The UN Conference of the Parties sustainability-related agendas tend to be dominated by the big climate summits each November. However, other interconnected major COP events include those related to desertification and biodiversity processes, which are also agenda-setting internationally.

That core fact is being confirmed this month as Mongolia holds COP17 from Aug. 17 to 28 under the theme of “Restoring Land, Restoring Hope.” Attendees include not only government, business and civil society leaders but also scientists, indigenous peoples, pastoralists and farmers seeking to bring the issues of desertification, land degradation and drought higher up the global agenda amid soaring temperatures across much of the world, including Europe.

The message is that the scale of the challenge is increasingly clear — and so is the cost of continuing inaction.

The event in Ulaanbaatar is co-hosted with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. The tagline of “Restoring Land, Restoring Hope” highlights the importance of land in supporting food security, water supply, livelihoods and stability as part of wider sustainable land management and ecosystem restoration.

The message is that the scale of the challenge is increasingly clear — and so is the cost of continuing inaction.
This is, by definition, a long-term agenda and the big event builds from the Saudi-hosted COP16, the largest such session in the UN Convention to Combat Desertification’s history, held with the EU and 196 other countries. In Mongolia, Saudi Arabia will highlight the key achievements of its presidency, including the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership and the Riyadh Action Agenda, which expanded to more than 100 initiatives. Overall, Saudi-led events mobilized more than $12 billion to support land restoration and drought resilience.

Important as these initiatives are, the challenge facing the world is huge and growing. It is estimated that up to 40 percent of the world’s landmass is subject to degradation. In many key vulnerable areas, this is exacerbating competition over resources, driving population displacement and heightening political and social instability. Ultimately, these are issues of both human and national security, not least given that, by mid-century, at least 50 percent more food will need to be produced to meet the challenge of growing populations, with millions of people already facing hunger today.

Part of the reason why Mongolia has been chosen to host the event is that it is one of the countries most impacted by desertification. Nearly 80 percent of the country’s land is affected, about double the global average. Moreover, the annual number of days with sand and dust storms has more than tripled since the 1960s.

The case for action to combat this is not only moral but also economic. The global cost of desertification, land degradation and drought is about $900 billion every year, with drought alone costing at least $300 billion annually.

At the same time, it is estimated that each dollar invested in land restoration can generate returns of up to $35. The figure is $10 for every dollar put into drought resilience in terms of improved ecosystem services and livelihoods.

Yet, problematic as this picture is for Mongolia, the country is on the cutting edge of innovation to tackle the problems with tech, ecosystem restoration and community-led resilience. For instance, Mongolia will announce a “Green AI Infrastructure Initiative,” highlighting the importance of digital innovation and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Developments in these and other areas, including satellite monitoring, geospatial mapping and predictive analytics, are already effectively enabling the agendas around land health, drought risks, improved water management and the targeting of restoration investments.

Wider initiatives that the nation will be championing this month include the UN’s International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, highlighting the importance of pastoralist livelihoods and sustainable rangeland management. Today, rangelands account for more than half of the Earth’s land surface, supporting about 2 billion people, but up to half of them are degraded or at risk. The importance of this agenda is highlighted by the fact that restoring degraded lands the size of Mongolia could increase food security for 200 million people.

There is a growing need to translate commitments into actionable solutions that deliver for vulnerable communities.

Mongolia is also this month leading a major program to boost climate-resilient solutions. This will see groundwater put at the center of integrated initiatives, particularly in drylands. The importance of this is highlighted by the fact that, with droughts having increased by nearly a third since the turn of the millennium, it is forecast that freshwater demand might exceed supply by up to 40 percent by 2030.

Other COP17 initiatives include the Billion Trees National Campaign, which seeks to plant 1 billion trees by 2030 to restore degraded land; the Youth4Land Forum, which is engaging youth in sustainable development; and the Steppe Action Agenda, which seeks to scale land restoration and drought resilience globally.

Taken together, COP17 represents a major moment for advancing the agendas on land restoration to address desertification and global sustainable development. There is a growing need to translate international commitments into actionable solutions that deliver for the vulnerable communities that need them most.

By 
Andrew Hammond is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.

Published Date:2026-08-18