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Delegates from around the world have gathered in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to address the scourge of desertification.
The 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) is taking place from August 17 to 28.
Up to 40% of the world’s land is currently degraded, official United Nations estimates show. The figure for Mongolia is 77%.
“Land is our most vital infrastructure — underpinning food security, water, livelihoods and stability,” UNCCD executive secretary Yasmine Fouad said ahead of the conference. She has called for COP17 to advance practical and investable solutions that restore degraded land and soils while strengthening the relationship between land and water management.
Mongolian Prime Minister Uchral Nyam-Osor was reported by official news agency Montsame as urging delegates at the opening of COP17 to deliver a shift “from talk to action, from goals to implementation, and from commitments to measurable results.”
COP17 is being held under the theme ‘Restoring Land. Restoring Hope’. It is expected to bring together delegates from the UNCCD’s 197 Parties, alongside representatives of governments, businesses and civil society, scientists, young people, indigenous peoples, pastoralists and smallholder farmers.
The consequences of land degradation extend far beyond the environment, says UNCCD, observing that degraded land “can reduce food production and water availability, undermine livelihoods and increase economic and social vulnerability”.
It added: “Human activities have significantly altered 75% of the Earth’s land surface, reducing productivity across 23% of the global terrestrial area, according to landmark findings by IPBES (the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services).”
Discussions at COP17 will focus on land restoration, drought resilience, water, rangelands and food systems, with particular attention to turning political commitments into practical action and mobilising the financing needed to implement solutions at scale.
COP17 is also on the calendar during the United Nations International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026, an observance championed by Mongolia.
Rangelands (see IntelliNews May 2024 article, “Silent demise” of world’s vast rangelands threatens food supply of billions, warns UNCCD report) cover more than half of the Earth’s land surface and directly support the livelihoods of around 500mn people, while contributing substantially to global food systems. “Yet these ecosystems are increasingly under pressure from degradation and drought,” said the UNCCD.
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