Published on: 2026-08-28
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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August 28, 2026 Climate and Environment
After two weeks of negotiations on ways to combat land degradation, desertification, and drought, the seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (COP-17 UNCCD) concluded today in Ulaanbaatar. Its participants managed to make progress on a number of measures to fight land degradation.
In the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, a Flagship Initiative on Rangelands was launched in Ulaanbaatar, bringing together 45 projects with a total cost of 1.2 billion dollars. This is the largest unified resource mobilization initiative in support of rangelands in the history of the Convention.
In addition, governments, development banks, funds, and companies announced a financing portfolio of $1.3 billion for 23 countries across five continents, including projects at various stages of preparation. Of this amount, $644.5 million relates to new financing.
From commitments to practical implementation
“We came to Ulaanbaatar with the goal of making the CS-17 a conference of practical actions,” stated UN FCCC Executive Secretary Yasmin Fouad, “and we are leaving with many more elements of the system that will make this possible: political decisions, a stronger scientific basis, innovative financial mechanisms, investment portfolios, and partnerships capable of scaling solutions.”
Land degradation
The conference took place against the backdrop of a complex international situation in the field of land resources. Up to 40 percent of lands are degraded, while countries have committed to restoring more than one billion hectares by 2030. Today, more than 70 countries have national drought combat plans — in 2013, there were only three — yet the scale of funding and practical actions still does not match the scale and pace of the growing problem.
A large array of new data presented in Ulaanbaatar demonstrated both the cost of inaction and the benefits of investing in healthy lands. Thus, in small island developing states, 18.8 million hectares of land are degraded, and in Central Asia, more than 80 million hectares—that is, over a quarter of the region’s territory—are affected, impacting 24 million people. At the same time, all five Central Asian countries have set goals to achieve a neutral land degradation balance, with half of those commitments already fulfilled.
A new global system to increase drought resilience
The first global financial mechanism specifically designed to attract investment in drought resilience was launched at COP-17. The project, created by UNCCD and Luxembourg with the support of the International Alliance for Drought Resilience, aims to mobilize up to $400 million in public and private capital for investments in water security, sustainable agriculture, nature-based solutions, and land restoration.
The CS-17 was also aimed at narrowing the gap between global land commitments and the financing available to fulfill them. It is estimated that implementing global land restoration commitments by 2030 requires $355 billion annually, while current investment stands at around $77 billion, leaving an annual shortfall of $278 billion. Private financing accounts for only about six percent of global investments in land restoration.
Indigenous Peoples Forum
The conference was marked by the first official sessions of the UN CBD Indigenous Peoples Forum and the Local Communities Forum. The decision to establish them and to allocate separate platforms within the Convention for expressing their positions and priorities was made by the parties at COP-16 in Riyadh.
The work of SB-17 involved the largest number of Indigenous peoples’ representatives in the entire history of the UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties. At a special high-level event on the thematic day “Land and People,” Indigenous peoples were presented as rights holders, knowledge keepers, and partners in the practical implementation of decisions.
The discussion focused on the knowledge systems of indigenous peoples, traditional forms of governance, sustainable pastoral livestock farming, responsible land management, and direct access to funding for the indigenous peoples’ own initiatives.
During the discussions, the leadership role of women and youth was also emphasized, including the need to invest in young people as future leaders of land restoration and to expand their involvement in land resource actions and drought combat.
From Mongolia to Egypt
The next session of the UNCCD Conference of the Parties – COP-18 – is expected to take place in Egypt in 2028. COP-18 will be the next key milestone where countries can assess progress in land resource restoration and drought resilience, as well as continue work based on the decisions and agreements reached in Ulaanbaatar.
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