High-level Opening Ceremony - UNCCD COP17

The 17th session of the conference of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
Please take your seats.
Distinguished guests, delegates, ladies and gentlemen.
The opening ceremony of the high level segment will commence shortly.
Please take your seats.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome His Excellency, the President of Mongolia.
The sun is the source of life, a giver of warmth, and a vital force that sustains all living beings and the universe.
Our long-standing reverence for the rising sun as a symbol of new beginnings and prosperity reflects the nomadic wisdom of living in harmony with nature.
The sun awakens life.
Water, however, sustains life.
Where there is water, there is life.
Where there is life, there is hope.
[Traditional Mongolian musical and vocal performance -- lyrics not transcribable] Your Excellency, President of Mongolia, and ladies and gentlemen, distinguished delegates of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, dear guests.
For thousands of years, the Mongolian people have lived as nomads, guided not by the desire to take more from nature, but by the wisdom of living in harmony with it, nurturing, respecting and honoring the natural world.
Today, this enduring wisdom joins the global call to restore our Mother Earth.
This traditional knowledge offers a renewed perspective in addressing one of the greatest challenges facing humanity.
Through Mongolia's rich nomadic heritage and its traditional philosophy of living in harmony with nature, expressed through UNESCO-inscribed elements of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, including the horse- head fiddle, the flute, long song, throat singing, folk dance, and traditional practices of praising and honoring nature, we have presented an opening performance that reflects and reinforces the shared global vision and collective commitment to combating land degradation and desertification.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, may I direct your attention to the screen? Thank you.
The soil that sustains our lives is changing across the world.
Land degradation, desertification and the growing risk of drought are expanding across many regions, placing increasing pressure on nature and human livelihoods.
UN assessments indicate that up to 40% of the world's land is already degraded, a clear warning that urgent action is needed.
Protecting and restoring land, while reducing the risks posed by drought, requires countries to work together.
It is within this context that the 17th session of the conference of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, COP17, is being convened here.
Countries will work to identify collective solutions to reduce land degradation, combat desertification and strengthen resilience to drought.
But why Mongolia? Around 81% of Mongolia's territory is affected to varying degrees by desertification and land degradation.
In Mongolia, land health is not simply an environmental issue.
It is intrinsically linked to water, pastureland, livestock, food security and the livelihoods of our people.
Yet Mongolia is not only experiencing these challenges -- it is taking action at the national level to address them.
Initiated by the President of Mongolia, a series of national movements are being implemented to advance an integrated approach to the environment, food systems, livestock and people's livelihoods.
The Billion Trees National Movement is mobilizing nationwide action to expand forests and afforestation, combat desertification and reduce land degradation across Mongolia.
The White Gold National Movement aims to increase the processing and value addition of livestock- based raw materials and strengthen Mongolia's export capacity.
Meanwhile, the Food Revolution National Movement focuses on strengthening food production, domestic supply, food processing, and food security.
Billion Trees, White Gold, Food Revolution -- three movements, one goal: a more resilient and sustainable future.
Viewing the environment, people and the economy not as separate elements but as interconnected systems is fundamental to sustainable development.
COP17 provides an opportunity to connect these national initiatives and experiences with science, technology, financing and international partnerships.
Mongolia's experience can serve as a starting point for new ideas, new partnerships, and new solutions across the world's drylands.
Restoring land.
Restoring hope.
Thank you so much.
Representatives of governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, youth, indigenous peoples, pastoralists and farmers from the 197 parties around the world, distinguished delegates gathered at COP17, the global platform for finding solutions together, we are now ready to officially commence the high level segment of the 17th session of the conference of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
It is now my great honor to invite His Excellency, the President of Mongolia, to deliver his opening remarks.
Distinguished heads of delegation, Ms.
Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms.
Yasmine Fouad, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, distinguished guests and delegates, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the people of Mongolia, I extend my warmest greetings to all distinguished guests and delegates gathered in our beautiful country, the birthplace of the great Chinggis Khan, the sacred cradle of ancient history and nomadic statehood, and the land of the eternal blue sky.
We believe that Mongolia's hosting of the 17th session of the conference of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in our homeland is not only a great honor for our country, but also a historic opportunity to fulfill our shared commitments and responsibilities together with the international community for the future of our Mother Earth.
The theme of COP 17, Restoring Land, Restoring Hope, carries profound meaning.
It calls upon humanity, as transient guests in this world, to restore the nature passed down to us by our ancestors to its pristine state, to nurture future generations who will cherish and protect our Mother Earth, and to rekindle hope and confidence in the future.
Mongols from ancient times have believed that harmony between the natural environment and the living world depends on the purity of the human spirit and conscious action.
We have a long-standing tradition of instilling in our children, from an early age, a way of life that respects harmony with nature and seeks to preserve it in its pristine state.
Therefore, every nation should place particular emphasis on passing on to children, from an early age, its traditional knowledge, wisdom and practices for respecting and protecting nature, instilling in their hearts and minds a deep sense of responsibility, and nurturing them to become global citizens who actively contribute to safeguarding our planet.
Restoring nature to its full vitality, and creating the conditions in which future generations can live healthy, secure and fulfilling lives, should be humanity's solemn duty.
This is because healthy land and soils are a guarantee of humanity's very existence, and provide the foundation for our food and water resources, livelihoods and sustainable development.
Healthy soil means healthy food, and healthy food means healthy people.
Hence, desertification, land degradation and drought must not be regarded merely as environmental challenges.
Rather, they must be addressed comprehensively in connection with food supply and food security, water resources, human livelihoods, sustainable development, and global peace and security.
Let us unite in our efforts to restore our Mother Earth, rekindle hope through a common purpose, and build a better future together through shared responsibility.
Distinguished delegates, distinguished guests, dear friends.
International organizations warn that more than 40% of the world's total land is now degraded, adversely affecting the livelihoods, food supply and water resources of over 3 billion people worldwide.
The situation also poses a risk of losses of up to 23 trillion USD to the global economy by 2050.
In particular, people living in arid and semi-arid regions and landlocked developing countries, as well as pastoralists, farmers, women, young people and children, are bearing the brunt of the adverse impacts of desertification and land degradation.
As a landlocked country situated in an arid and semi-arid region, Mongolia is also experiencing the adverse impacts of climate change, desertification and land degradation in the daily lives of its people.
The majority of Mongolia's vast territory, spanning 1.56 million km², is affected by land degradation and desertification.
These challenges have direct implications not only for the environment but also for the economy, food supply and food security, people's livelihoods and the sustainability of our nomadic cultural heritage.
Mongolia is also home to one of the world's largest remaining temperate grassland and steppe ecosystems, which has been preserved for generations.
The nomadic way of life that we Mongols have inherited and passed down through generations over thousands of years embodies a comprehensive tradition of knowledge, wisdom and practices rooted in living in harmony with nature and preserving it in its pristine state.
In this regard, on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the establishment of the Great Mongol Empire, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2005 recognizing the contribution of Mongolians to the history of humankind and emphasizing the ever- increasing significance and relevance of a culture of living in harmony with nature, which is inherent in nomadic civilization, in today's world.
Today, we Mongols seek to share this cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and experience of living in harmony with nature with the rest of the world, and to help strengthen climate adaptation and resilience.
The development of space technology, drones, remote sensing, artificial intelligence, big data and digital technologies is opening up vast opportunities to assess and prevent land degradation, desertification and drought risks, establish early warning systems, and monitor the outcomes of land restoration in real time.
Therefore, we believe that combining Mongolia's traditional knowledge and practices for nature protection and conservation with modern science, technology and innovation can make a meaningful contribution to advancing sustainable land management, maintaining ecosystem balance and developing people-centered solutions for sustainable development.
Distinguished delegates and guests, as a country directly experiencing the impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought, Mongolia has continued to make meaningful contributions to global efforts to protect and restore our natural environment.
Within this framework, Mongolia is successfully implementing several national movements and initiatives, including the Billion Trees, Food Revolution, White Gold, Blue Gold and Healthy Mongolian movements, aimed at restoring degraded land, expanding forest resources, protecting soils, water and pastureland, strengthening food supply and food security, and promoting sustainable rural development.
Mongolia's Billion Trees national movement goes far beyond planting and growing trees.
It is a comprehensive nationwide movement aimed at combating desertification and land degradation, scaling up land restoration, increasing forest resources, conserving soil fertility, water resources and biodiversity, mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change, strengthening food security and creating employment opportunities.
Furthermore, at Mongolia's initiative, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.
This provides an important opportunity to draw global attention to the value of rangeland ecosystems, the livelihoods of pastoralists, food systems, biodiversity and the cultural heritage of nomads.
In this context, Mongolia, a country with an ancient and deeply rooted tradition of nomadic pastoralism, took the initiative to convene the Global Pastoralist Gathering and Conference, which was successfully held just a few days ago.
The conference brought together around 400 pastoralists from 57 countries, providing a platform to exchange views, discuss common challenges and explore possible solutions.
As a result, it adopted the Ulaanbaatar Declaration.
I am pleased to note that the Ulaanbaatar Declaration adopted at the conference has been submitted to the 17th session of the conference of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
Mongolia will actively cooperate with all stakeholders and partners to translate the declarations, decisions and initiatives adopted at the Global Pastoralist Gathering and Conference into concrete action.
Moreover, as we know, United Nations Secretary- General António Guterres, in his message on this year's World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, emphasized that 50% of the world's rangelands, which cover half of the Earth's land surface and sustain the livelihoods of over 2 billion people, are now degraded or at risk.
He called for greater attention to healthy soils, water security, biodiversity, food systems and cultural heritage, and urged protection and restoration of rangelands.
As the COP17 presidency, Mongolia's Steppe Action Agenda is built upon three interconnected flagship initiatives: the Rangelands Flagship Initiative, the Integrated Water and Land Management Initiative, and the Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Infrastructure Initiative.
Together, these initiatives seek to reduce desertification and land degradation, protect rangeland ecosystems, strengthen the integrated management of land and water resources, advance nature-based development solutions, and elevate international cooperation for sustainable development to a new level.
Furthermore, I want to emphasize that sustainable land management is inseparably linked to water security, sanitation and hygiene services.
Mongolia, therefore, highly values and fully supports the heads of state initiatives for water and sanitation implemented by UNICEF and the Sanitation and Water for All global partnership.
Mongolia will actively support efforts to advance dialogue and cooperation within the framework of this important initiative.
Distinguished delegates and guests, the 17th session of the conference of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, taking place here in Ulaanbaatar, is particularly significant, as it is the first of the conferences of the parties to the three Rio Conventions to be convened in 2026.
It is therefore essential that land, biodiversity and climate change be addressed not as separate issues, but through integrated policies, an integrated set of actions and integrated investment.
Mongolia remains firmly committed to supporting global collective solutions grounded in multilateral cooperation, the United Nations system, international law, mutual trust and respect, equitable participation and shared responsibility.
Accordingly, Mongolia is committed to ensuring that this conference serves not as an arena for geopolitical confrontation or disputes among parties with differing positions, but rather as an important platform for multilateral cooperation to advance the objectives of the convention and its implementation.
As the COP presidency, we will listen to all voices, respect different perspectives, and support negotiations that are consensus- based, open, transparent and inclusive.
It is imperative that our efforts go beyond merely reducing desertification and land degradation, to restoring degraded land, while further strengthening comprehensive drought risk management systems that encompass prevention, preparedness, early warning and effective response.
We also underscore the importance of addressing land use, climate change, biodiversity and food systems in an interconnected manner, rather than in isolation, while ensuring the implementation of policies grounded in science, traditional knowledge and local experience.
To address the challenges facing developing countries and those in arid and drought-prone regions, we need to mobilize collective global efforts and establish an equitable system to ensure that finance, technology and capacity building reach the countries, regions and people that need them most.
Therefore, I call upon international financial institutions, development partners and the private sector to expand grant aid, concessional finance and green investment more broadly towards land restoration, drought resilience and sustainable livelihoods.
Furthermore, ensuring the meaningful participation of pastoralists, farmers, local communities, women, young people, children, civil society, scientists and researchers, and the private sector at all stages of policymaking, implementation and monitoring, is fundamental to achieving solutions that are equitable, effective, transparent and sustainable.
In this context, Mongolia is working to strengthen public participation and youth engagement through initiatives such as Mongolia's National Forum on Youth Engagement in Combating Desertification, while seeking to engage the private sector in cooperation on sustainable land management, investment and innovation, in alignment with the UNCCD's Business4Land Initiative.
We all know that desertification, land degradation and drought recognize neither walls nor borders.
Sand and dust storms, water scarcity, food crises and ecological degradation are not the challenges of any single country.
They are shared challenges and hardships facing entire regions and the world as a whole.
Hence, our response to these shared challenges must be equally collective, coordinated, long-term, sustainable, and mutually reinforcing.
Climate change, desertification, land degradation and biodiversity loss are sounding the alarm for humanity and sending an unmistakable warning signal for the very survival of our Mother Earth.
If we do not choose, here and now, a decisive course of action to protect our planet, then Mother Earth will ultimately choose her own path, a path that continues without us.
Therefore, this conference must be a historic and important milestone that marks a decisive shift from declarations to action, from commitments to implementation, and from promises to tangible results.
I am confident that at the 17th session of the conference of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, we will go beyond discussing challenges and difficulties and work together to identify solutions and deliver concrete decisions and tangible outcomes for a peaceful and green future.
I want to express my sincere appreciation to the United Nations and all participating stakeholders for their valuable assistance, support and cooperation in making the successful hosting of this conference in Mongolia possible.
May the eternal blue sky bless humankind forever.
May Mother Earth remain at peace.
May our living ecosystems continue to flourish in abundance, so that they may be preserved and passed on to generations to come.
I warmly welcome you to our beautiful country, the sacred cradle of ancient history and nomadic statehood, the birthplace of the great Chinggis Khan and the land of the eternal blue sky.
I wish you every success in the work of the conference.
Thank you very much.
The national anthem of Mongolia.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
Ladies and gentlemen, now I would like to invite Ms.
Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary- General of the United Nations, to deliver her remarks.
His Excellency, the President of Mongolia, Her Excellency, my sister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia and the COP 17 President, Her Excellency Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland, His Excellency Moon Jae-in, former President of the Republic of Korea, and His Excellency Carlos Alvarado Quesada, former President of Costa Rica, my sister, the Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, Dr.
Yasmine Fouad, Excellencies, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by bringing warm greetings from Secretary-General António Guterres, and by thanking you, Mr.
President, and the government and people of Mongolia for bringing COP17 to Ulaanbaatar and for the extraordinary warmth and generosity that you have shown all of us.
The care that Mongolia has brought to hosting this COP can be felt everywhere, and your personal leadership, Mr.
President, has made it clear how much the discussions in these very difficult global times mean to Mongolia and to the wider world, to multilateralism, and we are deeply grateful for that.
Mr.
President, ladies and gentlemen, here in Mongolia, the birthplace of Genghis Khan -- and for communities across the world -- land is life, and land is livelihoods, especially for our nomads and indigenous peoples.
In 2023 and '24, a summer drought followed by a severe drought led to the loss of more than 7 million livestock.
Herds built over generations disappeared.
For many families, the loss took away their assets, their income, and the means to recover before the next difficult season.
What Mongolia endured is part of a crisis that is unfolding across the world.
Since 2000, droughts have increased in frequency and duration by 29%.
By 2050, three out of every four people could be affected.
This room brings decades of lived experience and expertise in responding.
Many of you have developed national plans, tested solutions, and learned what works in your own countries.
Now we need to turn that experience into delivery, by restoring land at scale, financing national action, and putting the people who live in and from the land in the lead.
Let us start with scale.
Scale means moving beyond individual projects and putting national plans to work -- ones that leave no one behind.
Up to 40% of the world's land is degraded, weakening food production and livelihoods.
Individual projects can prove what works, but they cannot restore land at the scale and with the sense of urgency that is needed.
More than 70 countries have developed national drought plans with support from the UNCCD.
Many of you have done that work.
You know best what your countries need.
The challenge now is to have the fiscal space so that those plans can go from resolutions to reality.
Here in Mongolia, sustainable rangeland management protects pastoral livelihoods and the land.
Across the Sahel, communities are restoring degraded land and making it productive again.
The African Union's Great Green Wall initiative is one that demonstrates this.
The settings differ, but the lesson is the same: restoration strengthens resilience when it protects how people make a living and thrive.
Scale also means connecting restored land to water and the wider economy.
Producers need the infrastructure, skills and technology to reach markets, selling what they produce, and this includes through the new era of technology and e-commerce.
All of this takes national programs, cooperation across borders, and investments that stay in place long enough for restored land to recover.
And that brings me to the next point: scaling up depends on predictable and sustainable financing -- the means of implementation.
Countries need long-term investment that follows their national priorities and stays in place long enough for restored land to recover and to prosper.
And public finance can help reduce the risk and bring in private investment for approaches that have already proven their value.
We already have the tools to move this forward.
The Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership and its investment facility can help countries turn drought plans into well-funded programs.
Business for Land can bring companies into that effort.
But those tools only make a difference if countries can reach them and can use them.
You should not be asked to develop national plans and then be left to search for the means to deliver them.
Finance has to be in place to invest in the priorities that countries have set for themselves.
Finance gives countries not only the means to act, but to grow their economies.
The people who live on the land must inform the decisions that shape its future.
Pastoralists managing rangelands and farmers rebuilding depleted soil bring the knowledge of generations.
They understand what their land can sustain in a way that no one else can.
As you decide how restoration will be financed, bring those people into the decisions from the beginning, co-creating with them.
Give them secure rights and a genuine say over how investment will be deployed.
Putting people, women and men, in the lead also means ownership and improving their outcomes.
Restoration can create skilled work and new sources of income.
Those jobs should be decent, allowing growth, prosperity and inclusion.
Social protection must be an integral part of that safety net.
The Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions was built to deliver exactly that pairing.
In Indonesia and Bhutan, they are already proving that it can be done.
COP17 can bring the same approach to land restoration, connecting investment in soil health with investment in people doing the work.
But jobs and income are only part of the equation.
There's a much more fundamental issue of power.
We cannot ask people to restore land while denying them meaningful rights over that land.
And nowhere is that contradiction clearer than for women.
86% of the countries that report their land tenure data to the United Nations show fewer women than men with secure rights over agricultural land.
But when women are given rights over the land they work, they restore it, and they keep restoring it.
Mali has shown this in its demonstration in Bandiagara.
A woman named Fatoumata Bagayoko is leading a women's cooperative that restores degraded land and expands local food production.
When the municipality saw the results, it granted the cooperative four acres to expand its work.
Four acres may look small against a global restoration target, but for those women, it has meant land they could rely on and room to grow their livelihoods.
Access to land is only the beginning.
Women also need access to finance, to skills, to technology and to markets, so that they can build businesses and keep more of the value their work creates.
Restoration should not leave women doing the work while others capture the economic benefits.
It should give them a greater stake in both the land and the prosperity that it creates.
COP 17 is an opportunity to give communities everywhere the same chance.
Finally, let me say that on each of these three aspects -- going to scale, providing sustainable and predictable finance, and a people-centred approach -- the United Nations will continue to do its part and support Member States in that endeavour.
For us, the work begins in communities at the country level.
The UN80 reforms are making our support more responsive and easier for governments to use -- a single country team working with a single, joined-up strategy under the leadership of our resident coordinators.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, healthy land gives people something fundamental: the ability to build a future where they already belong and can thrive.
COP17 can put the future within reach by matching national ambition with finance, and trusting the people who steward the land to lead.
The land has sustained humanity throughout history.
Let us leave Ulaanbaatar ready to sustain and protect this land in return.
I thank you.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Secretary-General, ladies and gentlemen.
Now I would like to invite Ms.
Yasmine Fouad, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, to deliver her remarks.
Your Excellency, President Khürelsükh, Your Excellencies, President Halonen and President Moon and President Alvarado, Your Excellency Madam Batmunkh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and COP17 President, and Your Excellency Minister Batbaatar, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and Madam Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, and delegates, as well as representatives of indigenous people, local communities, youth and women.
There is a teaching passed down through generations here in Mongolia, saying: take care of the grass, and the grass will take care of the people.
These are simple words, but they hold profound truth.
When the land thrives, people thrive.
When the land suffers, societies suffer.
Thank you, Mr.
President, and thanks to the government and the people of Mongolia for bringing us here together.
But thank you most for a wonderful launch of this high-level segment.
You gave the message clearly.
You presented the women, you presented your culture, but you most of all presented the children, who represent our future generation.
For centuries, Mongolia's pastoralists -- and they were here at the opening -- have understood the truth that science and economists are now confirming: that land is natural infrastructure.
It is the foundation of food, water, livelihood, resilience, community, and much more stability.
It is fitting that we started a caravan that traveled 7,000km from Riyadh, where we had COP16, to Mongolia, following the spirit of the ancient Silk Road.
The Silk Road has taught us that there was a connection among civilizations through trade, ideas and knowledge.
And today we are here, connected for a shared purpose: to restore land, build resilience and invest in a more secure future.
At the opening of this conference, I said that this COP17 would be the COP of implementation.
We heard, Mr.
President, and we heard the Deputy Secretary-General.
And a COP of implementation is not only about decisions.
The question here is: what must we implement? We must build drought resilience, because drought simply threatens food, water and livelihoods.
And inside that drought resilience, we should embed rangelands, sustainable agriculture and healthy soil at the center of our work.
We listened over the past week.
Rangelands cover more than half of the Earth's land surface.
And in this International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, we have an opportunity to bring the attention, but also to bring the investments that will be announced also here today in this opening session.
And from Mongolia's grassland to the agricultural soil that feeds our cities, there is no food and water security without land security.
Healthy land means resilient agriculture.
The question here is whether we are ready to act and make this connection.
We can deliver.
We started at COP16 in Riyadh, thanks to the COP16 presidency, and here in Mongolia -- just to list some of them -- the Riyadh Global Drought Partnership, where 70 vulnerable countries are coming together to implement their drought management plans.
More than 100 countries requesting UNCCD support.
A pipeline of $2.2 billion that is already there.
Another 22 approved projects, worth $148 million, and over 300 private sector partners, just in two years, have started to engage in Business4Land.
That's part of our performance report that we presented at this COP.
And now this would require three components, in addition to what the Deputy Secretary-General has mentioned.
First, we need a country-led pipeline of investment projects.
We need public and concessional finance that reduces risk and unlocks private capital.
And we need partnerships that connect finance to implementation on the ground.
We have a lot, and we heard, Mr.
President, when he talked about early warning systems, AI and the latest technology, we assure you here that we're connecting the dots.
We're bringing the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership together with the Drought Resilience Investment Facility and IDRA, the International Drought Resilience Alliance.
And we're adding, this time, an international drought resilience observatory, to tell us that the decisions we're taking today are the most appropriate for our future generations.
The question now is not whether we can afford to invest in healthy land.
That is not the question.
The question is whether we can afford not to invest in this land.
But implementation, when we talk about it, should center around people -- a human-centred convention.
Indigenous people and local communities have the experience, they have the traditional knowledge, and we need to listen to them.
Pastoralists are not beneficiaries.
They are the stewards of this land and the heroes, and they are the ones investing in it and much more.
Women, girls and young people should have an equal voice for their future and be part of these decisions.
And this whole discussion cannot be separated from migration.
Migration is also related to land degradation and drought, because these are risk multipliers.
And I mean here, when people move, are they moving by choice, or because they are forced, because they lost their landscape, they lost their livelihood, and simply they lost their food and their shelter? Excellencies, I would like to end with the ambition of this COP, with all that Mongolia has given us, with this venue, with 100 ministers around this room, in the high-level event, with a very ambitious land action agenda around finance, water, people and healthy soil.
The ambition you're trusting the UNCCD with, we will be up to it.
But that ambition also has to be met with finance and resources.
If the parties want us to deliver with the same commitment and ambition, resources must follow that.
Let this COP move from projects to investment, and from vulnerability to preparedness, and from restoring degraded land to building resilient societies.
Before I close, I'd like to say thank you.
Thank you to the Deputy Secretary- General for being here with us today, and for your leadership, and for you and the Secretary- General putting land on the agenda.
And thanks to Mongolia for bringing us to this beautiful country, and for also giving us a declaration of the pastoralists and herders on their needs and priorities.
We've put it on the website, but we promised you that this day would not pass without announcing that the money will go to those who need it most: the stewards of our land.
Thanks to our partners and our Member States for pushing with us, for standing behind us.
But last but not least, thanks to the UNCCD staff and colleagues -- you have worked tirelessly to make this success possible.
I know how much effort has gone into this, which often goes unseen, but I deeply appreciate it, and all the ministers and delegates appreciate it too.
The success of this conference rests also on our shoulders, all together.
Let's build the architecture of implementation and give ambition the means to move.
And let us ensure that our decisions will not remain on paper, but take us to the land, into the roots, into the communities, and into the future that we all want to protect.
I thank you.
Thank you, Madam Executive Secretary, ladies and gentlemen.
Now I would like to invite Mr.
Carlos Alvarado Quesada, former President of the Republic of Costa Rica, to deliver his remarks.
Mr.
President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, protocol observed -- can humanity, as we know it, be separated from land? Physics tells us that we are made from stardust.
Ancient Maya traditions from Central America, my region, tell us that human beings were made from maize.
And here in Mongolia, herders' understanding of the relationship between people and nature tells us that humans, land and the natural world are connected through an umbilical cord.
Different traditions, different languages, separated by distance and time, yet they point toward the same idea: we are not separated from the world that sustains us.
We are part of it.
The land is within us.
And yet, often we approach our greatest problems as though both the problem and the solution existed entirely separate from ourselves.
We're looking for a magical pill that will heal us, a new technology that will fix everything, new lands, even new planets that might replace those we have eroded, desertified or exhausted.
Perhaps part of the predicament begins precisely with this fragmentation: seeing humanity as separated from the land, and ultimately, humanity as separated from one another.
In my view, this conceptual divide lies at the heart of our difficulty in responding to the crisis affecting land, people and our planet.
Just as the solutions do not exist outside of ourselves, hope does not exist only outside of us either.
Hope is an expression of human intentionality, of freedom, just like the nomad spirit, of our capacity to look at reality and decide to act.
And that is why we are here: to restore degraded land and halt desertification, to produce food sustainably and nutritiously, to work alongside farmers, indigenous people, local communities, and women, because yes, without civil society, this effort will not exist, to build livelihoods that can thrive with nature rather than at the expense of it.
We already possess many of the tools to make this possible.
Today, we can produce food more sustainably and expand access to nutritious diets, and we can redirect billions of dollars currently spent on harmful and inefficient subsidies, and instead help farmers, communities and restoration.
And yet those innovations coexist with practices and incentives that continue to degrade land, that damage ecosystems, and that undermine human well-being.
The capacity to change that is ours.
Today, millions of people are migrating within their countries or across borders, in contexts where sea level rise, land degradation, drought, heat, conflict, and economic pressures are increasingly interacting.
Science documents this transformation, and communities bear witness to it.
But communities also demonstrate that adaptation is possible, and I invite all delegates to look at the principles on climate mobility -- non-binding -- to guide our countries.
Across the world, people are restoring ecosystems, people are protecting livelihoods, and people are adapting to changing landscapes.
Often, innovative responses are emerging from those who are most directly affected.
But governments, markets and international financial institutions are not yet responding at the scale and the speed required.
And let's be frank -- those are among the privileged.
It's the most vulnerable who are leading the way in the response.
We are called here to act.
We live in a time of crisis that demands new ideas and new institutions, but that in itself says something profoundly hopeful.
We possess the capacity to imagine different futures.
Human imagination -- the capacity to create, to adapt, to reinvent, to cooperate -- is one, if not the defining ability of our species.
And we have sometimes used that capacity without sufficient restraint, transforming the planet faster than we understood the consequences.
Now we must use that same creative capacity, but with greater intention, with greater balance, with greater humility.
We can use it to overcome the separation between people and land, and to overcome the separation between peoples.
The nations, the cultures of our planet are wonderfully different, diverse and unique, but together we have only one planet.
And we are not merely living on it, we're living within it.
Ladies and gentlemen, friends, perhaps this is the moment to declare peace with land, and hopefully peace among ourselves.
Let COP17, here in beautiful Mongolia, become a testament to that possibility -- that restoring the land can also help restore our relationship with one another, that prosperity does not have to come at the expense of nature, that humanity can choose a future in which people, land and planet thrive together.
The solutions are not somewhere else.
They are within us.
They are among us here in Mongolia.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
Ladies and gentlemen, now I would like to invite Ms.
Tarja Halonen, former President of the Republic of Finland, to deliver her remarks.
Your Excellency, President of Mongolia, Deputy Secretary- General Amina Mohammed, Executive Secretary, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to Mongolia for hosting so excellently this important conference of the parties.
And let me also express my appreciation to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and to its leadership, for the important work carried out over the years.
I would also like to pay tribute to the former Executive Secretary, Mr.
Ibrahim Thiaw, for his commitment to raising land degradation and drought higher on the international agenda.
Having myself been involved in the HerLand project, I recognized how important it is to raise awareness of women's and girls' vital role in sustainable land management.
That said, I would also like to thank the Executive Secretary, Dr.
Yasmine Fouad, for the excellent cooperation.
I wish you all, with my whole heart, the best in the future work of the UNCCD.
So, dear friends, when I look at the journey we have traveled in the United Nations over these past decades, I often find myself returning to the year 2000.
I remember the extraordinary sense of hope when world leaders came together at the beginning of the new millennium, with a simple promise: to build a world where no one would be left behind.
The Millennium Development Goals gave that promise concrete form, addressing poverty, hunger, health, education, and gender equality.
15 years later, Agenda 2030 brought this together, and a universal vision of sustainable development, with its economic, social and environmental dimensions understood as one.
I remember also how, during those years, we began to understand that sustainability was not simply an environmental issue.
It was a question of justice.
It was about who has access to land, water, food and livelihoods, and about whether future generations will inherit a planet capable of sustaining human life.
That is why I feel a particular connection standing here today with you.
When I look at the work of the UNCCD, I see this whole journey coming together.
Land is where so many of our commitments meet.
It is where poverty, food security, biodiversity, climate, water, and human dignity become one reality.
25 years ago, we spoke of a new millennium and made a promise to leave no one behind.
Today, I believe that promise must begin with the land beneath our feet.
We meet today under a powerful theme: Restoring Land, Restoring Hope.
I would like to take this theme one step further.
When we think about the foundation of life on our planet, we can speak of a kind of holy trinity: air, water and soil.
We have become increasingly aware of the first two.
International climate action has made us understand the risks associated with global warming; international cooperation on water has reminded us of the fundamental importance of freshwater and our oceans, which regulate our climate, sustain economies, sustain ecosystems, and provide food for billions of people.
But there is a third element of this trinity which deserves much greater attention: soil, that thin layer of living matter beneath our feet, one of humanity's most fundamental resources.
It produces much of the food we consume.
It stores carbon, it filters and retains water.
It supports biodiversity.
It is the foundation of our societies and our economies.
And yet soil is remarkably easy to take for granted.
We know when the air temperature rises, we notice.
Water, one day, is too much or too little, we notice.
But we rarely notice the soil until it is degraded, eroded, or exhausted.
Perhaps this is one reason why land degradation has not yet received the same political visibility as the climate or global water agenda.
And we need to change that, so it deserves a stronger place on the international political agenda.
Recent years have provided us with painful reminders of how interconnected these elements are.
Across the northern hemisphere, the devastating wildfires in Europe and North America have shown us how climate change can amplify environmental risks.
Fire destroys forests and biodiversity, but it also damages the soil, disrupts water cycles, and undermines the capacity of ecosystems to recover.
So, dear friends, the message is clear: climate, water and land are parts of the same system.
They cannot be treated as separate policy questions.
And this is why the work of the UNCCD is so important.
Land restoration is not simply about restoring landscapes, it is about restoring the foundations of human well-being.
It is about food security.
It's about water security.
It is about biodiversity.
It is about climate resilience, and it is about livelihoods.
This brings me to another dimension I believe deserves our particular attention: women.
Women around the world play a crucial role as farmers, food producers and stewards of land.
In many communities, women carry a large share of the responsibility for producing food and securing the well-being of their families, yet they often have less access to finance, technology, agricultural services and decision-making.
And this is not only an issue of equality, important as that is.
It's also an issue of effectiveness.
If we want to restore land and build resilient food systems, we must ensure that women have equal opportunities to make decisions, own and manage land, access finance, and shape agricultural policies.
Women should not be seen merely as beneficiaries of our policies.
They are essential agents of land restoration and food security.
That is why it would be important to continue the HerLand project.
Excellencies, dear friends, the challenge before us is enormous, but so is the opportunity.
We already possess much knowledge and many of the technologies needed to restore degraded land.
What we need is political commitment, adequate financing, and cooperation across borders and across sectors.
We need to connect land restoration with economic and development policies.
And above all, we need to recognize that the health of our soil is directly connected to the health of our societies.
Finally, let us give the soil the political attention it deserves.
Let us invest in restoring degraded land before degradation becomes irreversible.
Let us strengthen the resilience of farmers, pastoralists and rural communities.
Let us ensure that women are fully empowered as farmers, food producers and decision-makers, and let us recognize the inseparable connection between air, water and soil.
Let this conference of the parties -- let it be a moment when we give the third element of this trinity, soil, the attention it deserves.
Let us restore the land.
Let us strengthen resilience, and by doing so, let us restore hope.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, now I would like to invite Mr.
Moon Jae-in, former President of the Republic of Korea, to deliver his remarks.
Your Excellency, the President of Mongolia, Your Excellency Yasmine Fouad, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, former President of Costa Rica, distinguished delegates from around the world and representatives of international organizations, businesses, civil society and academia, I welcome you all.
It is my great pleasure to join all of you at the 17th session of the conference of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
I extend my deepest gratitude to the president and the government of Mongolia for their invitation, and also to the people of Mongolia for their gracious hospitality.
Land is the ground of our lives.
It sustains food, water and community.
When land is degraded, food and livelihoods are shaken, and even human dignity and peace come under threat.
A crisis of land is a crisis of human survival.
Today, as the climate crisis accelerates, humanity faces the grave challenge of land degradation and desertification.
40% of the world's land has already been severely damaged, and degradation is advancing beyond our control.
And because of this, nearly half of humanity is suffering directly, driven to the brink of survival.
Nature knows no borders, nor do the climate crisis and land degradation respect them, and therefore our responsibility and our solidarity in answering them must also reach across borders.
The international community has gathered its strength around the UNCCD.
The convention has devotedly led our common action to halt desertification across the globe and to bring degraded land back to life.
This conference will be an important occasion to advance the solidarity and practice of the international community one step further, and I would like to offer it my unstinting encouragement and support.
Restoring our land is not just about reviving nature -- it safeguards food and water, the very foundations of life, and restores the ground on which our communities stand.
It is the most noble of all journeys, one that rekindles hope so that future generations may dream of a better tomorrow.
The Republic of Korea, too, once knew despair, in the ruins of war, with mountains stripped bare and land laid waste.
But Korea did not give up.
With the firm will of the government and the devoted participation of our people, we succeeded in raising green forests once again.
Korea's own experience has become a source of hope -- proof that no matter how deeply nature has been wounded, if we refuse to give up and join our efforts together, it can surely be brought back to life.
Korea has shared its experience in forest restoration and worked hand in hand with the international community, and we will continue to strengthen that solidarity even further.
Distinguished guests, during my presidency, I pursued overcoming the climate crisis and restoring land ecosystems as core tasks of my administration.
We declared 2050 carbon neutrality and enacted the Carbon Neutrality Act.
We also substantially raised our nationally determined contribution, and we strengthened our climate and environmental solidarity with the international community.
Further, at the 14th UNCCD COP, in 2019, I proposed the Peace Forest Initiative and saw it officially launched.
The idea was that neighboring countries facing border disputes and conflict would take part together in restoring the forests and land ecosystems of their border regions, thereby cultivating peace alongside the land they restore.
Today, that idea has taken its place as a flagship global program of the UNCCD and is being actively carried forward.
The cooperation between Korea and Mongolia is the most exemplary and the most special fruit of all international cooperation for ecosystem restoration.
Since 2007, through the Korea-Mongolia Green Belt Project, our two countries have joined hands to prevent desertification, restore forests and train specialists.
Over these 20 years, what Korea and Mongolia have planted together is not trees alone.
It is firm trust between our two peoples and hope for a greener future.
Neither the sandstorms nor the yellow dust that blow across our borders could stop the friendship and solidarity of two countries determined to plant trees and bring the land back to life.
We must not forget that restoring land is the most worthwhile investment we can make in the peace of humankind.
When land is degraded and resources grow scarce, what fills the empty space is conflict and strife.
Cooperation to revive land and water together is precisely what builds trust between us and becomes the firm foundation for peace.
Ecological restoration protects the community of life on this planet, and is, at the same time, the most practical solution for making the peace of humankind sustainable.
Distinguished guests, I look forward to this conference becoming a meaningful occasion for turning promises into action and goals into results.
In the face of the towering wave of the climate crisis and desertification, no one can stand alone, and no one can be an exception.
Even at this very moment, land growing ever more barren is sending us an urgent signal across borders.
The governments of every nation, international organizations, businesses and civil society must all respond with one heart, especially local communities with long-held wisdom, women who have safeguarded the ground of daily life, and young people who will open the way to the future -- they are the ones who will lead this change.
When they stand at the center of every stage, from planning to action, the restoration of our land will become fairer and much more sustainable.
Each decision we make today, and each action we take, will change the Earth of tomorrow.
Let us bring green life back to the parched earth.
Let us cultivate a community of peace where people and nature breathe together.
With our fervent solidarity and our unceasing practice, let us give future generations a land of life, of peace and of hope.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr.
President.
Earlier this year, an epic journey took place with the aim of symbolically connecting COP 16 and 17.
The UNCCD Silk Road Caravan traveled over 8,000km across seven Eurasian countries, arriving in Mongolia earlier this month.
Throughout its journey, the caravan collected stories and testimonies from dozens of pastoralists, indigenous, local and global leaders along the historic Silk Road and beyond.
They were all asked one simple question: if the rangelands could speak, what would they say? Today, for the first time, we have a chance to hear some of these voices, with more to come in a documentary film at the end of this year.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to watch the video from the Silk Road caravan.
[Testimonials from pastoralists and community members along the Silk Road, in multiple languages including English, French, Arabic, and Turkish -- not fully transcribable] So the land would say: restore hope and restore life.
Mongolia's initiative this year has been designated by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.
Rangelands and pastoralists are also in the spotlight here at UNCCD COP17.
These vast ecosystems cover more than half of the world's land surface and support around 2 billion people.
In Mongolia, pastoralists represent one third of the country's population.
They are not only herders, they are the conveyors of centuries-old knowledge and our unique nomadic traditions, and their voices are essential for the future of rangeland stewardship.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to invite Mr.
Khandsüren Torokh, Pastoralist Youth Representative for Mongolia, and Ms.
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Global Pastoralist Representative, to deliver their remarks.
Please welcome them.
Good morning, Excellencies, Heads of State and Government.
Dear Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, dear sister and pastoralist Amina Mohammed, distinguished Ministers, COP President, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, dear Yasmine, ladies and gentlemen, brothers, indigenous and pastoralist communities around the room.
It is an honor to be here in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, here where pastoralist lands are more than a national economy.
Here, as in my country, Chad, land is a way of life.
I stand before you today with a simple message: if we want to restore land, we must listen to the peoples who have cared for it for generations.
Land is home.
Land is identity.
I have seen the extraordinary resilience of pastoralist communities facing drought, desertification and climate change.
But I have also seen what happens when mobility is blocked, territories are fragmented, knowledge is ignored and decisions are made about our land without us.
That is why the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists must be a turning point -- not simply a gathering or a declaration, but a pathway.
That is why we need pastoralists and indigenous pastoralists to be recognized as rights holders, knowledge holders, but also solution providers.
Pastoralists contribute to food security, we heard that, to biodiversity, to ecosystem health, climate resilience, culture, and economy across Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
Pastoralists connect communities, care for peoples, for land and for knowledge.
Today, I call upon all Member States here to treat pastoralists as a priority for cooperation, to work together.
Despite our differences, we all come from land, and we all depend on it.
For pastoralists, mobility is not a problem.
Mobility is a solution.
We call on all governments, and all of you here, to secure collective land rights, protect livestock, and ensure that corridors and seasonal movement to pastures are open for communities to access water, and to stop the policies and development that fragment pastoralist territories.
And let us be clear: pastoralists are conservationists when conservation includes the peoples who have cared for the landscape for generations.
We must ask cautiously: what exactly are we restoring, and for whom? We must invest in the people who care for the land, through veterinary services, security, fair markets and education, innovation, and above all, to ensure direct, flexible, unrestricted and equitable access to finance.
And we must put women and youth at the centre of all decisions.
They cannot be only participants.
They must lead and access the resources.
Excellencies, I also wanted to make one point very clear here.
Indigenous peoples must have a permanent and meaningful place in this conversation.
We cannot invite indigenous peoples and pastoralists to speak inside these events and then exclude us from the room where decisions have been made about our territories and future.
The Ulaanbaatar Declaration calls for a UN decade for pastoralists, a UN day for pastoralists, a dedicated fund for pastoralists and indigenous peoples, and local communities and pastoralist caucuses within the UN to be implemented, with mechanisms for accountability and transparency.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we ask you to look beyond pastoralists as a sector, but to recognize, invest in, act on and implement what this International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists calls for.
Remember, for the policy changes, the finance and the decisions we make: restore our right to restore the land.
Restore rangelands by protecting our custodianship.
Restore hope by putting indigenous peoples, women, youth and pastoralists at the heart of implementation.
The knowledge exists.
The solutions exist.
The people exist.
What we need now is political courage.
Let COP17 be a moment we choose to act, all together.
I thank you.
Please use your headset, because my brother from Mongolia will be speaking in Mongolian.
Brother, welcome.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I represent the central steppe prairie area, from Uranga, Sumber.
And my name is Gantulga, a herder of Mongolia.
So, the future of humanity lies strongly with our compassion and love for Mother Nature.
And taking this opportunity, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my President and to all my dear colleagues and brothers and sisters from all over the world.
So, combating climate change and conserving our Mother Nature -- this is at the very root of our existence.
And, starting from water consumption to mining activities, as we Mongols say, we need to measure seven times and cut only once.
This is the requirement of our time.
So therefore, I call upon [us] to depart from our trend and desire to consume luxury goods and other luxury products.
I would like to call for a turn towards the consumption of dairy foods.
And so, as our Mongolian herders and our vast, endless steppes, I wish for this tranquility and calmness, and I wish every success in your future deliberations.
Thank you very much.
Thank you both very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, now I would like to invite Mr.
Batbaatar, Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia, to deliver his presentation of the Rangeland Moment Initiative at the 17th session of the conference of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
Your Excellency, the President of Mongolia, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, delegates, first of all, I would like to extend my warm greetings to the people of Saudi Arabia, the host of COP16, from 2024 up until today.
Mongolia is a country defined by its vast steppes and its nomadic civilization.
For centuries, Mongolian herders have lived in harmony with the land, moving with the seasons and drawing on generations of traditional knowledge to manage their livestock, water and pasture under harsh and highly variable climatic conditions.
Today, nomadic pastoralism remains an important source of livelihood for nearly one third of Mongolia's population.
Yet rangelands are much more than a source of livelihood for herders.
Mongolia's steppes are among the world's few remaining temperate grassland ecosystems that retain much of their natural integrity.
They sustain the migration of millions of Mongolian gazelles and provide habitat for globally threatened species, including the snow leopard, the argali sheep and Przewalski's horse.
The interdependence between people, livestock and nature has shaped Mongolia's culture, identity and way of life for thousands of years.
But Mongolia's story is part of a much larger global rangeland story.
From the savannas of Africa to the steppes of Central Asia and the pampas of South America, rangelands sustain the livelihoods of millions of people, support food systems and biodiversity, and strengthen climate resilience.
They are also home to the cultures and traditional knowledge of peoples around the world.
Yet for too long, the true value of rangelands has not been adequately recognized in global policy, finance and investment.
When rangelands degrade, we lose much more than vegetation and fertile soil.
We risk losing biodiversity, water retention capacity, carbon storage, pastoral livelihoods and generations of traditional knowledge.
Today, however, a new chapter is opening for the world's rangelands.
At Mongolia's initiative, the United Nations General Assembly designated 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.
This is much more than the celebration of a single year.
It is a global opportunity to recognize the value of rangelands and the conditions of pastoralists, and to place rangelands at the heart of our efforts on land, climate, biodiversity, food security and sustainable development.
2026 is the defining moment for the global rangeland movement, and it is a defining moment for Mongolia too.
2026 is a historic year for bringing global recognition to the value of rangelands and pastoralism, and turning that recognition into action.
For Mongolia, this year holds even greater significance.
Rangelands and pastoralism are an integral part of our history, culture and way of life.
Today, as the presidency of COP17, Mongolia has a historic opportunity to connect our traditional knowledge and experience with the future of rangelands worldwide.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we must now move from recognizing the value of rangelands to taking action, from commitment to implementation, and from policy to investment.
This is precisely where the Steppe Action Agenda, the policy legacy of COP17, comes in.
The Steppe Action Agenda is a strategic framework designed to connect our shared ambition for healthy, productive, and resilient rangelands with concrete action, partnership and investment.
It brings together Mongolia's flagship initiatives on rangelands, the water-land nexus, and nature-based solutions for sustainable infrastructure.
Together, these initiatives seek to connect policy with implementation, traditional knowledge with science and innovation, land restoration with sustainable pastoral livelihoods, and national priorities with investment and international cooperation.
Most importantly, pastoralists must be recognized not simply as beneficiaries, but as equal partners, knowledge holders and leaders in sustainable rangeland management.
The International Year has brought unprecedented global attention and new momentum to rangelands.
COP17 provides an opportunity to translate this momentum into concrete action, and the Steppe Action Agenda can provide a foundation for carrying this work beyond Ulaanbaatar and beyond 2027.
Mongolia invites rangeland countries, development partners, financial institutions, the private sector, civil society, scientists and researchers, and above all, pastoralists, to join us in this effort.
Together, we can move rangelands from the margins of global policy and investment to the center of our collective efforts on land restoration, climate resilience, biodiversity and sustainable development.
Let me conclude with a simple message: 2026 is a historic moment for the world's rangelands.
COP17 is our opportunity to turn this global momentum into action.
The steppe is our heritage.
The Steppe Action Agenda is our shared future.
Thank you for your attention.
Thank you, Mr.
Minister.
Indeed, the lands of humanity are not merely possessions.
They are a living heritage entrusted to us by our ancestors, and a profound responsibility that we must pass on to future generations.
Your Excellency, Mr.
President, representatives of governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, indigenous peoples, pastoralists and farmers from the 197 parties around the globe, distinguished delegates at COP17, the global platform where we come together to seek solutions, I wish you every success in your deliberations and throughout the conference proceedings.
Thank you.
Restoring Land.
Restoring Hope.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Mr.
President, for participating.
Opening ceremony.