Delegates to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification opened formal work at COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Monday, beginning two weeks of negotiations on restoring degraded land, managing drought and protecting food and water supplies. The UNCCD says representatives of its 197 parties are expected alongside scientists, businesses, civil society, Indigenous peoples, pastoralists and small farmers.
The conference runs from August 17 to 28 under the theme Restoring Land, Restoring Hope. Official sessions began with organizational business and reviews of how countries are implementing the convention. The programme then turns to finance, water, land and people, food systems and soil health, with a ministerial segment scheduled for the second week.
The scale of the problem shapes the talks. UNCCD estimates that land degradation affects up to 40 percent of the planet's land, weakening food production, water availability, livelihoods and economic stability. Rangelands cover more than half of Earth's land surface, support the direct livelihoods of about 500 million people and provide one-sixth of global nutrition needs, according to the convention.
Mongolia gives the meeting an especially relevant setting. Nearly 77 percent of its 1.56 million square kilometres is degraded, UNCCD says, while mobile herding remains central to rural life. The summit coincides with the UN International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, focusing attention on management practices that can conserve grasslands, biodiversity and communities exposed to climate stress.
A major political test is whether governments can turn broad support for restoration into finance and stronger drought cooperation. Le Monde reported that the previous conference in Riyadh ended without agreement on binding drought targets sought by many countries in the Global South. COP17 will examine investment, the land-water connection, migration, sand and dust storms, land tenure and support for pastoral systems.
No final agreement is expected until the conference closes on August 28. Ministers are due to discuss financing, drought resilience and pastoral communities next week, while technical bodies work through implementation and budget questions. Any outcome will be judged by whether it channels practical resources toward restoring soil and rangelands while protecting the people whose food, water and income depend on them.
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