Highlights and images for 17 August 2026

Pastoralists are essential in efforts to combat rangeland degradation and implement the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). These land stewards were front and center as the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) opened in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. 

Want to dig deeper into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.

In the morning, pastoralists from 100 countries representing over 500,000 people – whose day-to-day activities prevent soil erosion, enhance carbon storage, and maintain biodiversity – paraded to meet with UNCCD Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad, where they handed over a Global Pastoralist Declaration highlighting their priorities.

During the opening ceremony, Mongolia’s Prime Minister Nyam-Osoryn Uchral urged participants to transform the meeting into a platform for solutions and turn commitments into tangible results/actions. UNCCD Executive Secretary Fouad urged Parties to make COP 17 about repairing ecosystems and restoring livelihoods, resilience, and hope in the multilateral system.

The COP elected the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, Batmunkh Battsetseg, as COP 17 President. In their opening statements, regions stressed: the importance of enabling greater financial flows for strengthening efforts to address desertification, land degradation, and drought; the importance of science for informed decision-making; and the interlinkages between sustainable land management and building community resilience.

Tensions rose when it was time to adopt the agenda. The Russian Federation opposed an agenda item on the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Future Strategic Framework on the grounds that their experts were blocked from participating in its meetings. The US objected to three agenda items: synergies with other conventions and international organizations; gender; and civil society. In order to move forward, COP 17 President Battsetseg proposed – without objection – to provisionally adopt the agenda and defer adoption of the four agenda items, which require further consultations.

In the afternoon, the Committee of the Whole (COW) and the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) met to begin discussions.

In the COW, the Secretariat introduced the programme and budget for the biennium 2027-2028, including three budget scenarios, which ranged from zero nominal growth to a nearly 30% increase to include three additional Secretariat positions. In ensuing discussions, Parties expressed a broad range of preferences. The agenda item was sent to the budget contact group. Next, delegates discussed drought, where views still differed on whether Parties should commit to negotiating a legally-binding protocol or a framework.

During the first meeting of the CRIC, Executive Secretary Fouad emphasized that Parties are facing a decisive moment for implementation of the 2018-2030 Strategic Framework, and challenged Parties to use the session as an opportunity to reflect, accelerate action, and overcome bottlenecks. Parties then proceeded to:

• adopt the agenda and organization of work;
• review the report of the CRIC on its 23rd session;
• assess the performance of Convention institutions and subsidiary bodies; and
• discuss the programme and budget for the biennium 2027-2028.

In the evening, the COW contact groups on budget and all other matters convened for their first meetings.