UNCCD COP17 Opens in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

COP17 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) opens in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, under the theme “Restoring Land, Restoring Hope”. The conference discusses turning land restoration pledges into finance and action, and revisits the unresolved question of a global drought framework after no legally binding drought deal is agreed at COP16 in Riyadh.

UNCCD COP17 and UNCCD:

Dimension	Key Details
Host country statistic	Mongolia states that 77% of its land is affected by desertification and land degradation.
Role of COP17 presidency	The role of the COP17 presidency provides for building consensus and facilitating discussion till a drought decision would be gaveled.
Priority target	COP17 prioritises accelerating implementation of the target to restore 1 billion hectares by 2030.
Finance focus	COP17 prioritises expanding access to finance through innovative mechanisms.
Actors in implementation	COP17 discussions provide for broadening the pool of actors involved in implementation, including private-sector investors, local communities, Indigenous peoples, and civil society.
COP16 pledges and estimates	Countries have pledged to restore about 1 billion hectares of degraded land, while the global degradation problem is estimated at 1.5 billion to 2 billion hectares.
COP16 unresolved issue and positions	The global drought protocol remains unresolved at COP16, with some parties, including the African Group, pushing for a binding protocol and others favoring a non-binding drought framework.
Mechanism launched at COP16	Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership is launched at COP16.
Partnership pledges	The Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership has received over $12 billion in pledges by the end of COP16.
Partnership intent	The partnership is intended to help countries move from responding to drought after it strikes to building resilience before it hits, including through drought preparedness, early-warning systems, and access to finance.
UNCCD origin linkage	UNCCD is the only convention stemming from a direct recommendation of the Rio Conference’s Agenda 21.
Adoption and entry into force	UNCCD is adopted in Paris, France, on 17 June 1994 and enters into force in December 1996.
Legal nature	UNCCD is the only internationally legally binding framework set up to address the problem of desertification.
Membership	UNCCD has 197 parties, making it near universal in reach.
Non-party	The Holy See (Vatican City) is the only state that is not a party to the convention.
Principles	The Convention is based on the principles of participation, partnership, and decentralization.
Country focus	UNCCD applies to those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa.