(13th Meeting) 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification - UNCCD COP17

Good morning.
I call to order the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to combat decertification at its 17th session.
Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I invite the conference to resume its consideration of agenda item one entitled Organizational Matters, sub item D, entitled Credentials of Delegations.
In accordance with rules 19 and 20 of the Rules of Procedure, the COP Bureau examined the credentials of representatives, alternate representatives, and advisors, and approved them.
The final report of the Bureau to the Conference is contained in document ICCD slash COP 17 slash 13, entitled Credentials of Delegations, Report of the Bureau to the Conference of the Parties.
The Bureau agreed to submit document ICCD slash cop 17 slash 13, and the related draft decision, ICCD slash cop 17 slash L for consideration by the conference.
Credentials received after the reduction of the report will be reflected in the report of cop 17.
May I take that conference wishes to approve the report and adopt the draft decision content in document ICCD slash cop 17 slash L one.
I hear no objection.
It is so decided.
The conference has thus concluded its consideration of item one D.
I invite the conference to resume its consideration of agenda item one F entitled, Organization of FOC, including the sessions of the subsidiary bodies.
As you may recall, at its first meeting, the Conference of Parties established the committee of the whole and allocated agenda that are on the COP agenda to the committee of the whole for its consideration.
I would now like to give the floor to Mr.
Halit Chirke of Morocco, chair of the committee on the whole to report to the conference on the work of the CO and the draft proposals that Cow commend to the conference.
Madam President, distinguished delegates, I have the honor to present to the 17th session of the Conference of Parties a first summary of the outcomes of deliberation of the committee of the whole.
Madam President, distinguished delegates, I am pleased to inform you that the committee agreed to forward the following draft decision to the conference for its sixth meeting.
Allow me to provide the conference with an overview on these draft decisions.
Under item three entitled Final Reports of the intergovernmental Working Group on the future strategic framework of the convention, the committee agreed to recommend to the conference one draft decision contained in document ICCD slash Cop 17 slash L seven.
Under item five entitled Policy Frameworks, and thematic Issues, the committee agreed to recommend to the conference a draft decision on routes contained in document ICCD slash Cop 17 slash L 15.
Under Item seven entitled Program and budgets of the BM 2027 2028, the committee agreed to recommend to the conference one draft decision contained in documents ICCD slash cop 17 slash L 16.
Under Item eight C, entitled Program of Work of the Es session of the Conference of the Parties, the committee agreed to recommend to the conference one draft decision contained in document ICCD slash Cop 17 slash A two.
I hereby submit draft decisions to the conference of parties at its 17th session for adoption.
I will present a second summary with the remaining proposal of the committee of the Hall to the conference of parties this afternoon.
Finally, I would like to thank all delegations for their flexibility and spirit of compromise in the work of the cow.
Thank you, Madam President.
I thank the chair of the committee of the whole.
I also thank all parties for the constructive engagement and flexibility in advancing the work of the committee of the whole.
May I take that the conference wishes to adopt the following draft proposals, ICCD slash CP 17 slash L two, L, L 15, and L 16 as recommended by the cow.
I hear no objection.
It is so decided.
We have thus concluded action on these recommendations of the committee of the whole.
We will consider further recommendations by the cow this afternoon.
Are there any delegations wishing to make statements? I give the floor to Egypt.
Thank you, Madam Chair, UNCCD Secretariat, Distinguished delegates.
The delegation of Egypt wishes to express its sincere appreciation to all parties for the trust and confidence reflected in the decision confirming Egypt as a host of CP 18.
Egypt receives this responsibility with humility and deep commitment to contributing constructively to the collective objectives of the convention.
UCCD occupies a distinctive and vital place within the multilateral environmental architecture.
Its mandate to address desertification, land degradation, and drought remains of particular relevance, especially for Africa and other affected regions.
Egypt looks forward to building on the important outcomes of FIAT Cop 16, Olambatar Cp 17, and all the previous cops and working collectively with all parties to further advance the global response to desertification, land degradation, and drought.
In this regard, Egypt expresses its high appreciation for the valuable contribution of the Saudi presidency to Cp 16 in raising political attention to desertification and drought and elevating the profile of UN CCD cops within the broader multilateral environmental agenda.
Egypt also commends the Mongolian presidency for the open, constructive, and inclusive process it has led in Olambatar which has further advanced this momentum and provided a strong foundation for continued collective action by all parties.
We hope with your collaboration to continue this successful journey.
Madam Chair, desertification, land degradation, and drought are increasingly recognized as development challenges with far reaching implications for soil productivity, water availability, food systems, biodiversity, livelihoods, and community resilience.
Drought in particular remains a serious and growing concern for many developing countries.
Its impacts compounded by climate change, extends beyond environmental considerations to food and water security, poverty eradication, social stability, and economic development.
For many countries, especially in Africa and other dry land regions, preparedness and response capacities continue to require strengthened support, including through finance, technology, capacity building, and infrastructure.
Egypt approaches the responsibility of hosting Cops 18, guided by the principles of inclusiveness, transparency, and consensus.
We believe that Cp 18 can provide a valuable opportunity to reinforce multilateral cooperation, deepen partnerships, and support the effective implementation of commitments under the Convention.
Building on the momentum advanced here, CP 17, CP 18 can help provide renewed impetus for implementation, including through improved access to finance, technology transfer, capacity building, knowledge sharing, and strengthened international cooperation.
Madam President, Our invitation is therefore to continue working together in a spirit of partnership and solidarity to strengthen multilateralism, support implementation, advance resilience, and restoration, and contribute to sustainable development.
Egypt stands ready to work with all parties towards a CP 18 that reflects their priorities and contributes meaningfully to the objectives of the convention.
We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to Mongolia for the excellent organization of this session and for the great hospitality.
We also express our sincere appreciation to UN CCD for its dedicated service, professionalism, continued support to parties and presidencies.
As Egypt looks ahead to hosting Cp 18, we are confident that we will continue to benefit from the wise Mongolian leadership and the Secretariat valid cooperation and technical expertise in preparing for a successful and inclusive session.
I thank you.
I thank distinguished representative of Egypt.
I see no further requests.
The conference has thus concluded its consideration of items three and seven.
Distinguished delegates, I wish to note that Mongolia host country and myself as the president of UNCCity Cop 17, has put the best efforts in finding the most acceptable solution to emerged issues, including the agenda items three and five.
We are encouraged by the progress made towards these issues with the adoption of the decision on the final report of the intergovernmental working group on the future strategic framework of the convention, as well as decision on drought.
On behalf of the government of Mongolia, the presidency of Cop 17 would like to express deep gratitude to all governments and parties who have shown the flexibility and compromise in order to reach consensus on these issues.
I'm confident that the parties to the convention remain engaged with each other in the spirit of solidarity, multilateralism up until the conclusion of the 17th session of CP.
Under this agenda item one F, the conference also has therefore a number of other proposals.
I invite the conference to consider draft decision entitled Declaration of the Mayor's Forum, contained in the document ICCDsla cop 17 slash L.
May I at that conference wishes to adopt draft decision L four.
I hear no objection.
It's so decided.
Are there any delegations wishing to make statements in relation to the decision? I see no requests.
I now invite the conference to consider the draft decision entitled Open Dialogue sessions with Civil Society organizations, attending the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties, contained in the document ICCD slash cop 17 slash A.
I would like now to give the floor to the representative of civil society.
Dear delegates, civil society organizations reaffirm our commitment to healthy land as the foundation of food security, resilience, dignity, peace, and sustainable development.
At CP 17, humanity faces converging crisis of land degradation, desertification, drought, biodiversity loss, climate instability, conflict, and inequality that disproportionately impact women, youth, indigenous peoples, pastoralists, and local communities.
This group demonstrates crucial leadership and stewardship in restoring landscapes.
Their knowledge is indispensable, as it was demonstrated during the two open dialogue sessions that were organized by the CSO panel.
The first open dialogue session was on range lands pastoralism and financing healthy landscape, while the second on drought resilient territories and water also was indicating the good work that the CSOs are doing.
Both dialogues were well received by the parties who confirmed their support towards the CSO work.
Systemic civil society participation is what we call for on inclusion of civil society, indigenous peoples, local communities, women, youth, and pastoralists as observers in negotiations, implementation, monitoring, and reporting as recognized rights holders.
We also call for direct financing, accessible sustained funding for locally led land restoration and drought resilience initiative.
Land degradation neutrality, stronger implementation through inclusive national partnerships, ecosystem investments, funding for climate mitigation and adaptation, agroecology, agroforestry, water management, and soil health across stable and conflict affected regions.
Grassroots capacity building, that is empowerment to extending directly to community led actors, and inclusive science policy integration.
Reporting mechanisms that combine scientific evidence with traditional and local knowledge.
We also call for people centered post 2030 strategy, bottom up governance driven by rights holders, anticipatory drought resilience, shifting from reactive management to proactive local informed actions, women's leadership, full participation of women, including indigenous and pastoralist women in land governance, equitable land tenure, that is secure land access and rights for women, vulnerable groups, and local populations as a foundation for justice.
And we know that solutions already exist in communities worldwide.
The challenge is ensuring political will, financing solutions, and accountability match the urgency of the crisis.
We call for the Cop 17 to be remembered for protecting saving space, honoring traditional knowledge, and renewing our commitment to healthy land.
History will judge us by the landscape restored and communities empowered.
The land and its people cannot wait.
The time is now for transformative action, and we are here to implement it.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I thank the representative of the civil society.
May I take it that the conference wishes to adopt a draft decision entitled Open dialogue sessions with Civil Society Organizations, attending the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties contained in the document ICCD slash cop 17 slash L.
I hear no objection.
It is so decided.
Are there any delegations wishing to make statements in relation to the decision? I see no requests.
I invite the conference to consider the draft decision entitled Declaration of the Youth Forum contained in document ICCD slash cop 17 slash L.
I would now like to give the floor to a youth representative.
Thank you very much, dear delegates.
I'm speaking on behalf of the UNCCD Youth Caucus.
We young people from communities and region across the world, come to Cp 17 with a shared message.
The future of our land is the future of our generation.
The following call messages reflect a direct call from young people worldwide to the delegates, ministers, and leaders gathered at Cp 17.
First, institutionalize youth participation.
Ensure young people are formally involved throughout national UNCCD processes, from policy design and implementation to monitoring and evaluation, including national action programs and degradation neutrality strategies.
Two, fully implement the youth engagement strategy.
Move the youth engagement strategy from a global framework to practical national and regional action through clear implementation guidance, sharing of good practices, and integration into relevant policies and programs.
Three, direct resources to frontline youth.
Provide accessible non debt funding such as dedicated grants and small grants alongside technical support, mentorship, and capacity building.
Funding should minimize bureaucracy and be accessible to youth led and local led organizations.
Four, recognize land as a living system.
Treat land as interconnected with food, water, biodiversity, health, livelihoods, culture, and peace.
Prioritize holistic landscape management, regenerative agriculture, and soil health over short term extraction.
Five, protect pastoralism and local knowledge.
Recognize pastoralism, range land stewardship, and indigenous and local land practices as effective restoration approaches.
Measure restoration by genuine ecosystem recovery rather than simplistic indicators such as tree planting numbers.
Six, build stronger government youth partnerships.
Treat youth organizations as implementation partners by creating regular dialogue and collaboration across governments, civil society, academia, and private sector.
Strengthen pathways for young people to access knowledge, education, and careers in land restoration and sustainable land management.
Seven, expand capacity building and intergenerational learning, equip young people with the skills, knowledge, and networks needed to participate meaningfully in UNCCD processes and turn commitments into action, including through training on negotiations, policies, sustainable land management and implementation.
Eight, measure and strengthen accountability for youth engagements.
Make youth participation measurable through voluntary reporting and indicators that assess both its quantity and quality.
Track whether people young people actually influence decisions, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, not simply whether they attend meetings.
And last, nine, strengthen youth coordination within the UNCCD Secretariat.
Consider establishing a dedicated youth focal point within the Secretariat to improve communication between the Secretariat parties and youth organization, expand access to opportunities and information and support the implementation of the youth engagement strategy.
Thank you.
I thank the youth representative.
May I take it that the conference wishes to adopt draft decision L eight? I hear no objection.
It is so decided.
Are there any delegations wishing to make statements in relation to the draft decision? I Cook Islands.
Thank you, Madam President and a very short intervention to support the draft decision.
Cook Islands is a delegation of youth, so we welcome the report and the decision.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I see no further requests for the floor.
I invite the conference to consider a draft decision entitled Declaration of Indigenous Peoples, contained in document ICCDs cop 17 slash 89.
I would like now to give the floor to a representative of Indigenous peoples.
Thank you Chair, Distinguished delegates.
We indigenous peoples from the seven socio cultural regions of the world have come to Cop 17 as the custodians, guardians, and knowledge holders of the lands and territories that this convention seeks to protect and restore.
But we must begin by expressing our deep disappointment that the agenda of this cop has removed the dedicated space for indigenous peoples, the very peoples who have protected and sustained these lands and ecosystems for generations.
We cannot restore the land while removing the voices of those who care for it.
At Cop 16 in Riyadh, we celebrated together the adoption of Decision five slash Cop 16, establishing the Indigenous People's Caucus within the UN CCD.
That was a major step forward.
We call on you to uphold your commitments as we are upholding ours, and we thank those who stand beside us.
During People's Day, indigenous peoples came together at the high level special event from sacred lands to shepherding the future.
Where we are shared, we shared our realities, knowledge, solutions, and adopted our Indigenous Peoples Declaration.
We call on parties to recognize this declaration and ensure that its priorities are reflected in the work and outcomes of this convention.
This must not remain a statement from indigenous people.
It must become a commitment followed by implementation.
Our message is simple, there can be no meaningful land restoration without respect for the rights of the peoples who care for the land.
We call on parties to recognize our collective land and territorial rights, customary governance, self determination, and free prior and informed consent.
We also call for science not to replace indigenous people's knowledge, however, to stand alongside us.
We remind parties that indigenous pastoralism and the mobilities must be protected, including indigenous women and youth.
Finally, we call for direct, flexible, and equitable and accessible finance to reach indigenous peoples and indigenous led organizations without unnecessary barriers or intermediaries.
Cop 16 opened the door.
Cop 17 must walk through it, and we stand ready to work together as partners towards Cop 18 to ensure that this is not only about creating a space for us to speak, It is about ensuring that we have a place where decisions are made about us and our territories.
So today, we call on parties to move from recognition to implementation, from promises to action, from sacred lands to shepherding the future.
We do not come only with demands.
We come with solutions for our lands, our territories, our knowledge, and our future.
Thank you.
I thank the representative of indigenous peoples.
May I take it that the conference wishes to adopt draft decision nine? I hear no objection.
It is so decided.
Are there any delegations wishing to make statements in relation to the draft declaration? I see no requests.
I now invite the conference to consider the draft decision entitled Declaration of the Local Communities, contained in document ICCDs cop 17 slash L ten.
I would like to give the floor to a representative of local communities.
Thank you, Chair.
Distinguished delegates.
My name is Sin Javed.
Greetings from the newly self constituted caucus for local communities under the UNCCD.
Today at Cop 17 in Ulambata, we represent pastoraries, agropastoral, peasant, agroecological, forest dependent, small scale and artisanal fishing, Afro descendant mountain, nomadic herders, small scale farmies, island and coastal communities, and other territorally rooted local communities, including women and youth, stand before you to deliver our founding declaration.
Our Founding Declaration set out a two tiered engagement at Chita T, a protected planetary caucus for internal deliberation and a structured dialogue interface for engagement with parties, the CSO Panel, the Caucus the Caucus for Indigenous Peoples, the CSC, and the Creek.
Representation follows eight plus five model, a geographical axis of eight seat incurred in defined UN sub region filled through each sub region's own self organized processes to reflect the sociocultural and biocultural diversity, genuinely represent the engaging five parties representatives designated by the UN regional groups with a mandatory alternate for every seat.
We already this declaration to the Secretariat along with all the foundational documents, but we would like to share the principal messages.
One, institutional status, grant the caucus for local communities, institutional status as a consultutive engagement body, equal to the caucus for engineerous people, the gender caucus and the youth caucus, not merely a facilitative mechanism.
Two, representation model.
Adopt the 8.5 model in full, including the mandatory alternate for every seat and the exclusively community validated selected of local communities title holders and alternate.
Three, procedural safeguard.
Adopt from our technical note a documented right for caucus focal point to circulate within writing text in contact groups as a rule requiring that any objective blocking a mandated civil society related agenda item be accompanied by a stated reason and a public deadline for resolution, Safeguard drawn directly from the cops own experience with unexplained unresolved objective.
Four, Sustained funding, commit to adequate and sustained funding for the local communities cause operation and effective participation through the UNCCD now and beyond CP 17.
Five, resolve item eight Al without further delay and through a public time bound process, the consultation on agenda item eight a deferred since the opening plenary of August 17th, and six, substantive priorities.
As range land, land tenure, drought, the strategic framework, real convention synergies, and the science policy interface, Our political statement asks that local communities be named explicitly as engagement partners and that outstanding blockages and financing gaps affecting these decisions be resolved with the same transparency we ask for our own institutional recognition.
To close, we ask the Secretariat to record this summary and the document it accompanies in the report of the high level event for the information of parties at this and future session of the conference.
We reaffirm our commitment to working in complementary with the Caucus for Indigenous people and all constituencies of the UN CCDs Civil Society architecture, and we thank the presidency and the Secretariat for the space extended to local community at Cop 17.
We thank you.
I thank the representative of the local communities.
Great.
May I take it that the conference we start off with the draft decision L ten? I hear no objection.
It is so decided.
Yes.
Are there any delegations wishing to make statements in relation to the decision? I see no requests.
I now invite the conference to consider the draft decision entitled High levell Parliamentarian Forum at the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties contained in document ICCD cop 17 ICCDsla cop 17 slash L 12.
May I take that conference wish to adopt draft decision L 12.
I hear no objection.
It is so decided.
Are there any delegations to make statements in relation to the decision? I see no requests.
I now invite the conference to consider draft decision entitled Report from the Gender Caucus contained in document ICCDps Cp 17 slash L 13.
May I take it that the conference wishes to adopt the draft decision L 13? I hear no objection.
It is so decided.
Are there any delegations wishing to make statements in relation to the decision? I see no requests.
I know I want the conference to turn the Agenda Item six entitled High level segment Ministerial Dialogues.
In connection with this agenda item, the conference has before it a draft decision entitled High level segment contained in document ICCD slash cop 17 slash L.
Before proceeding to take action on the draft decision entitled High level segment, I invite the conference to listen to the summaries of the ministerial dialogues.
I invite the rapporteur to present the summaries of the three ministerial dialogues.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ministerial dialogue, Innovative Financial mechanisms for healthy and and drought resilience.
This ministerial dialogue was officially opened and chaired by Mr.
Togmid Dorkan, Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia, representing the Cop 17 presidency, highlighting the significant finance gap for addressing land degradation and desertification and placing investment and finance at the heart of the Cp 17 deliberations.
Keynote remarks were made by the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr.
Amina Mohammed, and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to combat desertification, miss Yasmin forward.
These opening remarks framed land not only as an environmental concern, but as the economic infrastructure underpinning food, water, jobs, public revenue, and stability.
Because when land fails, the conditions are borne by the State Treasury through increased subsidies, emergency relief, displacement, and security deployments.
Speakers call for repurposing of agricultural subsidies alongside incentives such as environmental taxes, payments for ecosystem services, and debt instruments for portfolios with sufficient skills underpinned by revenue models with multiple benefits, risk sharing and local currency financing and for the conversion of national drought plans into drought investment plans and the integration of land finance across the Rio conventions.
The chair opened the next segment by announcing the launch of the Rangeland flagship Initiative as a key pillar of Mongolia's legacy as a Cop 17 president.
The initiative seeks to mobilize resources for sustainable range land management and restoration and establish a country led coalition of rangeland states.
It also aims to create the IRsion Center for the climate resilient Dry lands as a regional hub for science, innovation, and investment.
Mongolia committed to a sector wide sustainable finance principles, a green taxonomy, and a target of 10% green lending by 2030.
Other stakeholders, including the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Luxembourg, Spain, Germany, and the European Union all announced new financial commitments in the support of the UNCCD related projects and programs spanning drought resilience, ecosystem based adaptation, food system resilience, and the restoration of dry land landscapes.
Overall, the dialogue welcomed pledges totaling $1.3 billion, including the range and flagship initiative portfolio of over 45 projects worth 1.2 billion.
This was followed by a moderated discussion with ministerial representatives of Brazil, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the People's Republic of China, as well as high level participants from the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, the World Economic Forum, and that explored why land remains outside mainstream budgets and portfolios despite a strong investment case.
Participants noted that the binding constraints on the greater investment are often mandates, instruments, pipeline, or risk appetite.
They underlined that treating land as a capital asset requires making restoration bankable, improving revenue visibility, and providing policy certainty, stressing the need to reflect on how public and concessional finance can be most effectively deployed.
Over 60 parties and ten representatives of international organizations then delivered statements during the fed dialogue.
Most speakers refer to the UN City Financial Needs Assessment, 41 139 country parties and over 350 national action plans, which estimates that $355 billion are required annually up to 2030, against the current investment of 77 billion, representing an annual gap of 278 billion.
Set against an estimated 878 billion a year in losses from inaction, the investment case was presented as a eight to one return with potential benefits of $1.8 trillion a year.
The cost of inaction was put at three times the cost of restoration.
Many speakers noted that the significant contraction in the official development assistance in 2025 and that roughly half of the low income countries are at risk of debt distress.
There is consensus that the finance needed for sustainable land management cannot be delivered through grants alone.
This discussion turned on how countries tax, spend, and borrow, whether public resources crowd in private capital rather than substitute for it.
Many parties indicated how they prioritize domestic fiscal measures in the form of incentives, public private blended finance, and the repurposing of environmentally harmful subsidies.
Several parties called for the simplified access to multilateral funds, shorter turnaround times for approval, and greater coherence across the land, climate, and biodiversity financing windows.
They urge multilateral development banks to establish a distinct, trackable category for land, soil health, and drought resilience within the existing nature and climate finance taxonomies.
This call was based on the principle that what is not measured is not allocated.
There is a broad support for the innovative financing mechanisms, scaling guarantees, forced loss capital, and index based insurance.
Others caution that the innovative finance must not become a means of transferring the responsibilities of states to private actors.
Some parties stressed the need to mobilize private sector investment alongside public finance, as well as the important role of capacity building.
So told cooperation and technology transfer for effective implementation of land and water management practices, including affordable digital and satellite technologies.
Several voiced the need for project preparation support to develop an investment ready pipeline and for a shift from small and fragmented projects to investable programs portfolios.
They also cautioned against widening access gaps for least developed countries and those in fragile contexts.
Sovereign instruments, debt for nature swaps, nature performance bonds, sustainable linked bonds, and country platforms were raised as the unfinished business of the seve year commitment.
Parties call for simple, flexible, predictable, and equitable access to finance for land based initiatives, especially for developing and landlocked countries and small island developing states.
Speakers urge that indigenous peoples, local communities, and pastoralists be engaged as economic partners rather than as beneficiaries.
Ministerial dialogue draws resilience.
The ministerial dialogue was opened and chaired by miss Sandagen, Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia, representing the Cop 17 presidency.
Opening remarks were delivered by Mr.
Nam Tobaya Nas, Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia, who announced Water land Nexus Initiative, a Mongolia led global initiative with the S action agenda aimed at advancing integrated, science based and finance ready solutions to interconnected water and land challenges.
The initiative seeks to strengthen drought resilience through regional cooperation and improve soil moisture and landscape water retention.
Miss Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, and miss Yasmin Ford, Executive Secretary of of the UN CCD, delivered keynote remarks underscoring the increase in frequency and severity of drought, its far reaching impacts, and the high cost of inaction.
They call for a shift from reactive crisis response to proactive DOT resilience and stronger collective action, pointing at the International Jot Resilience Alliance, IDR, in strengthening international cooperation, and the International Gorge Reliiance Observatory, DRO in advance and draw data, science and knowledge, as well as the Draw resilience Investment facility DRF.
And and the Global drought resilience Partnership and the Global Environment facility that are mobilizing finance and investment for drought resilience.
They stressed the urgent need priority to operationalize these initiatives and translate available resources, knowledge, and partnerships into concrete action at national and local levels.
Professor James Flaigte highlighted unprecedented continental drying, shrinking freshwater availability, and the importance of accessible science and data to support effective decision making and policy responses.
A ministerial panel brought together by representatives of the U Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, France, the United Arab Emirates, Arab Republic of Egypt, Luxembourg and Spain to strengthen political will and to raise awareness of the drought as a global challenge that requires mobilizing finance at scale, accelerating ecosystem restoration, and strengthening collaboration from the global to local level, including transboundary cooperation.
They also underscored the need to move towards proactive drought management, pointing to the effectiveness of the water use restrictions and increased efficiencies, while also stressing the importance of early warning, science and data and integrated approaches, including nature based solutions.
These include preparedness based approaches, focus on managing water scarcity through smart distribution and drip irrigation, supported by modern technologies and the development of new water resources.
All stress that whole of government and the whole of society approaches are essential to overcome silos.
A technical panel with senior representatives from the African Union, United Habitat, SCAP, UNESCO, and the World Group discussed drought implications for global trade, supply chains, and economic resilience.
They emphasize the urgent need to shift from crisis financing to resilience investment that requires stronger cross sectional collaboration with due consideration for urban and rural linkages.
They also pointed out two examples of regional cooperation that combined satellite data, ground observations, and seasonal forecasting to strengthen early warning and anticipatory action.
All agreed that water is a human right and drew attention to the disproportionate impacts of drought on women and girls, including increased workloads, loss of livelihoods, and reduced access to essential resources.
Over 60 parties, together with representatives of international organizations and civil society organizations delivered statements.
Speakers echoed the priorities highlighted by the keynotes and the panelists while national and regional perspectives, recognizing drought as a structural challenge rather than a temporary shortage of water with cascading impacts on the ecosystems, people, livelihoods and economies, and the growing implications for security stability, including involuntary migration.
They call for proactive drought management and for placing of land water nexus at the heart of collective action, recognizing that protecting and restoring land is essential to safeguarding water resources.
They highlighted the need to break down policy silos and strength integration across sectors and plans to combat climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation.
Many speakers acknowledge the availability of proven measures, including improved water use efficiency, strengthening groundwater management, expanding water use and recycling, modernizing irrigation, promoting rainwater harvesting and sustainable soil management, advancing climate resilient agriculture, and improved crop and livestock varieties, and restoring ecosystems and landscapes, including through afforestation and nature based solutions.
Several interventions emphasized the need for stronger global, regional, and trans bongary cooperation, including sold cooperation to facilitate the transfer of knowledge, experience, technologies and solutions.
Most parties call for predictive and anticipatory financing and insurance, as well as innovative and blended finance mechanisms, particularly in vulnerable countries and communities.
This includes the alignment of drought resilience with the development and climate finance, mobilizing private sector investment, strengthening partnership with financial institutions, and making financing directly accessible to people and communities that is inclusive and responsive to the needs of rural communities, including families and children, women, youth, farmers, indigenous peoples, and pastoralists.
Ministerial dialogue, restoration of range lands, and well being of pastoralist communities.
This dialogue was opened by the cop president and was chaired by Botswana and Uruguay with keynote remarks from miss Inga Anderson, Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Environment Program, and miss Bethel, Deputy Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization in the United Nations.
They emphasize the importance of range lands for food security, regional economic development, and the livelihoods and cultures of pastoralists who steward these vast landscapes.
While rangelands provide 16% of global food production and 70% of feed for livestock, they host abundant biodiversity, sequester carbon, and contribute to water cycles.
Despite their significant environmental and socioeconomic value, rangelands are often overlooked and undervalued in national economies.
Over 52 parties and ten representatives of international organizations delivered statements.
Virtually all agreed that range lands must be recognized, respected, and restored.
Healthy rangelands ensure that ecological integrity is maintained, which is critical to feed a growing population and to achieve land restoration, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation targets.
Many acknowledge that the growing pressures on range lands and their communities from urban development energy generation, mining, and high intensity agriculture, as well as the effects of rapid climate change, accelerating land degradation and recurring droughts.
They recognize that the policies and regulations to govern range lands must ensure healthy and productive range lands for future generations.
Range lands must be explicitly reflected in national strategies and action plans for ecosystem conservation, land restoration, and sustainable grazing that promote well managed ecological pastoralism as a sustainable economic development model.
Several parties emphasized the importance of traditional knowledge systems and the empowerment of pastoralists, local communities, and the indigenous peoples to actively participate and take on leadership in the planning, management, and governance of range lands.
Responsibility and responsible and inclusive land governance, such as ensuring tenure security and women's lands rights were identified as critical enabling factors.
They also highlighted the importance of integrated land use planning that considers pastoral mobility and resource access as part of the adaptation strategy and to ensure social sustability, dignity, and peace.
The mapping and monitoring of rangeland health and the use of digital technologies to assess potential degradation processes was highlighted as an important pillar in the sustainable range land management.
While all speakers welcomed the range lands flagship Initiative and the coalition of range land states, many emphasize considerable investments required to conserve, sustainably manage, and restore range lands.
Some speakers called on the global community to provide financial resources to create an enabling environment through technical assistance, technology transfer, sharing of best practices, and to facilitate greater sustainable and inclusive investments in range lands.
Some pointed to sustainable value chains that can incentivize stewardship and significantly improve the livelihoods and well being of pastoralist communities.
This includes enhanced access to markets and inputs for pastoralists and agro pastoralist communities to support their traditional livelihoods that are based on extensive livestock production systems.
It was acknowledged that the International Year of Range lands and pastoralists has raised the profile of rangelands and their role in safeguarding planetary stability.
Many parties emphasized the need to move from commitments to action by driving inclusive policy frameworks and governance systems, responsible investments, and building on rich heritage and vast traditional knowledge of pastoralists and the rangeland communities who have managed these dynamic landscapes for centuries.
Thank you.
I thank the rapporteur.
May I take it that the conference wishes to adopt a draft decision entitled High level segment, contained in document ICCDsla cop 17 slash L.
I hear no objection.
It is so decided.
Are there any delegations wishing to make statements in relation to the decision? I see no requests.
I invite the conference to turn to the agenda item nine, report of the session.
I invite the rapporteur, Mr.
Karro Brownie, to present the draft report of the 17th session of the COP as contained in document ICCD slash CP 17 slash L.
Mr.
Brownie, you have the floor.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Madam President, distinguished delegates, I have the honor to present to you the draft report of the 17th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to combat Desertification.
In this regard, the conference has before it documents ICCD Cop 17 slash six, which contains in Chapters one and two, and account for the opening of the session and the organizational matters of the session respectively.
Section C of Chapter two contains information on the credentials of delegations as contained in document ICCD cop 17 slash 13.
Chapter three contains a brief description of the two open dialogue sessions held with civil society on the 20th and 25th, August 2026.
Chapters four and five summarize the main outcomes of the high level ministerial dialogues held on the 24, 25th, and 26th August, and the gender caucus held on 26th August.
The decisions and resolutions adopted by the Conference of Parties will be contained in Chapter six of the same document.
The draft report will be completed with the guidance of the Bureau and the support of the Secretariat to reflect also the proceedings of the last meeting of the conference as per Chapter seven.
Thank you, Madam President.
I thank the rapporteur.
May I take it that the conference wishes to adopt the draft report at its 17th session contained in document ICCDs cop 17 slash L and authorize the rapporteur to finalize the report after the session with the support of the Secretariat.
I hear no objection.
It is so decided.
I would like to give the floor to the distinguished Delegate of Algeria.
Thank you, Madam President.
Algeria has the honor to submit the following draft resolution by which the Conference of Parties expresses gratitude to the government and people of Mongolia.
The Conference of the Parties, having met in Anand Bato 2017-28 August 2026 at the invitation of the government of Mongolia, expresses its profound gratitude to the government of Mongolia for having made it possible for the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to be held in Alan Bato and for the excellent facilities placed at its disposal.
Request the government to convey to the people of Mongolia the profound gratitude of the parties to the convention for the hospitality and warm welcome extended to the participants.
I thank you.
I thank you for this expression of gratitude.
May I take it the conference wishes to adopt the draft resolution entitled Expression of Gratitude to the government and people of Mongolia, contained in document ICCD slash cop 17 slash L three.
I hear no objection.
It is so decided.
Thank you.
I will duly convey this gratitude to my president and to my team, all other those who worked on the conference.
The conference has thus concluded its consideration of item nine.
Distinguished delegates, the conference will meet again this afternoon at the time to be announced to consider the remaining draft proposals.
The next meeting of the committee on Science and Technology will take place immediately after the adjournment of this meeting.
I hence kindly ask you to remain seated while the podium setup will be rearranged accordingly.
The meeting is adjourned.