For the first time, Mongolia is serving as a global platform for ecological diplomacy.

COP17 is taking place in Ulaanbaatar under the theme ""Restoring Land, Restoring Hope." The country has welcomed governments, businesses, civil societies, scientists, herders, and other participants from 197 nations.

Hosting the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (COP17) is, for Mongolia, not merely a major environmental event but a matter of strategic significance. As it is tied to foreign policy, the economy, national branding, and the country's "third neighbor" diplomacy. In that sense, COP17 can be seen as a new platform for "ecological diplomacy."

Here, Mongolia is not only the host but is also able to present its own positions, experience, and initiatives on the global stage in areas including:

Combating desertification

Protecting rangelands

Sustainably using water resources

Adapting to climate change

Reducing land degradation

In short, Mongolia is turning its own challenges into global ones.

Owing to its geographic location and harsh climate, Mongolia is among most vulnerable to climate change. As a result, summer precipitation has fallen rapidly, droughts have grown more frequent, and desertification is spreading.

The country has broad opportunities to share its experience with the world and develop joint solutions to this challenge. As COP17 enters its second leg, final decisions have not yet been reached. For my part, I hope the conference will produce many important outcomes and forms of cooperation that Mongolia genuinely needs.

There are several outcomes I would most like to see come out of COP17. First and foremost would be a major, comprehensive national program to combat desertification—one bringing together tree planting, water retention, land restoration, and the protection of rangelands from degradation. That would be the most significant change of all. Second, greater investment and financing directed toward fighting desertification and protecting the environment. Third, new opportunities for technological and scientific cooperation with Mongolia. And most importantly, the incorporation of COP17's decisions into Mongolia's own national budget and policy—so that what is agreed here is actually carried out at home.

Most significantly of all, COP17 matters for Mongolia's foreign policy. Viewed through that lens, the conference carries wide-ranging significance, offering a rare chance to bring together several strands of Mongolian diplomacy at once—its multilateral engagement, as I mentioned before its "third neighbor" policy, its ecological diplomacy, its international standing, and its economic diplomacy.

COP17 is a historic moment not only for Mongolia but for East and Central Asia as a whole. Mongolia is the first country in Central Asia to host a COP, and this is the first of the three 2026 Rio Convention COPs to take place.

1. Elevating Mongolia's multilateral diplomacy to a new level

Although Mongolia sits geographically between two large neighbors, it regards multilateral diplomacy as one of the key pillars of its foreign policy. COP17 becomes a major arena for implementing that policy. By hosting a high-level UN convention meeting involving 197 countries in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia can strengthen its image as:

An active participant within the UN system

A country capable of creating international negotiating platforms

A country that takes the initiative on shared global issues

The UNCCD itself frames land degradation, desertification, and drought as global issues linked to the economy, food, water, livelihoods, and stability. In this regard, Mongolia has the chance to shift from being seen as a "small country" toward a diplomatic posture as a "country that offers solutions." Over the next two years, Mongolia will also preside over the UNCCD COP.

2. Adding new substance to the "third neighbor" policy

This, in my view, is one of the most interesting effects on Mongolian foreign policy. Traditionally, Mongolia's "third neighbor" policy has been closely tied to political, security, and economic cooperation. Through COP17, a new dimension is added. Mongolia—which has many partners, including Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States, the European Union, India, Australia, and Central Asian countries—can expand cooperation around shared interests: climate, water, land restoration, rangelands, green technology, and financing. This offers a chance to broaden the "third neighbor" policy from a traditional security concept toward sustainable-development diplomacy.

3. Using Mongolia's nomadic culture as "soft power"

This is a major advantage that sets Mongolia apart from other countries. The year 2026, designated the UN International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, coincides with COP17. Mongolia holds a special position in bringing rangeland and pastoralist issues to the international level. From this, a new diplomatic initiative can emerge: Nomadic culture → Sustainable pastoralism → Global ecological solutions. In this way, nomadic culture becomes not merely a tourism brand but a tool of Mongolia's soft-power diplomacy.

4. Connecting Mongolia with new international finance and technology partners

The COP17 discussions are not only about environmental protection—financing for land restoration, private-sector participation, technology transfer, and scientific cooperation are also central themes. This directly benefits Mongolia's economic diplomacy. We can build a new chain: COP17 → international organizations → development banks → investors → technology companies → Mongolian projects. In particular, Mongolia's adoption of its first law on climate change in July 2026 has strengthened the policy foundation ahead of COP17.

5. Rebalancing Mongolia's international image from "mining" toward "green development"

To much of the international community that knows us at all, Mongolia evokes the image of the combination of "coal + copper + mining + nomadic culture." COP17 offers the chance to build a different image — a broader identity of "Mongolia = a Champoin against desertification + nomadic culture + land restoration + green development." An image like that carries real weight, particularly in relations with partners who place great importance on the green transition and sustainable financing.

6. An opportunity to diversify Mongolia's "diplomatic brand"

Mongolia can build a distinctive diplomatic brand combining traditional nomadic culture, a heritage of environmental stewardship, and modern ecological solutions. This would present Mongolia not merely as a country "caught between two great powers" geopolitically, but as one that contributes to solving shared global challenges.

COP17 can therefore leave Mongolia with three kinds of diplomatic "capital":

Diplomatic capital—the standing of its multilateral diplomacy.

Soft-power capital—Mongolia's experience in nomadic culture, rangelands, and conservation.

Economic-diplomatic capital—green investment, technology, financing, and international partnerships.

The greatest positive impact of COP17 on Mongolia's foreign policy, then, is not merely the success of organizing a single conference well, but the opportunity to make it a new direction for the country's foreign policy.

"Restoring Land, Restoring Hope"

By Baatarkhuu Khorloo, PhD in International Studies

Published Date:2026-08-24