ULAANBAATAR: UNCCD COP17 has opened in Mongolia with a more consequential mandate than its relatively low global profile suggests: turn land restoration and drought commitments into finance, resilience and implementation.
Running from August 17 to 28 under the theme “Restoring Land. Restoring Hope.”, COP17 brings together the Convention’s 197 Parties as land degradation, drought and food insecurity increasingly intersect with economic stability, water security and national resilience.
Up to 40% of the world’s land is degraded, affecting billions of people and increasing pressure on agriculture, water systems and rural livelihoods.
The overlooked Rio convention
The UN Convention to Combat Desertification emerged from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit process and was adopted in 1994. It focuses on desertification, land degradation and drought, but its relevance now extends well beyond environmental policy.
Degraded land can reduce agricultural output, increase food prices, strain water supplies and deepen fiscal and migration pressures. UNCCD COP17 reflects that wider agenda, with a focus on drought resilience, food systems, water, rangelands and land restoration.
UNCCD Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad has placed food security near the center of the talks, arguing that productive soils and resilient landscapes are essential to stable food systems.
Unfinished business from Riyadh
One of the most important negotiations follows directly from COP16 in Riyadh in 2024.
Governments failed there to agree on a legally binding global instrument on drought. That issue returns at UNCCD COP17 as drought increasingly affects countries far beyond regions traditionally associated with desertification.
Land and water stress can quickly become economic problems through lower harvests, higher food prices, reduced energy output and greater pressure on public budgets.
From plans to projects
More than $12 billion in drought and land-restoration financing was pledged around COP16, including support associated with the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership.
More than 70 countries have submitted drought-management plans, according to Fouad. The challenge now is turning those plans into projects such as irrigation, drought-resistant agriculture, water storage and land restoration.
The financing gap remains large. UNCCD estimates indicate that more than $2 trillion in cumulative investment will be needed by 2030 to restore degraded land, combat desertification and strengthen drought resilience.
From convention to investment
UNCCD COP17 also has a feature with particular relevance for investors: the UNCCD Global Mechanism.
Established under the Convention, the Global Mechanism helps governments mobilize finance and connect land-restoration priorities with public and private capital.
It helped create the Land Degradation Neutrality Fund with Mirova, a blended-finance vehicle investing in sustainable agriculture, forestry, agroforestry and land restoration. The fund reached approximately $208 million in commitments from public and private investors.
UNCCD is also developing newer drought-investment vehicles intended to use public capital to attract larger volumes of private finance.
This gives the Convention a distinctive link between diplomacy, project development and investment, and raises a key question for COP17: can it generate a larger pipeline of financeable projects?
Why Mongolia matters
Nearly 77% of Mongolia’s land is degraded, giving the host country direct experience with the issues under negotiation.
UNCCD COP17 also coincides with the UN’s International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, strongly backed by Mongolia.
Rangelands cover more than half of the Earth’s terrestrial surface and support hundreds of millions of livelihoods. Their management is increasingly relevant to food security, biodiversity and climate resilience.
Washington’s role under scrutiny
COP17 is the first UNCCD Conference of the Parties since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, making the U.S. negotiating posture one of the key diplomatic dynamics to watch.
The United States remains a Party to the UNCCD even as the Trump administration has stepped back from other areas of multilateral environmental cooperation.
A Latin American negotiator told SDG News there is concern that the United States could complicate or derail elements of the negotiations, citing the administration’s record and public posture toward other UN conventions and multilateral agreements. Whether that concern materializes remains to be seen.
The issue matters because UNCCD negotiations operate by consensus in practice. With no agreed voting rule for substantive decisions, a major holdout can significantly slow, weaken or block an outcome.
Washington’s positions on the drought framework, finance and new obligations will therefore be closely watched.
What governments should watch
A drought agreement. Whether governments can resolve differences left over from Riyadh and advance a stronger international framework for drought resilience.
The United States. Washington’s first UNCCD COP under the second Trump administration could materially shape the negotiations in a consensus-driven process.
Implementation of COP16 financing. The focus will be on whether previous pledges move into projects in countries facing severe drought, food insecurity and land degradation.
National plans becoming executable programs. More than 70 drought-management plans have been submitted. The next test is whether they translate into investable infrastructure, agriculture, water and restoration programs.
Rangelands and pastoral economies. Mongolia is using COP17 to elevate rangelands and pastoral communities in global land and food-security policy.
What investors should watch
The project pipeline. Investors will be looking for a clearer pipeline of financeable land-restoration and drought-resilience projects.
The Global Mechanism. UNCCD’s financing arm creates a direct link between government priorities, project development and capital.
Natural capital as an investment strategy. The Land Degradation Neutrality Fund has shown that sustainable agriculture, forestry and restoration can be structured as investment opportunities.
Blended finance. New drought and land-finance vehicles could use public or concessional capital to reduce risk and attract institutional investors.
Corporate exposure to land and water risk. Food, agriculture, textiles, forestry, infrastructure and insurance companies are increasingly treating land degradation as a supply-chain and balance-sheet issue.
Emerging markets. Many of the largest restoration and drought-resilience opportunities are in Africa, Latin America and Central Asia, where financing structures will determine whether private capital can participate at scale.
From environmental treaty to resilience platform
UNCCD COP17 matters because land policy is increasingly economic policy.
Land degradation can reduce harvests, increase food imports, constrain power generation and raise fiscal pressure. For much of its history, UNCCD was the least visible of the major global environmental conventions.
COP17 offers a chance to change that.
The real test is whether governments can turn land and drought resilience into credible investment priorities backed by projects, financing and international cooperation. If they can, UNCCD could emerge as one of the more practical forums in global environmental diplomacy.
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