC Afrique {{in lang|fr}}. Due to major political changes taking place since 2005, particularly with President Kérékou barred from running again by a two-term limit and an age limit of 70 years for candidates, Gnacadja ran for president as the unique candidate of the Envol movement{{cite web|url=http://www.panapress.com/pana-17-lang1-index.html|title=---::: Panapress ::: -la panafricaine de presse pour vos informations, analyses et résumés de l'actualité africaine - Le site officiel ---:::|website=www.panapress.com}} in the March 2006 presidential election,[http://www.sonangnon.net/vote2006.php Page on 2006 presidential candidates] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070805204722/http://www.sonangnon.net/vote2006.php |date=2007-08-05 }}, sonangnon.net {{in lang|fr}}. receiving 11th place and 0.68% of the vote in the first round.[http://africanelections.tripod.com/bj.html Elections in Benin], African Elections Database.

In terms of ministerial authority, Luc Gnacadja represented Benin as the head of delegation to the UNCCD and at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) while serving as Minister.

In September 2007, Luc Gnacadja was appointed as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, after he was endorsed by the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties of the UNCCD. In applying for the position, Gnacadja was said to have been backed by Beninese President Yayi Boni.[http://apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=41128 "Beninese named UN Desertification Convention chief"] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070805235821/http://apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=41128 |date=2007-08-05 }}, African Press Agency, September 5, 2007. Gnacadja's second term concluded at the end of September 2013.{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319162054/http://www.un.org/press/en/2013/sga1438.doc.htm |url-status=live |archivedate=19 March 2017 |title=Secretary-General Appoints Monique Barbut of France Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2013/sga1438.doc.htm |work=United Nations }}{{cite web|title=UN Ambassadors Launch Group of Friends of Desertification |url=http://post2015.iisd.org/news/un-ambassadors-launch-group-of-friends-of-desertification |url-status=live |archivedate=8 January 2015 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108195144/http://sd.iisd.org/news/un-ambassadors-launch-group-of-friends-of-desertification |work=IISD }}

Since he first took office in 2007, he managed to effectively address the UNCCD's lack of scientific basis. His vision of the UNCCD process was based on moving the Convention towards effective implementation through evidence-based policymaking, target setting and monitoring of implementation by means of agreeing a strong and globally trusted set of impacts and progress indicators by the scientific community; so as to build a strong and authoritative science and policy interface for the Convention. Accordingly, the Conference of the Parties (COP) at its eighth session in 2007 decided that future sessions of the Committee on Science and Technology{{cite web|url=http://www.unccd.int/en/about-the-convention/the-bodies/The-CST/Pages/default.aspx|title=The Committee on Science and Technology (CST) - UNCCD|website=www.unccd.int}} (CST) shall be organized in a predominantly scientific and technical conference-style format and focus on a specific thematic topic relevant to the implementation of The ten-year Strategy{{Cite web |url=http://www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/10YearStrategy/Decision+3COP8+adoption+of+The+Strategy.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-11-19 |archive-date=2017-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201030848/http://www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/10YearStrategy/Decision+3COP8+adoption+of+The+Strategy.pdf |url-status=dead }} to enhance the implementation of the Convention (2008-2018), to be determined in advance by the COP{{cite web|url=http://www.unccd.int/en/programmes/Science/Conferences/Pages/default.aspx|title=UNCCD Scientific Conferences - Knowledge Hub|website=www.unccd.int}} The UNCCD 3rd Scientific Conference{{Cite web|url=http://land-l.iisd.org/events/unccd-3rd-scientific-conference/|title = Event: UNCCD 3rd Scientific Conference | SDG Knowledge Hub | IISD}} on “Combating Desertification, Land Degrdation and Drought (DLDD) for poverty reduction and sustainable development: the contribution of science, technology, traditional knowledge and practices” (decision 18/COP.10) is expected to be held in March 2015 in Mexico.

In 1992, the first Earth summit held in Rio agreed to combat land degradation. Under Gnacadja's direction, Rio+20 held in 2012 witnessed the birth of a new paradigm:{{cite web |url=http://us.iofc.org/node/62383 |title=Rio+20 yields a paradigm shift in land stewardship | Initiatives of Change USA |accessdate=2014-11-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20141130210354/http://us.iofc.org/node/62383 |archivedate=2014-11-30 }} "land degradation neutrality" meant to reduce land degradation to the minimum level close to the unavoidable degradation by means of prevention while at the same time restoring degraded areas whenever possible by means of sustainable land management (SLM). In this respect, one of his main interests include a priority focus on Land and Soil in the Global Sustainability Agenda.

Gnacadja was a guiding voice for sustainable land development in the negotiations leading up to Rio+20, the June 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development. His personal efforts to promote adoption of an international commitment to a “land degradation–neutral world”{{cite web|url=http://www.unccd.int/en/programmes/RioConventions/RioPlus20/Pages/Land-DegradationNeutralWorld.aspx|title=Land Degradation Neutrality - UNCCD|website=www.unccd.int|access-date=2014-11-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151114153800/http://www.unccd.int/en/programmes/RioConventions/RioPlus20/Pages/Land-DegradationNeutralWorld.aspx|archive-date=2015-11-14|url-status=dead}} was deemed a critical step forward according to The expert committee overseeing the Cook Prize for Desert Architecture led by Prof. David Perlmutter, chair of the Bona Terra Department of Man in the Desert at the BIDR.{{Cite web |date=2014 |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/Media/NewsHighlight/Cook_Prize_Press_Release.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422145927/http://www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/Media/NewsHighlight/Cook_Prize_Press_Release.pdf |archive-date=2016-04-22 |access-date=2014-11-25 |website=unccd.int}}

Luc Gnacadja earned an architecture degree at the African Crafts School of Architecture and Urbanism in Lomé, Togo, and later studied at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and the World Bank Institute.

In March 2003, Gnacadja was awarded the Green Award 2002 by the World Bank in Washington.[https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sga1092.doc.htm "Secretary-General appoints Luc Gnacadja of Benin Executive Secretary of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification"], United Nations website, SG/A/1092, September 11, 2007. for promoting environment-friendly public expenditure reform in Benin.

On November 17, 2014, Gnacadja was awarded the Jeffery Cook Prize in Desert Architecture at the International Drylands, Deserts and Desertification Conference{{Cite web |url=http://eld-initiative.org/index.php?id=51&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=90&cHash=59c28d8db91510efbb6f3a97fd36da24 |title=Single news - ELD Initiative |access-date=2015-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930161614/http://eld-initiative.org/index.php?id=51&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=90&cHash=59c28d8db91510efbb6f3a97fd36da24 |archive-date=2014-09-30 |url-status=dead }} organized by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR).

Gnacadja is an honorary councillor{{cite web |url=http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/5561.html |title=The World Future Council: Luc Gnacadja |accessdate=2015-03-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402093134/http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/5561.html |archivedate=2015-04-02 }} of The World Future Council{{cite web |url=http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/english.html |title=The World Future Council: WFC - Home |accessdate=2015-03-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402034213/http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/english.html |archivedate=2015-04-02 }} (WFC) launched in 2007 in Hamburg, Germany by Jakob von Uexkull.{{cite web |date=2013 |title=Archived copy |url=http://www.rightlivelihood.org/about_the_award.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801012608/http://www.rightlivelihood.org/about_the_award.html |archivedate=2013-08-01 |accessdate=2013-07-19 |website=rightlivelihood.org}} The WFC is an international Foundation consisting of some eminent global personalities who promote change by advocating at the highest levels for a sustainable, just and peaceful future and providing decision-makers with practical solutions to the global challenges facing future generations.

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Category:Living people

Category:Environment ministers of Benin

Category:Housing ministers of Benin

Category:Urban planning ministers of Benin

Category:20th-century Beninese politicians

Category:1958 births

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Category:People from Porto-Novo

Category:Candidates for President of Benin

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Category:Beninese architects

Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni

Category:21st-century Beninese politicians