Mongolia, ESCAP and TCS push joint initiative on forecasting, early warning and risk assessment

Sandag-Ochir says cooperation with S. Korea possible on drought, satellite monitoring and water management as trilateral summit agreement moves towards implementation

With 77% of its land affected by degradation, Mongolia turns to one-billion-tree drive, 333 Lakes project and renewables in a ‘survival-driven green transition’
Sand and dust swept up from the Gobi Desert and Mongolia’s vast grasslands do not stop at national borders. Carried eastwards by strong westerly winds, they travel across China and can reach the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Mongolia is now seeking to elevate the issue of sand and dust storms beyond a domestic fight against desertification, framing it instead as a shared environmental challenge that requires a coordinated response from South Korea, China and Japan.

Tsend Sandag-Ochir, Mongolia’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, said in an interview on 20 August, on the sidelines of the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) in Ulaanbaatar, that Mongolia intends to strengthen a regional framework for joint action with the three countries against sand and dust storms.

Tsend Sandag-Ochir, Mongolia’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change (Source: Yonhap News)
Tsend Sandag-Ochir, Mongolia’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change (Source: Yonhap News)
Sandag-Ochir said the Mongolian government was working with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) on a cross-border initiative to tackle the problem. The proposed cooperation would extend from joint monitoring and assessment of where dust storms originate and how they travel to forecasting models, technology exchanges and capacity-building for relevant personnel.

The initiative already has a diplomatic foundation. At the Ninth Trilateral Summit held in Seoul in May 2024, the leaders of South Korea, China and Japan agreed in their joint declaration to work with Mongolia to reduce dust and sandstorms in East Asia under the “Trilateral+X Cooperation” framework. The discussions at COP17 can therefore be seen as an effort to translate that leaders-level commitment into practical programmes linking monitoring and forecasting with action on the ground.

ESCAP is due to formally launch a joint North-East Asian initiative on sand and dust storms with the Mongolian government and TCS at COP17 on 25 August. The main areas of cooperation include impact-based forecasting, multi-hazard early warning, cross-border risk assessment, stronger preparedness among local governments and communities, and greater information-sharing between countries. The aim is to move beyond simply identifying where dust originates and instead connect source-area management, forecasting and responses in affected regions within a single system.

The renewed push for regional cooperation comes against the backdrop of a series of major dust storms across North-East Asia. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), dust that moved from Mongolia into China in 2025 contributed to one of the most severe sand and dust storm episodes China had experienced in a decade. In February this year, another major storm swept across southern Mongolia and northern China, reducing visibility to below 200 metres in some areas. Satellite analysis showed dust originating in the Gobi Desert moving south-eastwards along a Mongolian low-pressure system.

The talks have also raised the prospect of broader climate-adaptation cooperation between South Korea and Mongolia, extending beyond the issue of dust storms.

Sandag-Ochir said the two countries could work together on drought monitoring and early-warning systems, share satellite and remote-sensing data, and cooperate on water-management technology, land-restoration research and pilot projects in areas particularly vulnerable to climate change. If initial projects prove successful, he said, they could be expanded into full-scale programmes backed by specialist training, technology exchanges and financial support.

For Mongolia, this is about more than environmental policy alone. Much of the country consists of grassland and arid terrain, while herding and nomadic pastoralism continue to underpin local economies and livelihoods. The UNCCD estimates that around 77% of Mongolia’s territory is affected by land degradation. Grasslands account for roughly 70% of the country, and a significant share of the population depends directly or indirectly on pastoral ecosystems. As drought and desertification intensify, pressure on the land can quickly develop into problems affecting food, water, regional economies and population movements.

Against this backdrop, the Mongolian government is seeking to use the COP17 summit it is hosting as both a platform for environmental diplomacy and an opportunity to attract investment. It wants to bring together governments, businesses, civil society groups and researchers, present land-restoration and drought-response projects to international investors, and secure sustainable sources of finance.

Sandag-Ochir said a range of projects was being presented to potential partners and investors during the conference, arguing that growing demand for practical solutions on the ground also highlighted the need for long-term financing to sustain them.

That approach is closely aligned with the wider COP17 agenda. The UNCCD estimates that around $355bn in investment will be required globally each year between 2025 and 2030 to meet targets on land degradation, desertification and drought. The conference is also examining blended-finance models and mechanisms for reducing investment risk as part of efforts to channel private capital and development finance into land-restoration projects.

One of Mongolia’s flagship proposals at COP17 is the Steppe Action Agenda, named after the vast steppe landscapes that define much of the country. Its main pillars include the conservation and restoration of natural rangelands, integrated management of water and land, and the development of nature-based, sustainable infrastructure.

At home, Mongolia is also continuing the national One Billion Trees campaign launched in 2021. Sandag-Ochir said around 140 million trees had been planted over the past five years. But he stressed that the success of the programme should not be judged simply by the number of trees put into the ground. What matters, he said, is how many survive and help create a healthy ecosystem capable of stabilising the soil — something that requires long-term management and reliable financial support.

The approach is also consistent with the science of reducing sand and dust storms. The WMO says tree planting, restoration of degraded land, sustainable agriculture and improved water management can help stabilise soils and reduce the amount of dust released at source. But because dust storms driven by strong winds, drought and other weather conditions cannot be eliminated altogether, such measures need to be combined with monitoring, forecasting and early-warning systems designed to reduce their impact.

Mongolia’s 333 Lakes project forms part of the same strategy to address water scarcity. Based on the concept of creating a lake or water-storage facility in each of the country’s 333 soums, or administrative districts, the project aims to capture rainwater and surface water for use during droughts, while supporting livestock, agriculture and ecosystem restoration. The Mongolian government is already pursuing the programme as one of its key water-management policies for adapting to climate change.

Restoring land and securing water supplies, however, will not by themselves resolve Mongolia’s broader climate challenge. Sandag-Ochir acknowledged that the country remains heavily dependent on coal for heating and said it needs to expand renewable energy, including wind and solar power, while developing cleaner heating technologies. He also said Mongolia should support a gradual shift towards cleaner forms of transport, including electric vehicles.

Mongolia has abundant solar and wind resources, but its severe winter heating needs and an energy and heating system built around coal make the transition particularly difficult. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also been testing technical alternatives aimed at reducing coal consumption, including renewable heating systems using solar thermal energy and geothermal heat pumps.

Taken together, the measures Mongolia is advancing at COP17 go well beyond tree planting. They amount to a broader climate-adaptation strategy linking land restoration in dust-source areas with water security, satellite monitoring and early warning, international investment and energy transition — while seeking to share both the cost and the technology required with neighbouring countries.

The reality that dust from the Gobi region can travel through China and reach South Korea and Japan also makes sand and dust storms a textbook cross-border environmental challenge — one that no single country can solve within its own borders.

“The international community lives on the same land, breathes the same air and is heading towards the same future,” Sandag-Ochir said, stressing that cooperation on climate and environmental challenges would increasingly become not a matter of choice, but a shared obligation.

Published Date:2026-08-21