ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia—As the United Nations 17th Conference of the Parties to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) enters its second week in Ulaanbaatar, foreign ministers, heads of state, and international envoys are converging on the Mongolian capital for the summit’s pivotal High-Level Ministerial Segment, that will take place on August 24-26.  

Set against the backdrop of Mongolia’s sweeping steppe—where nearly 77 per cent of land is classified as degraded—the upcoming ministerial dialogues will bring together political leaders from 197 member states to finalize global commitments on land restoration, drought resilience, and soil preservation.  

A High-Stakes Gathering in Central Asia

The ministerial segment, running alongside dedicated thematic sessions on finance, water, and food systems, represents the political climax of the two-week summit. Delegations from across Central Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific region are assembling at Ulaanbaatar's National Garden Park to negotiate binding action frameworks.  

The conference, presided over by Foreign Minister of Mongolia B.Battsetseg, has drawn record-breaking attendance, with more than 20,000 participants on site—more than double initial organizers' projections.  

Prominent delegates participating in the ministerial dialogues include UNCCD Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad, alongside senior ministers from top pastoralist and agricultural nations. Environmental and agriculture ministers from Central Asian neighbors, European Union representatives, and heads of international development organizations—such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF)—are taking center stage in the high-level discussions.

"Land is our most vital infrastructure," said UNCCD Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad during the opening proceedings. "When land fails, insecurity rises—through lost livelihoods, forced displacement, and increased competition over scarce resources. COP17 must drive practical, investable solutions."  

Key Priorities on the Ministerial Table

The ministerial dialogues will focus heavily on three strategic pillars designed to translate high-level climate talk into concrete field action:  

• Innovative Finance Mechanisms: Unlocking private equity and green bonds to scale up sustainable land management.

• Drought Resilience Frameworks: Transitioning nations from reactive disaster relief to proactive water management and drought risk preparedness.

• Restoration of Rangelands: Protecting global pastures that sustain over 500 million pastoralists worldwide, a major priority during 2026, which the UN General Assembly declared the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.  

President of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh, who has championed national ecological campaigns such as the "Billion Trees" initiative, is expected to address the opening of the high-level segment to urge ministers toward ambitious financial commitments.

The Riyadh-Ulaanbaatar Action Agenda

A primary objective for the assembling foreign ministers is finalizing the "Riyadh–Ulaanbaatar Action Agenda"—a joint bridge between the outcomes of COP16 in Saudi Arabia and the current summit in Mongolia. The framework seeks to channel public and private capital directly into dryland agricultural communities, preventing soil degradation before it sparks regional instability and displacement.  

With up to 40 per cent of the planet's land surface currently degraded, the decisions made by ministers over the coming days in Ulaanbaatar will set the trajectory for global land restoration through the end of the decade.