Action Agenda Closing and Way Forward - Reception - Action Dome, UNCCD COP17

Good evening everyone. Our closing session will start very shortly. Can I please kindly invite you to take your seat so we can get started. Thank you. Your Excellencies, Ministers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening and welcome to the closing session of the COP17 Thematic Days. Over the course of this week, the Action Dome, this unique, beautiful space in a ger, a traditional Mongolian yurt, has hosted many conversations on finance, on drought resilience, water, land and people, rangelands, food systems and soil health. Different themes, different sectors, different communities, but one message shared by everyone. Land connects us all. Land also underpins everything, food security, water resilience, biodiversity, livelihoods. climate stability and economic prosperity. And that is precisely why the UNCCD Action Agenda matters. launched and institutionalized at COP16 in Riyadh, it was designed to create a space where governments, business, finance, science, indigenous peoples, civil society, youth and communities could move beyond negotiation and demonstrate what implementation actually looks like. COP17 has given us an opportunity to test that promise. So this evening, we want to do three different things. Take stock of what emerged from the thematic days, ask which ideas and partnerships can travel into other multilateral spaces, and look ahead to how the action agenda can evolve from a successful initiative into a durable mechanism for implementation across future COPs, because we are looking ahead tonight. And I'm also tempted to add, we also want to celebrate, of course, after such a busy, productive and really intense week. And to open our session tonight, it's my pleasure to welcome Mrs. Andrea Meza Amarillo, who's Deputy Executive Secretary of the UNCCD. Welcome, Andrea.

Thank you. Good afternoon, good evening, excellencies, friends of the different stakeholders and all protocol observed. Well, this is the closing session of the action agenda of different thematic days. And I must say that I really want to congratulate all of you and all of us because it has been a tremendous success. What we have seen in terms of the networking, on the partnerships, on the initiatives, on the different mobilization of resources, the recognition in awards, it's amazing and it has been so inspiring. Yesterday here with the UN Decade, there was a recognition of the flagships to three different regions and countries that are amazing things in restoration. And these are the kind of things that we want to do. It is possible to live and to have this restoration economy in place. There are wonderful examples happening around the world. But more than that, I will really like to reflect on the leadership of Mongolia and how Mongolia has been really showcasing that. These green economy, all these transitions, these energy transition, these digitalization can happen within the planetary boundaries that we can really come together and talk about these ecological transition at the same time. So what we are seeing is that all these efforts can only happen when all of societies engage the indigenous peoples, the local communities, the business sector, the mayors, the subnational governments, parliamentarians. And we have had all of these different stakeholders here engage, connect and working, doing, talking about their solutions, their innovations. So Today, on Soil Health Day and Food Systems Day as well, we have been discussing on ways in which we can make healthy land and healthy soil an investable asset. And the stories are amazing. The conditions, where are the regulatory frameworks, those policy frameworks and incentives that needs to be in place. In any case, I know that we're all tired and we don't want to be hearing that much speeches and it's more to really thank Mongolia, the different teams. the business council, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Finance. I think it's just the whole government of Mongolia, the president, the prime minister, even in their speeches, their vision is huge. And Mongolia is right now the epicenter of hope, of hope, that this restoration, that this transition is possible. And thank to all of you, in some cases, you have come from really the other part of the world, and you're here in Mongolia, visiting this beautiful country, understanding better their culture and connecting. and work in this collaboration, in this cooperation, we can really achieve what seems impossible. So thank you all.

Many thanks, Andrea. And that brings us very naturally to our host country, our wonderful host country and COP17 presidency. The action agenda has deliberately crossed institutional and sectoral boundaries this week, so it's fitting that we shall now hear from four ministers and members of the government representing different parts of it, finance, environment, justice and agriculture. Together, they illustrate exactly why the land agenda cannot be delivered by one ministry alone. So ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming His Excellency Mr. Amarsaikhan Sandbuu, Minister of Justice and Internal Affairs of Mongolia. Please come and join us. His Excellency, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry of Mongolia. Mr. Javkhlan Togsgambaltar, who is advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of foreign investment and procurement, welcome. And Ms. Javkhan Aryunbatar, Director General of Policy Partnership and Resource Mobilization, COP17 National Committee, thank you. So Minister Sanbuu-Yaagiin, can I please ask you to deliver your statement to the lectern, please?

Good evening, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, friends and partners. As we bring the official thematic days for UNCCD COP17 to a close, To a close, it is my great pleasure to share a brief reflection on the day of land and the people centered day, which I had an honor of facilitating. Our discussions over the past few days clearly delivered one message, which is that land is not only an environmental issue, But it is fundamentally about people. It's about human rights and livelihoods. It's about economic opportunities, include good governance, social stability. Ultimately, it's about peace. That's how and where we come together. As the impacts of land degradation, especially drought and water scarcity intensify, our discussions today emphasized that people must remain at the center of how we protect, manage and restore our land around the world. In particular, we heard a strong voice of indigenous people and a strong call to recognize the rights, knowledge, and participation of pastoralists, local and indigenous communities, women and young people as an integral part of decision making. For Mongolia, these issues are especially relevant. Our nomadic pastoral traditions, sustainable range land management, the mobility of herders, land use governance and local development are deeply interconnected. The experience and solutions shared during the past few days among us are therefore important not only for Mongolia, but also all the participants, including all countries around the globe, also for many countries facing similar challenge we face today. Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to highlight a few conclusions from these days high-level and multilateral stakeholder discussions. First of all, we must strengthen people's centered and equitable land governance. Those who live on the land depend on it. and have protected it for generations must have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting its use and restoration. Secure land and tenure rights, transparency and inclusive governance are essential foundations for long-term land stewardship and successful restorations that we hope for. Secure And secondly, we must place the knowledge and leadership of pastoralists, as you just mentioned, and I'm happy for that, and also local and indigenous communities at the heart of our policies. That's what they want. These communities are not only and simply beneficiaries of any government's policies. They are knowledge holders, they are our friends and partners, including solution partners, providers and custodians of natural resources. And we all know that combining traditional knowledge and mobility practice with the modern science, data and technology can provide powerful solutions for sustainable rangeland land management. Third, we must turn the participation of women, youth and young people into real opportunity. Women, including women pastoralists, play an essential role in managing land households and local economies. Their knowledge and leadership must be fully recognized. At the same time, young people must be connected to restoration, participation, innovation, new technologies, employment, finance, entrepreneurship. They should not only inherit the challenge of land degradation, they must be empowered to shape the solutions that we have been discussing today. Fourth, land restoration must be connected to livelihoods, social stability. Land degradation, drought, water scarcity, Climate related disasters can undermine livelihoods, increase displacement and intensify competition over the natural resource that also becoming our biggest, one of our biggest challenge. For this reason, restoring land, ensuring fair and cooperative management of natural resource are not only an environmental actions, their long-term investments, energy resilience and stability. We must move from commitments to implementation, investment, action. That's what people are expecting. Today's discussions clearly demonstrated the need to integrate land, land management, restoration more closely with the national development strategies. climate action and biodiversity goals. Governments cannot achieve this alone, as we all know. So we need strong partnership involving the private sector, development partners, international organizations, civil society and the local communities. And we must bring together finance, all the financial tools available around the Science and traditional knowledge technology to deliver measurable results on the ground is the most important issue. Another important conclusion emerged today is we cannot address climate change, biodiversity loss and the degradation in isolation in different places and countries. The objectives of the Rio Convention that we all know must be implemented in a more coherent and mutually reinforcing manner. We need greater alignment, not only in policy, but also in planning, financing, implementation and execution. As a country with centuries of nomadic pastoral traditions, Mongolia understands deeply the well-being of people and the health of the land are inseparable. At the same time, the experience shared here in Ulaanbaatar from countries, local and indigenous communities, women, young people, researchers, international communities and the private sector remind us that we all have much to learn from one another. The very title of today's program, Land and People Center Day, captures the sense of our discussions. There can be no lasting human well-being or sustainable development without healthy land and healthy environment. And healthy land cannot be sustained without rights, knowledge, participation, responsibility of people. Our shared task now is to turn dialogue, ideas and partnerships developed here in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia into a policy investment and real action on the ground. Restoring land is not only about restoring nature, it's about restoring opportunity, restoring our trust, and also restoring hope for our future generations. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to UNCCD Secretariat, all organizers and partner institutions, and every participants who contributed their knowledge, experience, and ideas throughout the day. So let's carry this shared ambition forward and work together to build land governance that is more people centered, equitable, inclusive and sustainable and more and more. So lastly, let me just say a couple of words about Mongolia, although you have been so busy and hectic days during the last days, I'm sure that you have experienced a couple of three things about Mongolia. One, wide blue and open sky. Two, very friendly people. Thirdly, a weather that changes much faster than the minds of politicians. Thank you. Enjoy your evening.

Many thanks, Your Excellency. Thank you very much. Next, we are going to hear the Minister of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry of Mongolia, His Excellency Edembat Saganhu. Thank you.

Dear ladies and gentlemen, dear delegates and guests. So, the COP, we are concluding the sessions of the COP17. So, we have touched on the very important topic of the food systems and healthy soil. So, and this is a privilege to share this with you. So we have talked about land restoration, adaptation, ranchland management, finance, related finance, and we have discussed on different thematic issues and we have comprehensively covered all the relevant topics. And the, we have 17 measures and we have combined the key key connecting part, we agreed that key connecting element is the land and soil. So, and land management. So, we have today discussed by today's exercise that we cannot restore the land without ensuring the health, healthy soil. We have we have a prediction that the food demand was, we face a challenge of increasing demand for and so therefore we cannot undermine the importance of food security and so that that largely directly impacts, this is the fundamental topic relating prescribing the food security and the wellbeing and livelihood of population. So in other, we have a challenge to ensure food security through by ensuring, and we have One advancement is the REACH decision and based on the COP16 agreements we have reflected the we have described the real actual measures to reflect the objectives in the national policy priorities. And we have launched the guidelines on that, and we have launched the World Land Outlook Report 2026. And we launched also successfully the tools used and piloted by resilient Mongolia. So this is creating new avenue and new opportunity. And the second, we have defined the healthy soil as the fundamental for the, as the key measure, key pathway to direct the objectives of the So therefore, investment on the house or healthy soil would be there. Is opportunity to invest bankable land projects. And so this creates opportunity not only to create innovative financing instruments, but also And we highlight that the importance of aligning the science, technology, innovation would be the national priorities and policy. And our discussions about the innovative financing highlights the importance of monitoring and measurement of the outcomes that we are creating. So the The pastoralists and farmers have been put in the center of the epicenter of the decisions. The livelihood of the farmers and ranchers and the the traditional knowledge and indigenous knowledge has been highlighted as important elements. The landscape restoration, we have discussed and considered real practical solutions. And and directly linked the, we have looked at the potential opportunities and cross-generational knowledge transfer. We have discussed about the role of the youth and the different stakeholders and the importance of participation of women and youth and their, the knowledge and methodology and participation in the decision making would create, would be the foundation for long term achievement and success of our agenda. So the policy objectives and agriculture and finance and policy government institutions, financial institutions, international communities and herders and all stakeholders have gathered together to address the common challenges and also seek for integration of efforts. And taking this opportunity, I would like to and thank all the stakeholders who participated and took part in successful organization and hosting of this. And I would like to thank the partners and UNCD, the secretariat, UNDP and COP secretariat and the civil society and all the stakeholders who contributed to successful hosting and implementation of this COP17. I would like to thank also all the participants, speakers and presenters. So our objectives and the result will be measured by the actual implementation and how these ambitions will be put in place through the real practice. In order to, we need to strengthen the participatory and the multilateral decision making. We need to expand innovation and technology should be our next target. Eventually the soil and land, the herders and farmers who are stewarding the land and the women and local communities need to be supported by including the participation in the decision making implementation and also access to finances. The soil is not only foundation of the food security, but also long term sustainable development. One message we want to deliver is that we have clear agenda. Let's make the investment real, reality and reach outcomes. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Your Excellency. And I would like to invite Mr. Ganbaatar to share his statement with us. Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone. I'm honored to address this prestigious stage with you. I'm representing Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia, Dorjchan Togmold, and he sends greetings to you. So I would like to give a summary of the finance day, which happened on August 24th. First of all, the Mongolia hosting COP17, Mongolia, the certification is aggressively happening in Mongolia. I'm really proud that we are all together achieved this important conference on this certification, fighting it. And the conclusion is this, that finance day on 24 August was one of the main high level thematic components, bringing together governments, finance ministers, environment ministers and multilateral development banks, international financial institutions and development partners. In terms of scale, official program included two high level proceedings, opening of the COP17 higher level segment and the ministerial dialogue on innovative financial mechanisms for healthy land and drought resilience. So this were accompanied by 18 action agenda items during the day. In parallel, 30 accredited COP17 side events took place across the venue. The importance of finance day, however, was not simply of number of meetings. Its main achievement was that land degradation and drought, range land restoration were discussed much more directly as economic, financial, and investment issues rather than only environmental challenges. One of the central messages of ministerial dialogue was scale of the financing challenge. Around 355 billion US dollar is required annually for globally on land restoration and drought resilience, but only 77 billion US dollar is currently mobilized each year. There is a gap of 278 billion US dollars. So discussion therefore focused not only finding the strategic public funding, but also how resources can be used more strategically to mobilize private capital. This included blended finance guarantees, insurance and risk sharing mechanisms, green and sustainability linked finance, stronger preparation, and development of more credible banking investments. Finance Day also represented a number of significant financial financing initiatives, about 1.3 billion US dollars in new and pipeline financing covering 23 countries across five continents by associated with initiatives represented during day. It's important to be precise about this figure. all of the $1.3 billion representing finance that already been approved or dispersed. It includes confirmed resources as well as projects and financing pipelines are still moving through preparation and approval processes. Nevertheless, it demonstrates the discussion increasingly moving from commitments toward concrete financing opportunities. For Mongolia, one of the most important outcome was One of the day was the international attention given to range lands. Range lands flagship initiative land by Mongolia together with UNCC was launched as one of the major legacy initiatives associated with COP17. The initiative has brought together an investment portfolio of about 1.2 billion US dollars across 45 projects. is particularly significant for Mongolia because range lands are closely connected to our economy, livelihoods, they support pastoral production, have their households, livestock, food security, biodiversity and water resources. So I would like to give congratulations all the people organized COP17, UNCCCT, and the Ministry of Environment Mongolian Government. So let's give round of applause everybody. Yeah. So yeah, 1.3 billion US dollar is a commitment and pledge, but it's now time to work on this and materialize this into actual projects. and bankable projects that will actually solve these issues. And really sincerely believe that every one of us in each of our countries fighting this crucial challenge and therefore financing is key. It's a very critical for successful fight against desertification. So another practical achievement was Mongolia's effort to present concrete investment opportunities. Through the program on pitching bankable solutions for Mongolia's range lands and National Green Lab Initiative, Mongolia showcased 15 investment ready green project selected from 135 applications. This reflects an important change in approach. Mongolia is not only representing the scale of its environmental financing needs, It's increasingly presenting structured projects with defined financing requirements and measurable and environmental outcomes that international investors and financial institutions can assess. Building such pipeline will be essential if Mongolia is to attract greater share of international climate and nature sustainable finance resources. Finance Day is also strengthened Mongolia's engagement with multilateral development banks, international financial institutions. Finally, overall main success of the Finance Day wasn't simply meeting meetings I mentioned earlier and significance is that two high level proceedings, 18 action agenda events and 30 official side events. As mentioned, we standing in the gap of 270 billion US dollars and we are going to close that gap. We showcased about 1.3 billion US dollars and also new pipeline project launched by ADB led field initiative targeting at least 2 billion US dollars by 2035. Advanced Ranchland Flagship Initiative with about $1.2 billion across 45 projects and allowed Mongole to present 15 investing green projects selected those applications. So finally, let me just Congratulate all the organizers, all the countries participate in COP 17 on behalf of Mongolia's government and really appreciate all the. hard work and discussions and partnership we flourished here. I hope you enjoyed Mongolia. I hope you enjoyed the people. I hope you enjoyed the beautiful blue sky of Mongolia and you have great memories that you created here at COP17 and you're taking that with you back to your country. The same message, financing is essential, but we're going to commit to everybody together to this challenge. Thank you very much for your attention.

Thank you very much, Mr. Ganbaatar. We did enjoy the blue sky of Mongolia indeed, and your amazing hospitality. Next, we will hear Miss Ariunbaatar, please. Thank you.

Good evening, everyone. So the Water Day was led by the Deputy Prime Minister's Office. Deputy Prime Minister Namtba Bayar, but the office sends their apologies for not being able to come here. So they asked me to read the closing remarks on their behalf. So excellencies, distinguished delegates, and ladies and gentlemen, drought is becoming more frequent, more severe, and more destructive. It threatens water and food supplies, damages ecosystems, destroys livelihood, and increases inequality and instability. The message from the water day at COP17 is clear. Drought is not a temporary emergency. It is a global economic, environmental and security risk. And that is why the government of Mongolia launched two global initiatives on water land nexus initiative and nature based solutions for sustainable infrastructure initiative as part of the step action agenda and water day brought together voices from across the world. Beyond the ministerial dialogue, 15 high level events, 34 side events were held in the blue zone and also 32 side events in the green zone. All of these side events were the truly whole of society approach based. And all of these events expanded participation and created space for technical policy, community level discussions on drought resilience, water security, land restoration, finance, governance, and locally led solutions. And from all of these discussions, several priorities emerged. First, we must move from reaction to anticipation. Droughts and floods are not unexpected events. They are recurring risks. We must manage them through national plans, early warning systems, prearranged funding and finance that is really released when agreed risk thresholds are reached. Second, water is the connector. Land degradation and desertification are also water management challenges. Healthy land holds water. Healthy ecosystems protect communities. Wetlands, peatlands, rangelands, and watersheds support water security and resilience. Moreover, deep groundwater that cannot be naturally renewed must be strictly protected. Once it is lost, it may be lost forever. Third, finance remains the greatest constraint. Countries need strong bankable project pipelines. They need more concessional and blended capital, country-led investment plans, and simpler access to funding. Drought resilience must be recognized as an investable asset. It protects food systems, economies, communities, and peace. We already know that well-designed investment can mobilize resources at scale. For example, the Jeff seven dry land sustainable landscape program used 104 million US dollars to leverage more than $800 million across 11 countries. And this shows what is possible when public finance partnership and clear national priorities come together. Fourth, nature-based solutions must move beyond small standalone projects. Restoring wetlands, peatlands, range lands and watersheds can reduce drought risk and strengthen water security. But these solutions must be supported by evidence. Their value and cost effectiveness must be demonstrated in the field. They must then be built into infrastructure planning, regulations and local laws, not treated as temporary pilot projects. Fifth, local communities must be recognized as implementers. Women, Young people, indigenous people, farmers, pastoralists, and local communities are not simply beneficiaries. They are leaders, knowledge holders, and entrepreneurs. Yet funding often fails to reach them. We must address the barriers created by short-term project funding, collateral requirements, and insecure land tenure. Resilience will remain an idea unless resources reach the people who deliver it on the ground. And finally, strong governance and cooperation are essential. Drought does not respect national borders. Shared rivers, aquifers, ecosystems, and sand and dust storms require shared solutions. Discussions during the Water Day highlighted the need for stronger restoration of laws, protection of river banks, riparian zones, science-based cooperation of a transboundary water, and regional action on shared basins. They also considered the possibility of possible legally binding global drought protocol. Whatever form the final outcome takes, it must strengthen accountability while providing countries with finance, technology, capacity needed to act. So the choice before us is simple. We can continue paying the rising cost of disaster or we can invest in prevention. We can wait until wells run dry, harvests fail, and families lose their livelihoods, or we can act now. Let us move from reaction to anticipation. Let us protect water by restoring land. Let us finance resilience before disaster strikes, and let us ensure that solutions reach every country and every community. Thank you.

Many thanks, Ms. Marion Vatin, and many thanks to all our speakers, to the ministers, and to both of you too for coming to share some important remarks with us here on this closing session. Many thanks. Thank you. And we are going to quickly move on to a very quick, I'm tempted to say it because we're running out of time, panel session where we'll discuss the key takeaways from the Action Agenda thematic days here. So I'd like to call to the stage Bayan Jargal Byamba Bayambay Saihan, who is Vice Chair of the Business Council of Mongolia, Monica Medina, who is Idra, senior policy advisor, Hindou Omarou Ibrahim, president of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad, as well as Esther Benounia, secretary general of the Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development. Please come and join us here on stage. And can I please ask someone to maybe get rid of the lectern here so we can see the full panel. Thank you. So I'm going to be very, very brief and maybe not ask you to overthink this too much. I'd like to know what your key takeaways from the conversations we've had here this week in this beautiful dome are tonight and what we should really highlight or take away with us from all this thematic discussions. Would you like to start, Biamb?

Thank you, Charlotte, and excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. A few things. Number one, the Business Council of Mongolia together with UNCCD, we launched the Mongolia Hub, right, and Business for Land. So Business for Land is an initiative that was started in Riyadh, and I think the legacy is now very much alive, right? And we have the responsibility now to take it to the next level. And I'm actually amazed with the leadership that the businesses are bringing to the floor. And we had a number of events, as mentioned before. I would like to highlight the mining forum. I think for the first time, we are bringing mining into the UNCCD platform. And we had leadership from many different companies, Mongolian and international, attending the mining forum, and they expressed commitment beyond the business as usual. And that's exactly something that we really wanted to have. And when we opened the Business for Land, the launch, Dr. Osama mentioned something very nice, which says, Business for Land is not about business as usual. It's about business unusual. right? And I think that's a very important aspect that the companies are taking home. And today we had an event where many companies came to show their examples, right? The leadership I was talking about. Already there's a lot that is being done in terms of business practices, investments to make the land better into land restoration people are. Very simply, you have, for example, a mining company that operates here, but also restoring land. Completely different place, 1000 kilometers away. So I think that that's a good leadership as well. So so I would like to end by saying. Partnerships are important, finance is important, we all know that, but I think businesses are bringing leadership to the UNCCD platform, and that's what Business for Land is, and I'm very happy to be part of it.

Thank you very much, Biamba. And if I may, we met in Davos in January when we launched the Business for Land Forum. I never imagined I would be here today with you and that COP17, because at the time we were also accompanied, of course, by the COP16 and COP17 presidency. I didn't think this would be as fantastic as it has been here this week. So The journey has been absolutely incredible. So thank you very much for that and for pursuing the momentum we started back in January this year. Next, I'd like to talk to Monica Medina and hear your takeaways and your impressions from the thematic days.

There we go. Now I've got it. Thank you so much. And again, I think Water Day was striking not only because what happened on Water Day, but what happened the day after Water Day. There was a terrible flood and it was something that not far from here and many people have lost their lives and many people are still unaccounted for. And I think that was an exclamation point on the power, the sheer power of water. And it really brought home to me the importance of all the work we did on Water Day, the day before. I would say a couple of things. First, over and over again, we heard the importance of water. Water is life. Without water, we have no life. No living thing on this planet can live without water. And that theme came through over and over again, whether it was about finance and water or governance and water or sharing and equity and water. It came through over and over that water is crucial to this conversation and wonderful that a day is dedicated to water and I just want to also highlight that the UN has been working on water all year it started the year with a really groundbreaking to use a bad pun uh report on water bankruptcy that made it clear what we're up against when it comes to water we have this incredible set of events and deliverables on water here and that will flow into I'll use a better water metaphor to the UN Water Day, Water Conference later this year, which is a continuation of one they held three years ago. So I think given its power and its importance, water is finally center stage. And that was definitely clear from both the work here and the action agenda that had been building for the last two years. So whether it was the public private partnerships that we see emerging in an organization like IDRA that work with quite a bit at CCD or the power of technology and you can see it right in the back of this room with edro that allows us to visualize water in ways that we never could before to new ideas about how to manage water whether it's uh learning from indigenous communities and local communities or whether it's learning how to manage what's called green water which is water that's still in the ground uh we have much that we can learn And that we have to learn because it's clear to us and it came up over and over again during the day that we need to share water more than ever. And that's why governance and conferences like this matter more than ever. We have to. be clear what we're up against, which is this powerful force of water and the need for it. And when I think about the end of the day on Tuesday, we were struck by how many, how much action is being galvanized now around water and around the importance of water and again coming back to restoring land, restoring hope, I think it was clear that water is sort of the essence of hope when it comes to restoration and resilience.

Many thanks, Monica. Water Day indeed was a fantastic day. So was B4L, B4L Forum of course. Another wonderful day was the Land and Peoples Day, Hindu. We had much Much fun on the opening session. So what are your key takeaways after that day in particular that you contributed to so much and all the other thematic days?

I can start by saying what a journey started from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, COP16 action agenda. And here we are listening from the ministers giving the outcome of all the days and all the action that we have. I think that's give me a lot of hope in this COP where the negotiation going aside and we need this kind of hope. And of course, the hope is start by the people day. It's have been really people centered as you hear it from the Minister of Justice. So we started the journey by the pastoralist in Rangala high level event. And that is ministerial and of course, follow up by the local communities first time high level event in this dome. and they have a declaration of the local communities and followed by my group the indigenous peoples I live even here and thank you Charlotte and thank you to all UNCCD peoples that help us to prepare it and we are all coming from the seven socio-cultural regions we adopted our declaration from sacred land in cop16 to shipping the future in the cop17 and the declaration is there online please read it you will really enjoyed. And of course, we had the youth even. The youth come up with the declaration. And one thing that I noted from it, they say, the adults are not trusting us. And what I realized, maybe the others do not trust them, but the intelligence and the knowledge that you show it and the innovation and the declaration that they have, that was tremendous. And of course, we had gender cookies that ended in the main committee with a lot of peoples, including the government, that took the floor and explore how gender is important on implementing of these conventions. And I stayed, by the way, until Just to discussing about different site even and how the outcome have been really, really good. So people there is people centered. And people, they remind us we cannot achieve the implementation and the result of this convention without peoples in the center. And it's remind us people are acting. Maybe we are few here representing this community in this COP, but those who are home that we are representing, they are not sleeping. Despite the flood that you said, they are looking for the drop of water somewhere that their children can drink or the food to restore the land forever. So we can remember about the People's Day as the action day, the real slogan of the COP, COP of people and COP of hope. This is the People's Day here at the COP17. Thank you.

Thank you, Indu. Thank you very much. Esther, now we'd like to hear from you, your key takeaways. We had a wonderful conversation this afternoon here.

Yes, you know, this is also our first time in participating full-time the whole two weeks in COP. And so we are really amazed by all the discussions and the networking that happened here. So this COP is about restoring land and restoring hope. So I would like to share my key takeaways in terms of what hopes did we get out of the four days of thematic days. First, we are amazed with a vibrant movement of CSOs, indigenous peoples, local communities composed of small scale farmers in fields, fisheries, forests, mountains, fishers, herders, pastoralists, women and youth. And we all have the commitment, the passion and the energies to be in solidarity and to work together to make solutions to address desertification, land degradation and drought. So during these four thematic days, we were bombarded with many side events co-organized in a multi-stakeholder manner with government, CSOs, pastoralist groups, farmers groups, indigenous peoples and local communities. And we explored opportunities for partnership or ideation or even just for networking during these times. And this gives us hope. Second, in this events, we highlighted our roles as guardians, stewards, custodians, managers of our lands, waters, forests, mountains, and pastures. And we have highlighted that we are rights holders, knowledge makers, innovators, and leaders driving resilience and sustainable development. So give us spaces, give us meaningful participation in policy making and implementation, and we can be your very effective partners. And the diverse solutions that the people make on the ground is around sustainable agroecological approaches in land, mountain, pasture, and water management. around land restoration and increasing drought resilience. And this gives us also so much hope because these agroecological practices have been tested on the ground, have been appreciated by the people. We are not short of solutions as the DLDD issues are facing us squarely. and actions are needed urgently, we do not start from scratch. We can address the urgency by scaling out and further innovate these practices with us in the CSOs. And lastly, the third that gives us hope is the initiatives that we have launched during the finance, water and food systems day in the billions of dollars. But what will give us more hope? as because as our understanding in this COP17, as reported by the Water Day Reporter, is that finance must reach the people on the ground. Our CSO statements have continuously urged parties to provide significant, timely, direct access to finance for land restoration and drought resilience. If there is no finance, there will be no action, there will be no hope. So we hope to work with you on all of this to make this finance for land restoration with smallholders, with IPs, with women and youth in a very effective and timely way. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Esther. Am I allowed to share my key takeaway from all this after moderating so many conversations here? Well, the first one, of course, like I mentioned before, is the superbly generous hospitality we received from our Mongolian hosts. I think everyone, yes, please, all the visitors I spoke to are full of gratitude at the way you welcomed us with open arms and how well organized everything has been here so far. And the second one, it's the passion. the passion of the speakers I have interviewed here on stage, the commitment and the hard work of all the stakeholders trying to change things for the best, who work for government, who work for NGOs, who work for civil society, who represent farmers and larger organizations. And of course, everyone at UNCTD has worked so hard to organize all this. Trust me, they have been incredibly dedicated. And I am very, very impressed. So many thanks to all of you speakers, wonderful panellists for sharing your key takeaways of the thematic days. Thank you. So next, another quick conversation because we need to wrap up, of course. And this time we are not going to discuss what happened here this week, but what happens next. The next panel discussion is titled The Future of the UNCCD Action Agenda Building Continuity Across COPs. And I am delighted to welcome Gonzalo Munoz, former UNFCCC COP25 Climate Champion, to moderate this next session and introduce our next speakers. Thank you and welcome.

Thank you so much, a lot. Thank you for your fantastic moderation of the previous panel and setting the conversation for what's next. But before going into specifically the panel, I want to refer to us also closing this day. Closing the Food System and Soil Health Day with the future vision makes so much sense. Food systems are definitely ones that are helping determining the way to move forward with the synergies. food systems are absolutely integrated in the synergetic way to understand the Rio conventions. In that sense, we know that the action agendas are very much well set for that role. We've seen not only here in this stage, the role of the four days action agenda presented by the previous four panelists. But absolutely, we have seen also how food systems are demonstrating the implementation and coherence through climate action and land and soil, the real action agenda and the climate change action agenda working together in that coherent way. So with that, I want to invite the steam panelists to join me on stage, starting by her excellency Fatma Varank, Deputy Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change of Turkey, COP31. and presidency. Her Excellency, please join me on stage. Thank you so much. Also, I'd like to invite His Excellency, Aden Nazare Santiago de Moraes, National Secretary for Traditional Peoples and Communities and Sustainable Rural Development of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change of Brazil. Your Excellency. And finally, Mr. Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, the General Manager for Biodiversity at MEWA. Please join me on stage. I think that Professor Ahmed Adelati Ahmed is not in the room yet. No, okay, perfect. Thank you. Thank you for joining. Thank you for the possibility of setting the, I would say, the root towards Yerevan and towards Antalya. We have listened from the present presidency of COP16, COP17, sorry, and the action agenda. members of the importance of the work that has been built until now. But I would like now to really understand how everything that we have heard here connects to climate change and the action agenda and negotiations. So for that, Your Excellency, Varank, I would like you to tell us how the COP31 presidency is building on previous COP outcomes, including the Bellem mission to 1.5 degrees, and is using continuity between presidencies as a to sustain implementation beyond a single conference cycle. What are the lessons from this climate COP expertise experience that you could have that could help the UNCCD establish a stronger mechanism for preserving priority priorities, partnerships and implementation momentum across successive cops?

Thank you very much. First of all, I would like to express my great, my gratitude to Mongolian government and Ulaanbaatar local governors. for hosting us here and I would like to congratulate the secretariat of UNCCD. Of course, yesterday in Nepal, in People's Republic of China, we have witnessed a very malicious climate disaster. I would like to express my condolences for the ones who lost their lives and when it comes, I hope that these climate disasters will not happen again. So today we are here in October, we'll be in Yerevan and we'll have biodiversity COP there and the next COP in November will happen in Antalya as climate COP. So these three COPs consecutively are happening. It is the COP trio year and as Turkey We prioritized Rio synergy and in our thematic agenda and thematic days, we have inserted this as a topic and the very first meeting happened here yesterday and we had very high level of participation. It was a very good meeting and this will continue with biodiversity cop and the results, the outcomes will be crowned and finalized in climate cop. Hopefully why I have given this as an example. So for the continuity of our COPs and for the continuity of the decisions by different COPs, this is very important, especially regarding BLM 1.5 mission. I would like to answer this question of yours. As you know, COP31, we are organizing this together with Australia and we're hosting and we are presiding the COP31, but negotiations are presided by Australia and pre-COP. will happen in one of the Pacific Islands. So it's like it will have very high participation, high level of participation, and two countries in two corners of the world are presiding this COP. So for the continuity of the COPs, for the participatory natures of the COPs, this is very important. And we will witness this in Antalya this year. As Turkey, we will be taking over the presidency from Brazil and in Brazil during COP they made very important decisions and for the continuity of these decisions, especially the decision about BNM 1.5. So we, Brazil, Turkey and Azerbaijan, so we all work together for these decisions. So past, present presidency and future presidency, we all work together indeed to further our decisions. This gives us a very strong participation. This is very important. So as three presidencies, we have sustained this process and we will be finalizing this in COP31. And for the continuity of COPs, the most important factor is besides institutional participation, besides continuity of the presidencies, the continuity of the stakeholders. As you know, Yes, COP has a presidency and negotiations part and also they are being supported by NGOs, academia, women, youth and some other stakeholders. And these stakeholders ensure the sustainability of COPs. And we need to maintain the continuity of these stakeholders. So this is our responsibility as the presidency. So here I do see a very crowded participation, intense participations from all sectors, from private sector, from financial sector, from agriculture sector, farmers. or herders, shepherds, yes, there is a very intense participation here and we have every color in this COP. So I am, I do find Mongolian COP very successful from this perspective. Hopefully these CSOs, NGOs and participation from all sectors will also continue in Antalya and I would like to see you in Antalya in November in COP climate COP2. And to measure a success, you need to follow the targets you put forward, especially in COP31. We have expressed that we will have an implementation COP. This journey started like this. And we do have three targets dialogue, consensus and action. So these are the main pillars of our COP. And this is how we will also hopefully finalize our COP. Rather than the participation of the stakeholders, the decisions should be made with consensus, having consensus in negotiations and having and supporting actions with our agenda. These are very important. In our agenda, we have put some targets for 2035 from zero waste to electrification, energy efficiency in buildings, green industry, circular economy. So we have four main topics in our agenda up until 2035, and these will be supported by negotiations and following these targets, these objectives for the momentum of climate action, I think it is very important. And in COP31, in implementation COP, We will be following up these targets for the future and for the upcoming presidencies. We will put forward a model where they will also be included in these monitoring mechanisms. We would like to continue this monitoring process. Co-presidencies can be very important for a year or for two years for two-year COPs, but the next presidency, for them to further the decisions made in the previous COP, they have to also accept the decisions made in the previous one and they have to further the decisions for the future. So we have taken over from Brazil and now we will be furthering towards Ethiopia. If the other ones can do so, I think we will accelerate this momentum altogether. I would like to thank each and every one of you once again for your attention.

the previous presidencies and ensuring continuity by increasing that momentum is absolutely fundamental and something to be celebrated. So in that same sense, Secretary Nazareth and Charles, I would like to ask you as well how Brazil as having been a president that took really well the past examples and everything that was coming from the previous presidencies and projected fantastic examples through the action agenda in Berlin and through many aspects of the results of the process and the negotiations. I would like to ask you, what are those lessons that you can share with this community in the UNCCD coming out of the climate COP?

Thank you very much, Gonzalo. I would like to greet the authorities here present, the presidency of the copies, the members of the NCCD and all the people who participate in this dialogue. For Brazil, this is an essential discussion. We reinforce here the experience first that we would like to leave is the strength of multilateralism. It is not measured only by the decisions that we adopt. But also for our ability to transform them into results.

Hello.

I'd like to begin by giving my greetings to everybody here today and speak about the importance of multilateralism and say that it is essential to protect the multilateral process.

Duradores e percebidos também nos territórios. And it is within.

That context that we understand the importance of protecting the territories and the importance of the actions of the UNCCD.

The principal mission of the Climate Experience is that continuity needs to be sustained by an architecture that goes beyond the period of a COP.

It is important to note that what makes this sustainable is that we require an architecture that lasts beyond this call.

Horizontes plurisanuais permitem organizar objetivos, acompanhar resultados e manter cada conferência que pode representar um momento também de avaliação, de renovação e de ampliação do esforço coletivo.

We need to have opportunities to renew, to evaluate and to promote the continuity of the multilateral process. We need more effort than just the pluriannual meetings.

We're not always reinitializing or starting from scratch.

It is also important to have coordination amongst the presidencies.

A mission de Belém para 1.5 demonstra como essa cooperação pode preservar memória institucional, prioridades e compromissos, respeitando as contribuições e circunstância de cada presidência.

The Belém 1.5 process shows that it is important to maintain these procedures, to maintain the continuity from one year to the next, and it shows that it is possible to have this type of coordination.

Another learning is the need to keep active between the COPs the coalitions responsible for implementation.

It is also important to maintain the activity of the coalitions between each COP process to maintain the spirit alive.

Civil society, indigenous peoples, local communities, financial institutions, science, private sector need to continue dialoguing.

Civil society, indigenous populations, local communities, governments, subnational governments, financial institutions and the private sector need to continue their dialogue.

We need to respect the mandate and the characteristics of each convention. This cooperation can also strengthen the synergies between the Rio Conventions. Climate, biodiversity and land have distinct mandates that must be preserved.

It is important to promote the synergies amongst the Rio Conventions. Climate, biodiversity and desertification have their own mandates, but they also need to work together.

But their implementation often.

Converges in the same territories and affects the same populations.

The Declaration of Bethlehem offers an important political basis for transforming these synergies into coordinated actions.

The the the lane declaration offers us an opportunity to promote synergies and to and to maintain coordinated action.

Liderada por pais orientadas tambem por resultados concreto no territorio ou nos territorios.

It is led by countries, but it also requires concrete actions in the territories and it requires the participation of the people who live there. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Secretary. It was clear in terms of the importance that Brazil is giving to the continuity of this agenda and the legacy, and in that sense, that's It's a perfect segue to ask to Mr. Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, the General Manager of Biodiversity at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. You also have been here presencing how the real action agenda and the legacy of the COP16 presidency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been so much prominent in what we have seen here. So I would like to ask you, what are the concrete steps between now and COP18 that would move the action agenda from initiative to institution within the UNCCD?

Thank you.

Thank you very much. First of all, I'd like to mention that the photo that we presented for myself is the wrong photo. It's not mine. So please, I'll give advice. Don't trust AI anymore. So, Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah, masa al-khair. Good afternoon to you all. I'm very pleased, of course, to answer the question on behalf on our Excellency, Dr. Osama Fakihah. I'm delighted to be with you today representing the UNCCD COP16 presidency. I would like also to congratulate the Mongolian COP16 presidency on the excellent organization of COP17 and the warm hospitality we have received here in Ulaanbaatar. Where the journey started. Our journey toward the Riyadh Action Agenda, RAA, started well before COP16. We began early engagement with partners and importantly with non-state actors across the different themes of the action agenda. At COP17, at COP16 in Riyadh, we hosted the first UNCCD action agenda. creating a space alongside the intergovernmental process to turn ambition into concrete action. It brought together businesses, local governments, indigenous people and local communities, NGOs, universities, financial institutions and many other actors. Together, they demonstrated that tackling land degradation and drought requires action from the whole of society. What happened after COP16? The journey did not end in Riyadh. The RAA continued to catalyze partnerships, connect actors and accelerate delivery. We have worked to build a strong community around land restoration and drought resilience. Here at COP17, we have taken another important step forward with three major developments. Number one, land breakthroughs, bringing different coalition and initiatives together around shared targets and concrete actions. The objective is simple, move from fragmented initiatives toward collective delivery at scale. Number two, Riyadh Action Agenda Community Platform, a common space to connect actors, share knowledge, showcase action and accelerate implementation. It provides a home for the community that has grown around the RAA. Number three, RAA Path Forward, We announced the continued collaboration of the RAA with the UNCCD G20 Global Land Initiative. At the same time, we are delighted to collaborate with the COP17 presidency and support initiatives under the STIP Action Agenda. This creates continuity from Riyadh to Ulaanbaatar and beyond, making the action agenda durable, Each cup should not start again from zero. One presidency builds on the work of the previous presidency. Initiatives continue beyond individual cups. Non-state actors remain engaged between cups. And the UNCCD process gains a strong implementation space that complements the negotiated process with voluntary action and delivery. Finally, We invite all of you to continue this journey with us because a durable action agenda is ultimately about one thing, turning commitments into action on the ground through the collective power of all actors. And this what we started under the umbrella of the Riyadh Action Agenda. How can comes, and this is, sorry, and this what we started under the umbrella of the Riyadh Action Agenda. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Mr. Ramgandi. That is the type of message that I believe the whole of the society, in particular, those that have been putting all of their energy, soul, passion, time into this process, what we're wanting to listen to, right? I mean, I think that when we talk about hope, those words, including of course the reference of the work that both incoming and presidencies on climate change are providing gives the hope not only for the community of non-state actors, everyone working in the action agendas, but definitely should be something that in the plenary, in the negotiations is received as a support for the progress of the negotiations. So please, Join me to give a round of applause to our panelists. And thanking that, I will now give the floor back to my distinguished co-moderator, Charlotte.

Many thanks indeed, and many thanks to all our speakers and panelists. And of course, Gonzalo, many thanks to you for your fantastic moderation. Before we part, I invite you all to join the reception to celebrate in the Mongolian ger next to this one, the action dome. I'd like to invite for closing remarks His Excellency Sandin Sandag Ochi Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia. Thank you. Thank you, Your Excellency.

Dear delegates, dear ministers, dear ladies and gentlemen, good evening to all of you. The COP17 UNCCD is about to be closed in two days. The conference has been held at quite high level, very successfully. So the government of Mongolia has tried its best to success, to make this organization and hosting successfully. And we hope that this is somehow, as the president, I would like to express my hope that it has been it has been realized, our hope has been realized. Now, we are expecting for the real outcomes and results and we understand that the negotiations are not going smoothly. So today we are not discussing the constraints and challenges of one country. We are addressing the challenges of the world, the many countries. which is critical, the land, the challenges related to the land, water, and climate. So I hope that the parties will be patient and understand that this is not the interest of a certain specific country, but this is the interest of the humanity and the globe. And we need to think about the interest of the whole humanity. So UNDP is the COP17 of the United Nations CCD, the finance, we had finance business for finance day and land and land and people day and water day and food systems day has been successfully organized and we are about to conclude. So the thematic days under the four thematic days we have 333 competitions were held. The conferences were held and side events were held. So including 80 high level ministerial level sessions and 140 side events at the blue zone and 112 events at the green zone. The host country, the whole and the Mongolian pavilion was visited, hosted 28 additional events and through the participation of 12 line ministries. See, these side events have been attended by the financial institutions, partners, international community, and representatives of the indigenous communities and have shared the partnership opportunities and real life practices, shared the real life experiences and practices. So this highlights not only highlights the fact that COP17 has become platform not only for the sessions, but also platform for future partnership and negotiations. So, and we can make to the conclusion that, and it was recognized that land is not only a broad and land degradation is not only the Land is not only an environmental element, but also a valuable asset and capital in terms of development, food sustainability and sustainable development. The land restoration needs to be turned into bankable and economically feasible investment opportunity. So the preparedness and the resilience needs to be ensured. We have proven that these are critically important. On the day of the land and people, we have listened to their voices and we have recognized that the indigenous people, women, local communities and youth are the real stewards and the stewards of land. the water security, sustainable livelihood cannot be ensured without land and the help of soil. We have created new opportunities for blended financing. We have pioneered some unprecedented solutions. The action agendas have been translated into this and reinforced by implementation agenda. And so I would like to thank you, Lee. the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Minister of Environment and Minister of Agriculture and Secretariat and public institutions. We would like to extend our great sincere gratitude. And also we would like to extend our gratitude to the UNCCD Secretariat, academia, private sector, civil society organizations, youth representatives and volunteers. organizing committee and please accept our gratitude and appreciation. Dear comrades, dear ladies and gentlemen, we have set the agenda solution, we have put forward, we have the solutions to to protect the lands, restore the land. We need political will and scientific based solutions and commitment and participation and sustainable financing mechanisms to introduce and expand the solutions in place. Therefore, the Mongolian government commits to move from commitments to actions and challenges to outputs, outcomes. The Riyadh Action Agenda needs to be translated into cooperative, the roadmap of cooperation and implementation. Restoring land is ensuring water security, food security, peace and protection of the future. So if we are successful in restoring the soil, this means that we are able to protect our future and overcome the challenges. Thank you for your attention. Thank you very much.

Welcome here. Thank you. And that brings us to the end of this closing session to celebrate our thematic days and go through the key takeaways of the numerous and very enriching conversations we've had here. Many thanks to your excellencies, ministers, all the speakers who joined us here on stage. Like I mentioned earlier, many thanks to all the organizers of this fantastic Well, Dome, Action Dome and all the conversations that happened here. Many thanks to you in the audience for your attention, of course. Enjoy the rest of the evening. Like I mentioned, we have a reception happening next door, so please come and join us to celebrate. Before we part, can I please invite all the speakers and all the people who joined us here on stage to join me for a last group picture. Thank you very much and enjoy the rest of your evening, everyone. Thank you. So can I invite all the speakers, stakeholders, organizers, hosts, everyone contributed to creating those amazing thematic days here in the Action Dome at COP17 Ulaanbaatar.