economic support, with due consideration given to social aspects, to be effective and sustainable.
Despite the severity of the problem, data are poor on recent trends in the extent of the desertifying areas in the northern Mediterranean region, as well as on the factors that are causing desertification and the processes involved. The EU has established programmes of investigation designed to identify, understand and mitigate the effects of desertification in Southern Europe. More research is particularly needed with regard to climate change and in the context of the World Convention to Combat Desertification (presently being negotiated in the framework of the United Nations). Changes in climatic conditions are likely to be exacerbated as a result of global warming due to the enhanced greenhouse effect. The risk of a northward shifting of the nearest desert belt, which might then cover Southern Europe, cannot be excluded and should receive the closest attention.