Brazil to join COP17 debates on desertification in Mongolia
Starting next Monday (Aug. 17), representatives from 196 countries and the European Union will gather in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, to seek solutions to an environmental crisis that threatens biodiversity, food security, and water sustainability across the entire planet.
The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) is the main decision-making body of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), where issues related to land degradation, desertification, and drought are discussed. This year’s theme is “Restoring the Land. Restoring Hope.”
Through August 28, heads of state, ministers, members of the scientific community, civil society organizations, and private-sector representatives will participate in the debates. Two women are playing prominent leadership roles: Egypt’s Yasmine Fouad, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, and Mongolia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Battsetseg Batmunkh, the designated president of COP17.
Brazil will be represented by various leaders from the public and private sectors specializing in the conference’s topics. The Brazil Pavilion, located in the main conference area (Blue Zone), will host debates, showcase technologies, and highlight public policies, as well as projects by NGOs and research institutions.
In Brazil, desertification affects arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions, particularly the Caatinga biome, which spans all states in the Northeast and part of the state of Minas Gerais. The latest data indicate that 18 percent of the country’s territory is prone to desertification and that approximately 39 million people are affected by the problem.
Desertification is a type of land degradation that occurs in dry regions, where annual rainfall is lower than evaporation. As this process occurs, soil and ecosystems progressively lose their productive, biological, and economic capacity. The phenomenon is caused primarily by human activities, such as deforestation and inappropriate agricultural practices, as well as climate variability.
Caatinga, the main Brazilian biome threatened by desertification. Credit: ASA/Disclosure
Why Mongolia?
COP17 is taking place during the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026), a United Nations (UN) initiative to raise awareness of these ecosystems and their communities, which play a strategic role in food security and environmental conservation. The theme will be a key focus of the conference’s discussions.
To mark the transition between the previous conference and the current one, a caravan of scientists, researchers, and UNCCD representatives is traveling along the historic route between Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (host city of COP16), and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (host city of COP17). The expedition began in May and will culminate with the start of the event.
Grassland landscape in Mongolia, host country of COP17 on Desertification. Credit: UNCCD/Disclosure
The initiative seeks to symbolically revive the ancient nomadic routes that, since the 2nd century B.C., have been used by pastoralist peoples crossing the Eurasian steppes in search of water and forage for their herds. Historically, these routes were not only trade routes but also corridors of cultural exchange.
Along the route, the journey has highlighted various countries’ efforts to sustainably manage and restore degraded lands, while serving as a platform to advocate for greater political support and financial investment.
The choice of Mongolia as the host country for COP17 reflects the fact that the country is an epicenter of the global impacts of desertification, land degradation, and drought.
Global overview
According to UNCCD reports, land degradation directly affects the well-being and livelihoods of 1.5 billion people worldwide. Nearly 40 percent of the planet’s land is already degraded, putting at risk the natural resources that underpin nearly half of global gross domestic product (GDP).
UNCCD Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad told Agência Brasil that the conference is taking place at a time when drought is more than ever at the forefront of the global agenda.
“The challenge is no longer to recognize drought as a global risk, but rather to act early enough to prevent its impacts from cascading across communities, economies, and borders,” Fouad explains.
Yasmine Fouad, President of the UNCCD, and António Guterres, UN Secretary-General. Credit: UNCCD/Disclosure
History of the UNCCD
The UNCCD is part of the so-called “Rio Trio,” a set of three conventions established during the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio-92). The other two are the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The main events of the three conventions - the Conferences of the Parties (COPs) - are held at different frequencies. The COP on desertification and the COP on biodiversity have been held every two years since 2001. Both are now in their 17th sessions. The next COP on biodiversity will take place in October this year in Yerevan, Armenia.
Climate conferences have been held annually since 1995. The most recent, COP30, took place in November 2025 in Belém, Brazil. The next one is scheduled for November 2026 in Antalya, Türkiye.
Brazil previously hosted a conference on desertification in 1999 in the city of Recife: COP3. During preparatory meetings for this year’s event, environmental organizations and political leaders advocated for Brazil to bid to host COP18 in 2028 in the Northeast region.
