India will host COP14 of UNCCD

Current context: India for the first time will host the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

• The 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP) of UNCCD will be held from 2nd September in Greater Noida, India.
• It will be a 12-day conference to discuss expertise in combating desertification, which is directly affecting 250 million people and a third of the earth's land surface.
• ‘Reversing land degradation and its outcomes’ is the main agenda of the COP14, as it is estimated that about one-third of the world’s land is degraded and India accounts for 29%.
• UNCCD was established in 1994 and works towards sustainable land management for linking issues of environmental & development to land agenda.
• The UNCCD agreements are legally binding on the 196 member countries.
• India had committed to restoring 13 million hectares of degraded/deforested land by 2020, and an additional 8 million hectares by 2030 in the previous edition of the COP.

Question: 

Q.1 Which country is host of the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)? a. China
b. Russia
c. USA
d. India