ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, 28 August 2026 — After two weeks of negotiations on how to tackle land degradation, desertification and drought, the seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) concluded today in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Across the negotiated and Action Agenda tracks, Ulaanbaatar brought together key elements of implementation: political direction, science, finance, investment-ready projects, partnerships and stronger participation by the people who manage the world’s land.
The biannual meeting of the UNCCD’s 197 Parties put the world’s rangelands — which cover 54 per cent of the Earth’s land surface, support around two billion people and are stewarded by some 500 million pastoralists — at the centre of the global land agenda.
Launched in Ulaanbaatar during the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, the Rangelands Flagship Initiative brings together US$1.2 billion across 45 projects, the largest single mobilization for rangelands in the Convention’s history.
Alongside the negotiations, COP17 delivered a series of initiatives and financial commitments aimed at accelerating action on land restoration and drought resilience.