High-level Opening Ceremony - UNCCD COP17

Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, the opening ceremony will commence very soon. Please take your seats.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now ready to commence the opening ceremony of the high-level segment of the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Please take your seats.

Music.

Distinguished guests, delegates, ladies and gentlemen, the opening ceremony of the high-level segment will commence shortly. Please take your seats.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome His Excellency Khurzukhokhna, President of Mongolia.

Music. Music.

The sun is the source of life, a giver of warmth, and a vital force that sustains all living beings and the universe. Our long-standing reverence for the rising sun as a symbol of new beginnings and prosperity reflects the nomadic wisdom of living in harmony with nature.

Again. And the sun is on us. Music.

The sun awakens life. Water, however, sustains life. Where there is water, there is life. Where there is life, there is hope.

Foreign foreign Music. Oh. Music. Oh. Thank you. in Choragisten Choragisten Choragisten Choragisten Choragisten Choragisten choragisten choragisten choragisten choragisten choragisten Choragisten choragisten choragisten choragisten Choragisten Choragisten Choragisten Choragisten When I'm Give it, give it, give it, give it, give it.

Give it, Give it, give it, give it, give it, give it, GIVE IT.

That's Irkhun Hundut ****** Tosuig Yurughiitugchuu Irkhimsig Noitadugtenara.

Your Excellency, President of Mongolia, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished delegates of the parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Dear guests, for thousands of years, the Mongolian people have lived in nomads guided by not not by the desire to take more than nature, but by the wisdom of living in harmony with it, nurturing, respecting and honoring the natural world. Today, this enduring wisdom goes to global call to restore our mother.

This convention to combat desertification. Dear guests, For thousands of years, the Mongolian people have lived as nomads, guided not by the desire to take more from nature, but by the wisdom of living in harmony with it, nurturing, respecting and honoring the natural world. Today, this enduring wisdom joins the global call to restore our Mother Earth. This traditional knowledge offers a renewed perspective in addressing one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Through Mongolia's rich nomadic heritage and its traditional philosophy of living in harmony with nature, expressed through UNESCO inscribed elements of intangible cultural heritage of humanity, including the morin khuur, horsehead fiddle, tsuur flute, long song, khoomi, through singing, folk dance, and traditional practices of praising and honoring nature, we have presented an opening performance that reflects and reinforces the shared global vision and collective commitment to combating land degradation and desertification. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, may I direct your attention to the screen. Thank you.

The soil that sustains our lives is changing across the world. Land degradation, desertification, and the growing risk of drought are expanding across many regions, placing increasing pressure on nature and human livelihoods. UN assessments indicate that up to 40% of the world's land is already degraded, a clear warning that urgent action is needed. Protecting and restoring land, while reducing the risks posed by drought, requires countries to work together. It is within this context that the seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, COP17, is being convened. Here, countries will work to identify collective solutions to reduce land degradation, combat desertification, and strengthen resilience to drought. But why Mongolia? Around 81% of Mongolia's territory is affected, to varying degrees, by desertification and land degradation. In Mongolia, land health is not simply an environmental issue. It is intrinsically linked to water, pastureland, livestock, food security, and the livelihoods of our people. Yet Mongolia is not only experiencing these challenges. It is taking action at the national level to address them. Initiated by the President of Mongolia, a series of national movements are being implemented to advance an integrated approach to the environment, food systems, livestock, and people's livelihoods. The "Billion Trees" national movement is mobilizing nationwide action to expand forests and afforestation, combat desertification, and reduce land degradation across Mongolia. The "White Gold" national movement aims to increase the processing and value addition of livestock-based raw materials and strengthen Mongolia's export capacity. Meanwhile, the "Food Revolution" national movement focuses on strengthening food production, domestic supply, food processing, and food security. Billion Trees White Gold Food Revolution Three movements, one goal, a more resilient and sustainable future. Viewing the environment, people, and the economy not as separate elements, but as interconnected systems, is fundamental to sustainable development. COP17 provides an opportunity to connect these national initiatives and experiences with science, technology, financing, and international partnerships. Mongolia's experience can serve as a starting point for new ideas, new partnerships, and new solutions across the world's drylands. Restoring land, restoring hope.

Thank you so much. Representatives of governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, youth, indigenous peoples, pastoralists and farmers from the 197 parties around the world, distinguished delegates gathered at COP17, the global platform for finding solutions together. We are now ready to officially commence the high-level segment of the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties today, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. It is now my great honor to invite His Excellency Mr. Khurshuu Khovnaa, President of Mongolia, to deliver his opening remarks.

Distinguished heads of delegation, Ms. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ms. Yasmin Fouad, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, distinguished guests and delegates, ladies and gentlemen, On behalf of the people of Mongolia, I extend my warmest greetings to all distinguished guests and delegates gathered in our beautiful country, the birthplace of the great Chinggis Khan, the sacred cradle of ancient history and nomadic statehood, and the land of the eternal blue sky. We believe that Mongolia's hosting of the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in our homeland is not only a great honor for our country, but also a historic opportunity to fulfill our shared commitments and responsibilities together with the international community for the future of our Mother Earth. The theme of COP17, restoring land, restoring hope, carries profound meaning. It calls upon humanity as transient guests in this world to restore the nature passed down to us by our ancestors to its pristine state, to nurture future generations who will cherish and protect our mother earth, and to rekindle hope and confidence in the future. Uyghur ******* from ancient times have believed that harmony between the natural environment and the living world depends on the purity of the human spirit and conscious action. We have a longstanding tradition of instilling in our children from an early age a way of life that respects harmony with nature and seeks to preserve it in its pristine state. Therefore, every nation should place particular emphasis on passing on to children from an early age its traditional knowledge, wisdom and practices for respecting and protecting nature, instilling in their hearts and minds a deep sense of responsibility and nurturing them to become global citizens who actively contribute to safeguarding our planet. Restoring nature to its full vitality and creating the conditions in which future generations can live healthy, secure, and fulfilling lives should be humanity's solemn duty. This is because healthy land and soils are a guarantee of humanity's very existence and provide the foundation for our food and water resources, livelihoods, and sustainable development. Healthy soil means healthy food, and healthy food means healthy people. Hence, desertification, land degradation, and drought must not be regarded merely as environmental challenges. Rather, they must be addressed comprehensively in connection with food supply and food security, water resources, human livelihoods, sustainable development, and global peace and security. Let us unite in our efforts to restore our mother nature, rekindle hope through a common purpose, and build a better future together through shared responsibility. Distinguished delegates, Distinguished guests, dear friends, international organizations warn that more than 40% of the world's total land is now degraded, adversely affecting the livelihoods, food supply and water resources of over 3 billion people worldwide. The situation also poses a risk of losses of up to 23 trillion US dollars to the global economy by 2050. In particular, people living in arid and semi-arid regions and landlocked developing countries, as well as pastoralists, farmers, women, young people and children are bearing the brunt of the adverse impacts of desertification and land degradation. As a landlocked country situated in an arid and semi-arid region, Mongolia is also experiencing the adverse impacts of climate change, desertification, and land degradation in the daily lives of its people. The majority of Mongolia's vast territory, spanning 1.56 million square kilometers, is affected by land degradation and desertification. These challenges have direct implications not only for the environment but also for the economy, food supply and food security, people's livelihoods, and the sustainable of our nomadic cultural heritage. Mongolia is also home to one of the world's largest remaining temperate grassland and steppe ecosystems, which has been preserved for generations. The nomadic way of life that we ******* have inherited and passed down through generations over thousands of years embodies the comprehensive tradition of knowledge, wisdom, and practices rooting in living in harmony with nature and preserving it in its pristine state. In this regard, on the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the establishment of the great ****** Empire. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2005 recognizing the contribution of Mongolians to the history of humankind and emphasizing ever-increasing significance and relevance of a culture of living in harmony with nature, which is inherent in nomadic civilization in today's world. Today we ******* seek to share this cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and experience of living in harmony with nature with the rest of the world and to help strengthen climate adaptation and resilience. The development of space technology, drones, remote sensing, artificial intelligence, big data and digital technologies is opening up vast opportunities to assess and prevent land degradation, desertification and drought risks, establish early warning systems and monitor the outcomes of land restoration in real time. Therefore, we believe that combining Mongolia's traditional knowledge and practices for nature protection and conservation with modern science, technology, and innovation can make a meaningful contribution to advancing sustainable land management, maintaining ecosystem balance, and developing people-centered solutions for sustainable development. Distinguished delegates and guests, As a country directly experiencing the impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought, Mongolia has continued to make meaningful contributions to global efforts to protect and restore our natural environment. Within this framework, Mongolia is successfully implementing several national movements and initiatives, including the Billion Trees, Food Revolution, White Gold, Blue Gold and Healthy Mongolian aimed at restoring degraded land, expanding forest resources, protecting soils, water and pastureland, strengthening food supply and food security and promoting sustainable rural development. Mongolia's Billion Trees National Movement goes far beyond planting and growing trees. It is a comprehensive nationwide movement aimed at combating desertification and land degradation, scaling up land restoration, increasing forest resources, conserving soil fertility, water resources and biodiversity, mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change, strengthening food security and creating employment opportunities. Furthermore, at Mongolia's initiative, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. This provides an important opportunity to draw global attention to the value of rangeland ecosystems, the livelihoods of pastoralists, food systems, biodiversity, and the cultural heritage of nomads. In this context, Mongolia, a country with an ancient and deeply rooted tradition of nomadic pastoralism, took the initiative to convene the Global Pastoralists Gathering and Conference, which was successfully held just a few days ago. The conference brought together around 400 pastoralists from 57 countries, providing a platform to exchange views, discuss common challenges, and explore possible solutions. As a result, it adopted the Ulaanbaatar Declaration. I am pleased to note that the Ulaanbaatar Declaration adopted at the conference has been submitted to the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Mongolia will actively cooperate with all stakeholders and partners to translate the declarations, decisions and initiatives adopted at the Global Pastoralists Gathering and Conference into concrete action. Moreover, as we know, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his message on this year's World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, emphasized that 50% of the world's rangelands, which cover half of the Earth's land surface and sustain the livelihoods of over two billion people are now degraded or at risk. He called for greater attention to healthy soils, water security, biodiversity, food systems and cultural heritage and urged protection and restoration of rangelands. As the COP17 presidency, Mongolia's step action agenda is built upon three interconnected flagship initiatives, the Rangelands Flagship Initiative, the Integrated Water and Land Management Initiative, and the Nature-based Solutions for Sustainable Infrastructure Initiative. Together, these initiatives seek to reduce desertification and land degradation, protect rangeland ecosystems, strengthen the integrated management of land and water resources, advance nature-based development solutions, and elevate international cooperation for sustainable development to a new level. Furthermore, I want to emphasize that sustainable land management is inseparably linked to water security, sanitation and hygiene services. Mangueya therefore highly values and fully supports the heads of state initiatives for water and sanitation implemented by UNICEF and the sanitation and water for all global partnership. Mongolia will actively support efforts to advance dialogue and cooperation within the framework of this important initiative. Distinguished delegates and guests, the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification taking place here in Ulaanbaatar is particularly significant as it is the first of the conferences of the parties to the three Rio Conventions to be convened in 2026. It is therefore essential that land, biodiversity and climate change to be addressed not as separate issues, but through integrated policies, an integrated set of actions, and an integrated investment. Mongolia remains firmly committed to supporting global collective solutions grounded in multilateral cooperation, the United Nations system, international law, mutual trust and respect, equitable participation, and shared responsibility. Accordingly, Mongolia is committed to ensuring that this conference serves not as an arena for geopolitical confrontation or disputes among parties with differing positions, but rather as an important platform for multilateral cooperation to advance the objectives of the convention and its implementation. As the COP presidency, we will listen to all voices, respect differing perspectives, and support negotiations that are consensus-based, open, transparent, and inclusive. it is imperative that our efforts go beyond merely reducing desertification and land degradation to restore integrated land while further strengthening comprehensive drought risk management systems that encompasses prevention, preparedness, early warning, and effective response. We also underscored the importance of addressing land use, climate change, biodiversity, and food systems in an interconnected manner rather than in isolation, while ensuring the implementation of policies grounded in science, traditional knowledge, and local experience. To address the challenges faced in developing countries and those in arid and drought-prone regions, we need to mobilize collective global efforts and establish an equitable system to ensure that finance, technology, and capacity building reach the countries, regions, and people that need the most. Therefore, I call upon international financial institutions, development partners, and the private sector to expand grant aid, concessional finance, and green investment more broadly towards land restoration, drought resilience, and sustainable livelihoods. Furthermore, ensuring the meaningful participation of pastoralists, farmers, local communities, women, young people, children, civil society, scientists and researchers, and the private sector at all stages of policymaking, implementation and monitoring is fundamental to achieving solutions that are equitable, effective, transparent and sustainable. In this context, Mongolia is working to strengthen public participation and youth engagement through initiatives such as Mongolia's National Forum on Youth Engagement in Combating Desertification, while seeking to engage the private sector in cooperation on sustainable land management investment and innovation in alignment with the UNCCD Business for Land Initiative. We all know that desertification, land degradation, and drought recognize neither walls nor borders. Sand and dust storms, water scarcity, food crisis and ecological degradation are not the challenges of any single country. They are shared challenges and hardships facing entire regions and the world as a whole. Hence, our response to these shared challenges must be equally collective, coordinated, long-term, sustainable and mutually reinforcing. Climate change, desertification, land degradation, and biodiversity loss are sounding the alarm for humanity and sending an unmistakable warning signal for the very survival of our Mother Earth. If we do not choose here and now a decisive course of action to protect our planet, then Mother Earth will ultimately choose her own path, a path that continues without us. Therefore, this conference must be a historic and important milestone that marks a decisive shift from declarations to action, from commitments to implementation, and from promises to tangible results. I am confident that at the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, we will go beyond discussing challenges and difficulties and work together to identify solutions and deliver concrete decisions and tangible outcomes for a peaceful and green future. I want to express my sincere appreciation to the United Nations and all participating stakeholders for their valuable assistance, support, and cooperation in making the successful hosting of this conference in Mongolia possible. May the eternal blue sky bless humankind forever. May Mother Earth remain at peace. May our living ecosystems continue to flourish in abundance so that they may be preserved and passed down to generations to come. I warmly welcome you to our beautiful country, the sacred cradle of ancient history and nomadic statehood, the birthplace of the great Chinggis Khan and the land of the eternal blue sky. I wish you every success in the work of the conference. Thank you very much.

The national anthem of Mongolia. Thank you, Mr. President. Ladies and gentlemen, now I would like to invite Ms. Amina Mohamed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations to deliver her remarks.

His Excellency Khurel Sukhbaatar, the President of Mongolia, Her Excellency, my sister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia and the COP17 President, Her Excellency Tarja Halonen, the former President of Finland, His Excellency Moon Jae-in, former President of the Republic of Korea, and His Excellency Carlos Alvarado Quesada, the former President of Costa Rica, my sister, the Executive Secretary of UNCCD, Dr. Yasmin Fouad, Excellencies, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. Let me begin by bringing warm greetings of Secretary General Antonio Guterres and by thanking you, Mr. President, and the government and people of Mongolia for bringing COP17 to Ulaanbaatar and for the extraordinary warmth and generosity that you have shown all of us. The care that Mongolia has brought to hosting this COP can be felt everywhere. And your personal leadership, Mr. President, has made it clear how much the discussions in these very difficult global times mean to Mongolia and to the wider world, to multilateralism. And we are deeply grateful for that. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, here in Mongolia, the birthplace of Genghis Khan, communities across the world Land is life and land is livelihoods, especially for our nomads and indigenous peoples. In 2023 and 24, a summer drought followed by a severe zud led across led to the loss of more than 7 million livestock. Herds built over generations disappeared. For many families, the loss took away their assets, their income, and the means to recover before the next difficult season. What Mongolia endured is part of a crisis that is unfolding across the world. Since 2000, droughts have increased by frequency and duration by 29%. By 2050, three out of every four people could be affected. This room brings decades of lived experiences and expertise in responding. Many of you have developed national plans, tested solutions, and learned what works in your own countries. Now we need to turn that experience into delivery. by restoring land at scale, financing national action, and putting the people who live in and from the land in the lead. Let us start with the scale. Scale means moving beyond individual projects and putting national plans to work, ones that leave no one behind. Up to 40% of the world's land is degraded, weakening food production and livelihoods. Individual projects can prove what works, but they cannot restore land at the scale and with a sense of urgency that is needed. More than 70 countries have developed national drought plans with the support from UNCCD. Many of you have done that work. You know best what your countries need. The challenge now is to have the fiscal space so that those plans can go from resolutions to reality. Here in Mongolia, sustainable rangeland management protects pastoral livelihoods and the land. Across the Sahel, communities are restoring degraded land and making it productive again. The initiative of the AU Great Green Wall is one that demonstrates this. The settings differ, but the lesson is the same. Restoration strengthens resilience when it protects how people make a living and thrive. Scale also means connecting restored land to water and the wider economy. Producers need the infrastructure, skills and technology to reach markets, selling what they produce. And this includes through the new era of technology and e-commerce. All of this takes national programs, cooperation across borders and investments that stay in place long enough for restored land to recover. And that brings me to the next point. Scaling up depends on predictable and sustainable financing, the means of implementation. Countries need long-term investment that follows their national priorities and stays in place long enough for restored land to recover and to prosper. And public finance can help reduce the risk and bring in private investment for approaches that have already proven their value. We already have the tools to move this forward, the Riyadh Global Drought Resistance Partnership, and its investment facility can help countries turn drought plans into well-funded programs. Business for Land can bring companies into that effort. But those tools only make a difference if countries can reach them and can use them. You should not be asked to develop national plans and then be left to search for the means to deliver them. Finance has to be in place to invest in the priorities that countries have set for themselves. Finance gives countries not only the means to act, but to grow their economies. The people who live them the land must inform the decisions that shape its future. Pastoralists managing rainlands and farmers rebuilding depleted soil bring the knowledge of generations they understand what their land can sustain in a way that no one else can. As you decide how restoration will be financed, bring those people into the decisions from the beginning, co-creating with them. Give them secure rights and the genuine say over how investment will be deployed. Putting people, women and men, in the lead also means ownership and improving their outcomes. Restoration can create skilled work and new sources of income. Those jobs should be decent, allowing growth and prosperity, inclusion, social protection must be an integral part of that safety net. The Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions was built to deliver exactly that pairing. In Indonesia and Bhutan, they're already proving it can be done. COP17 can bring the same approach to land restoration, connecting investment in soil health with investment in people doing the work. But jobs and income are only part of the equation. There's a much more fundamental issue of power. We cannot ask people to restore land while denying them meaningful rights over that land. And nowhere is that contradiction clearer than for women. 86% of the countries that report their land tenure data to the United Nations show fewer women than men with secure rights over agricultural land. But when women are given rights over the land, they work, they restore it, and they keep restoring it. Mali has shown this. in its demonstrations. In Bandigara, a woman named Florence Banu is leading a women's cooperative that restores degraded land and expands local food production. When the municipality saw the results, it granted the cooperative four acres to expand its work. Four acres may look small against a global restoration target, but for those women, it has meant lands they could rely on and room to grow their livelihoods. Access to land is only the beginning. Women also need access to finance, to skills, to technology, and the markets so that they can build businesses and keep more of the value their work creates. Restoration should not leave women doing the work while others capture the economic benefits. It should give them greater stake in both the land and the prosperity that it creates. COP17 is an opportunity to give communities everywhere the same chance. Finally, let me say that on each of these three aspects, going to scale, providing sustainable and predictable finance with a people-centered approach, the United Nations will continue to do its part and to support member states in that endeavor. For us, the work begins in communities at the country level. The UN80 reforms are making our support more responsive and easier for governments to use. A single country team working with a single joined up strategy under the leadership of our resident coordinators. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, healthy land gives people something fundamental, the ability to build a future where they already belong and can strive. COP17 can put the future within reach by matching national ambition with finance and trusting the people who steward the land to lead. The land has sustained humanity throughout history. Let us leave Ulaanbaatar ready to sustain and to protect this land in return. I thank you.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Secretary General. Ladies and gentlemen, now I would like to invite Ms. Yasmin Fouda, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification to deliver her remarks.

Your Excellency, President Klaus Fuch, Your Excellencies, President Halonen, and President Moon, and President Alafredo. Your Excellency, Madam Batmunkh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and COP17 President, and Your Excellency Minister Tsenn, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and Madam Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed, and delegates, as well as representative of the indigenous people, local communities, youth and women, there is a teaching that passed down through generations here in Mongolia, saying, take care of the grass, and the grass will take care of the people. These are simple words, but they have profound truth. When the land thrives, people thrives. When the land suffers, societies suffer. Thank you, Mr. President. And thanks for the government and the people of Mongolia for bringing us here together. But thank you most for a wonderful launching of this high-level segment. You gave the message clearly. You presented the women. You presented your culture. But you most of all presented the children, which represent our future generation. For centuries, Mongolia's pastoralists, and they were here in the opening, have understood the truth that science and economists are now confirming that land is a natural infrastructure. It is the foundation of food, water, livelihood, resilience communities, and much more stability. It is a fitting that we started a caravan that traveled 7,000 kilometers from Riyadh, where we had COP16, to Mongolia, following the spirit of the ancient Silk Road. The Silk Road has taught us that there was a connection among civilization through trade, ideas, and knowledge. And today, we are here connected for a shared purpose, to restore land, build resilience, and invest in a more secure future. At the opening of this conference, I said that this is a COP17 would be the COP of implementation. We heard, Mr. President, and we heard the Deputy Secretary General, and a COP of implementation is not only about decision. The question here is, what must we implement? We must build drought resilience because simply drought threatens food, water, and livelihood. And inside that drought resilience, we should embed rangeland, sustainable agriculture, and healthy soil to be center of our work. We listened over the past week that rangeland cover more than half of the earth land surface. And in this International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralists, we have an opportunity to bring the attention, but to bring the investments that will be announced also here today in the opening session. And from Mongolia's grassland to the agricultural soil that feed our cities, there is no food and water security without the land security. Healthy land means resilience agriculture. The question here is whether we are ready to act and make this connection. We can deliver. We started in COP16 in Riyadh, thanks to the COP16's presidency, and here in Mongolia, just to list some of them, the Riyadh Global Drought Partnership, where 70 vulnerable countries are coming together to implement their drought management plan. More than 100 countries requesting the UNCCD for support. A pipeline of $2.2 billion that is there. Another 22 approved projects of $1.48 billion and 300 private sector just in two years started to engage in business for land. That's part of our performance that we presented in this call. And now this would require three components adding to what the Deputy Secretary General has mentioned. First, we need a country led pipeline of investment projects. We need public and concessional finance that reduces risk and unlocks private capital. And we need partnerships that connect finance to implementation on the ground. We have a lot. And we heard Mr. President when he's talking about the early warning system, the AI and the latest technology. We assure you here that we're connecting the dots. We're getting the global Riyadh drought partnership together with the drought resilient investment facility with the IDRA, which is an international drought resilience alliance. But we're getting this time an international drought resilient observatory to tell us the decisions that we're taking today is the most appropriate one for our future generation. The question now is whether we can afford to invest in healthy land. This is not the question. The question is whether we can afford not to invest in these lands. But implementation, when we're talking about, should go around the people, a human-centered convention. Indigenous people and local community has the experience, but has the traditional knowledge, and we need to listen to them. Pastoralists are not beneficiaries. They are the stewards of this land and the heroes, and they are the one who's investing in it. And much more, the women, the girls, and the young people should have an equal voice for their future can be part of these decisions. And this whole discussion cannot be separated from migration. Migration is also related to land degradation and drought because these are risk multiplier. And I mean here when people would move, are they moving from a choice or because they are forced because they lost their landscape, they lost their livelihood, and simply they lost their food and their shelter. Excellencies, the last I would like to end with, with the ambition of this cup, with all that Mongolia has given us with that venue, with a hundred ministers around this room in the high level event, with a very ambitious land action agenda around finance, water, people, and healthy soil, The ambition you're trusting in the UNCCD will be up to it, but that ambition has to also be met with the finance and the resources. If the parties want us to deliver with the same commitment, ambition, resources must follow that. Let this COP move from projects to investment and from vulnerability to preparedness and from restoring degraded land to building resilient societies. Before I close, I'd like to give a thank you. Thank you to the Deputy Secretary-General for being here with us today and for your leadership and for you and the Secretary-General putting land on that agenda. And thanks to Mongolia for bringing us to this beautiful country, but for also giving us a declaration of the pastoralists and the herders on the needs and their priorities. We put it on the website, but we promise you that this day will not pass without announcing that the money would go to the most that needs that, to the stewards of our land. Thanks to our partners and our member states for pushing with us, for standing behind us. But last but not least, thanks to the UNCCD staff and colleagues. You have worked tirelessly to make this success possible. I know how much the effort that has been done, which is not unseen, but I deeply appreciate it and all the ministers and delegates do appreciate that. The success of this conference rests also on our shoulders, all together. Let's build the architecture of implementation and give the ambition, the means to move. And let us ensure that our decision will not remain on paper, but take us to the land to be inside the roots, inside the communities, and in the future that we all want to protect. I thank you.

Thank you, Madam Executive Secretary. Ladies and gentlemen, now I would like to invite Mr. Carlos Alvarado Quesada, former president of the Republic of Costa Rica, to deliver his remarks.

Mr. President, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, protocol observed. Can humanity as we know it be separated from land? Physicist tells us that we are made from stardust. Ancient Maya traditions from Central America, my region, tells us that human beings were made from maize. And here in Mongolia, herders understanding of the relationship between people and nature tells us that humans, land, and the natural world are connected through umbilical cord. Different traditions, different languages separated by distance and time, yet they point toward the same idea. We are not separated from the world that sustains us. We are part of it. The land is within us. And yet often we approach our greatest problems as though both the problem and the solution existed entirely separated from ourselves. We're looking for a magical pill that will heal us. A new technology that will fix everything. New lands, even new planets that might replace those we have eroded, desertified, or exhausted. Perhaps part of the predicament begins precisely with this fragmentation, seeing humanity as separated from the land and ultimately humanity as separated from one another. In my view, this conceptual divide lies at the heart of our difficulty in responding to the crises affecting land, people, and our planet. Just as the solutions do not exist outside of ourselves, hope does not exist only outside of us either. Hope is an expression of human intentionality, of freedom, just like the nomad spirit of our capacity to look at reality and decide to act and that is why we're here to restore degraded land and halt desertification to produce food sustainably and nutritiously to work alongside farmers indigenous people local communities and women because yes without civil society this effort will not exist, to build livelihoods that can thrive with nature rather than at expense of it. We already possess many of the tools to make this possible. Today we can produce more sustainably food and expand access to nutritious diets. And we can redirect billions of dollars currently spent in harmful and inefficient subsidies and instead to help farmers, communities, and restoration. And yet those innovations coexist with practices and incentives that continue to degrade land, that damage ecosystems, and that undermine human well-being. The capacity to change that is ours. Today, millions of people are migrating within their countries or across borders in contexts where sea level rise, land degradation, drought, heat, conflict, and economic pressures are increasingly interacting. Science documents this transformation and communities bear witness of them. But communities also demonstrate that adaptation is possible. And I invite you all delegates to look at the principles of climate mobility, non-binding, to suggest your country for those those. Across the world, people are restoring ecosystems, people are protecting livelihoods, and people are adapting to the changing landscapes. Often innovation responses are emerging from those who are mostly directly affected. But governments, markets, and international financial institutions are not yet responding at the scale and the speed required. And let's be frank, those are among the privilege needs the most vulnerable, the ones that are leading the way to the response. We are called here to act. We live in a time of crisis that demands new ideas and new institutions. But that in itself says something profoundly hopeful. We possess the capacity to imagine different futures. human imagination, the capacity to create, to adapt, to reinvent, to cooperate, is one, if not the defining ability of our species. And we have sometimes used that capacity without sufficient restraint, transforming the planet faster that we understood the consequences. Now, We must use that same creative capacity, but with greater intention, with greater balance, with greater humility. We can use it to overcome the separation between people and land, and to overcome the separation between peoples. The nations, the cultures of our planet are wonderfully different, diverse and unique, but together, We inhabit only one planet. And we are not merely living in it, we're living within it. Ladies and gentlemen, friends, perhaps this is the moment to declare peace with land, and hopefully peace among ourselves. Let's COP17 here in beautiful Mongolia become a testament of that possibility, That restoring the land can also help restore our relationship with one another. That prosperity does not have to come at the expense of nature. That humanity can choose a future in which people, land, and planet thrive together. The solutions are not somewhere else. They are within us. They are among us here in Mongolia. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. President. Ladies and gentlemen, now I would like to invite Ms. Tarja Halonen, former President of the Republic of Finland, to deliver her remarks.

Music.

Your Excellency, President of Mongolia, Deputy Secretary General Amin Mohammed, Executive Secretary Farhan, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by expressing my sincere gratitude for Mongolia for hosting so excellently this important conference of the parties. Let me also express my appreciation to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, to its leadership for the important work carried out over the years. I would also like to pay a tribute to the former Executive Secretary, Mr. Ibrahim Chowk, for his commitment to raising land degradation and drought. higher on the international agenda. Having myself been involved in her land project, I recognize how important it is to raise awareness for women's and girls' vital role in sustainable land management. That said, I would also like to thank the Executive Secretary, Dr. Yasmeen Forward, for the excellent cooperation. I wish you all my heart the best in the future work of the UNCCD. So, dear friends, when I look at the journey we have traveled in the United Nations over these past decades, I often find myself returning to the year 2000. I remember the extraordinary sense of hope when world leaders came together at the beginning of the new millennium with a simple promise to build a world where no one would be left behind. The Millennium Development Goals gave that promise a concrete form, addressing poverty, hunger, health, education, and gender equality. 15 years later, agenda 2030 brought these together and universal vision of sustainable development with its economic, social, and environmental dimensions understood as one. I remember also how during those years, we began to understand that sustainability was not simply an environmental issue. It was a question of justice. It was about who has access to land, water, food, and livelihoods, and about whether future generations will inherit a planet capable of sustaining human life. That is why I feel a particular connection standing here today with you. When I look at the work of the UNCCD, I see this whole journey coming together. Land is where so many of our commitments meet. It is where poverty, food security, biodiversity, climate, water, and human dignity become one reality. 25 years ago, we spoke a new millennium and made a promise to leave no one behind. Today, I believe that promise must begin with the land beneath our feet. We meet today under a powerful theme, restoring land, restoring hope. I would like to take this team one step further. When we think about the foundation of life on our planet, we can speak of a kind of holy trinity-- air, water, and soil. We have become increasingly aware of the first two. International climate action has made us understand that risks associated with global warming. International cooperation on water has reminded us of the fundamental importance of fresh water and our oceans, which regulate our climate, sustain economic, sustain eco systems and provide food for billions of people. But there is a third element of this Trinity which deserves much greater attention, soil. thin layer of living matter beneath our feet is one of the humanity's most fundamental resources. It produces much of the food we consume. It stores carbon. It filters and retains water. It supports biodiversity. It is the foundation of our societies and our economics. And yet, soil is remarkably easy take for granted. We notice the air when the temperature rises, we notice water when there is too much or too little, but we rarely notice the soil until it is degraded, eroded, or exhausted. Perhaps this is one reason why land degradation has not yet received the same political visibility as climate change or global water agenda. And we need to change that. So it deserves a stronger place on the international political agenda. The recent years have provided us with painful reminders of how interconnected these elements are. Across the northern hemisphere, devastating wildfires in Europe and North America have shown us how climate change can amplify environmental risk. Fire destroys forests and biodiversity, but it also damages the soil, disrupts water cycles, and undermines the capacity of ecosystems to recover. So, dear friends, the message is clear. Climate, water, and land are parts of the same system. They cannot be treated as separate policy questions. And this is why the work of the UNCCD is so important. Land restoration is not simply about restoring landscapes. It is about restoring the foundations of human well-being. It is about food security. It's about water security. It is about biodiversity. It is about climate resilience, and it is about livelihoods. This brings me to another dimension I wish I believe deserves our particular attention. So women, women around the world play a crucial role as farmers, food producers and stewards of land. In many communities, women carry a large share of the responsibility for producing food and securing the well-being of their families. Yet, They often have a less access to land, finance, technology, agricultural services, and decision making. And this is not only an issue of equality, as it is important that is, it's also an issue of effectiveness. If we want to restore land and build resilient food systems, we must ensure that women have equal opportunities to make decisions own and manage land, access finance, and shape agricultural policies. Women should not be seen merely as a beneficiaries of our policies. They are essential agents of land restoration and food security. That is why it would be important to continue her land project. Excellencies, dear friends, The challenge before us is enormous, but so is the opportunity. We already possess much knowledge and many of the technologies needed to restore degraded land. What we need is political commitment, adequate financing and cooperation across borders and across sectors. We need to connect land restoration with economic and development policies. And above all, we need to recognize that the health of our soil is directly connected to the health of our societies. Finally, Let us give the soil the political attention it deserves. Let us invest in restoring degraded land before degradation becomes irreversible. Let us strengthen the resilience of farmers, pastoralists and rural communities. Let us ensure that women are fully empowered as farmers, food producers and decision makers. And let us recognize the inseparable connection between air, water and soil. Let this conference of the parties, let it be a moment when we give the third element of this trinity, soil, the attention it deserves. Let us restore the land, let us strengthen resilience, and by doing so, let us restore hope. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President. Ladies and gentlemen, now I would like to invite Mr. Moon Jae-in, former president of the Republic of Korea, to deliver his remarks.

Your Excellency Ukhnaa Horoozsuren, President of Mongolia. Your Excellency Yasmin Fouad, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD. Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland. Carlos Alvarado Quesada, former President of Costa Rica. Distinguished delegates from around the world and representatives of international organizations, businesses, civil society and academia, I welcome you all. It is my great pleasure to join all of you at the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. I extend my deepest gratitude to President Khurelsuren and the government of Mongolia for their invitation, and also to the people of Mongolia for their gracious hospitality. Land is the ground of our lives. It sustains food, water, and community. When land is degraded, food and livelihoods are shaken, and even human dignity and peace will come under threat. A crisis of land is a crisis of human survival. Today, as the climate crisis accelerates, humanity faces the grave challenge of land degradation and desertification. 40% of the world's land has already been severely damaged, and degradation is advancing beyond our control. And because of this, nearly half of humanity is suffering directly. driven to the brink of survival. Nature knows no borders, nor do the climate crisis and land degradation respect them. And therefore, our responsibility and our solidarity in answering them must also reach across borders. The international community has gathered its strength around the UNCCD. The Convention has devotedly led our common action to halt desertification across the globe and to bring degraded land back to life. This Ulaanbaatar Conference will be an important occasion to advance the solidarity and the practice of the international community one step further, and I would like to offer it my unstinting encouragement and support. Restoring our land is not just about reviving nature. It safeguards food and water, the very foundations of life, and restores the ground on which our communities stand. It is the most noble of all journeys, one that rekindles hope so that future generations may dream of a better tomorrow. The Republic of Korea as well once knew despair in the ruins of war with mountains stripped bare and land laid waste. But Korea did not give up. With the firm will of the government and the devoted participation of our people, we succeeded in raising green forests once again. Korea's own experience has proven a source of hope that no matter how deeply nature has been wounded, if we refuse to give up and join our efforts together, it can surely be brought back to life. Korea has shared its experience in forest restoration and worked hand in hand with the international community, and we will continue to strengthen that solidarity even further. Distinguished guests, during my presidency, I pursued overcoming the climate crisis and restoring land ecosystems as core tasks of my administration. We declared 2050 carbon neutrality and enacted the Carbon Neutrality Act. We also substantially raised our nationally determined contribution, and we strengthened our climate and environmental solidarity with the international community. Further, at the 14th UNCCD COP in 2019, I proposed the Peace Forest Initiative and saw it officially launched. The idea was that neighboring countries facing border disputes and conflict would take part together in restoring the forests and land ecosystems of their border regions, thereby cultivating peace alongside the land they restore. Today, that idea has taken its place as a flagship global program of the UNCCD and is being actively carried forward. The cooperation between Korea and Mongolia is the most exemplary and the most special fruit of all international cooperation for ecosystem restoration. Since 2007, through the Korea-Mongolia Green Belt Project, our two countries have joined hands. in order to prevent desertification, restore forests, and train specialists. Over these 20 years, what Korea and Mongolia have planted together is not trees alone. It is firm trust between our two peoples and hope for a greener future. Neither the sandstorms nor the yellow dust that blow across our borders could stop the friendship and solidarity of two countries determined to plant trees and bring the land back to life. We must not forget that restoring land is the most worthwhile investment we can make in the peace of humankind. When land is degraded and resources grow scarce, what fills the empty space is conflict and strife. cooperation to revive land and water together is precisely what builds trust between us and becomes the firm foundation for peace. Ecological restoration projects protects the community of life on this planet and is at the same time the most practical solution for making the peace of humankind sustainable. Distinguished guests, I look forward to this conference becoming a meaningful occasion for turning promises into action and goals into results. In the face of the towering wave of the climate crisis and desertification, no one can stand alone and no one can be an exception. Even at this very moment, land growing ever more barren is sending us an urgent signal. Across borders, the governments of every nation, international organizations, businesses and civil society must all respond with one heart. Especially local communities with long-held wisdom, women who have safeguarded the ground of daily life, and young people who will open the way to the future are the ones who will lead this change together. When they stand at the center of every stage from planning to action, the restoration of our land will become fairer and much more sustainable. Each decision we make today and each action we take will change the earth of tomorrow. Let us bring green life back to the parched earth. Let us cultivate a community of peace where people and nature breathe together. With our fervent solidarity and our unceasing practice, let us give future generation a land of life, of peace, and of hope. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President. Earlier this year, an epic journey took place with the aim of symbolically connecting Riyadh COP16 and Ulaanbaatar COP17. The UNCCD Silk Road Caravan traveled over 8,000 kilometers across seven Eurasian countries, arriving in Mongolia previously this month. Throughout its journey, the caravan collected stories and testimonies from dozens of pastoralists, indigenous, local and global leaders along the historic Silk Road and beyond. They were all asked one simple question: if the rangelands could speak, what would they say? Today, for the first time, we have a chance to hear some of these voices, with more to come in a documentary film at the end of this year. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I invite you to watch the video from the Silk Road Caravan.

Respect me so I can continue giving you what you deserve to have as a human being. She will release her voice by saying to humans to find peace in your hearts and love, and after that, you will take care of me instinctively. I think ranchland have voice, they will say that if you protect us, we will protect you.

Я бы все-таки сказал берегите нас, то есть нас землю, а вот чтобы ее беречь, сделайте так, чтобы она никогда не плакала, не получала никаких негативов от нас, от человека. Если все это будет, она нам всем скажет большое спасибо, потому что мы на ней живем, и.

Мы получаем все от этой земли.

Без нее мы не сможем жить, не можем существовать, не можем дальше развиваться.

Agleso between ahdani fei makani amru zamani.

Atsamah maakum ya ahl al-bashar faqunu akthar qurba mani lannani al-am amukum ana al-mara'i amu al-qatan.

Wa amu al-zaman amu al-nawari wa al-insan.

They said, "Look, I'm not ready, but you guys are ready for me." They would have said, "This would have been such a cry of the soul." that remember while it's not too late, let's save our land, our pastures, because the land and the pasture, it's like a mother, it feeds, dresses, protects, cares, but at the same time it waits for the return of love and care. Meral is our breath, our way of life, where people are born, live, fall in love. They are the places where they got married and died. People now put the names of their loved ones on the grazing.

Areas, the grazing areas in the villages.

It will tell us how far it has come.

We are just passing by.

The landscape will say, you're welcome, please.

Leave behind something that is more flourishing than when you arrived.

Probably we will voice out and scream, take us as an equal partner. A partner is in your vision of future because it will provide food and food security today and tomorrow and day after tomorrow. And you need to make sure to treat us as an equal partner and equal player and treat us with respect.

Let me thrive. Allow me to be healthy. I can restore myself, but I need you to give me a break. Giving the break is allow the pastoralists live in harmony between the rangeland and their own life.

So the land would say restore hope and restore life.

On Mongolia's initiative, this year has been designated by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. Rangelands and pastoralists are also in the spotlight here at UNCCD COP17. These vast ecosystems cover more than half of the world's land surface and support around two billion people. In Mongolia, pastoralists represent one third of the country's population. They are not only herders, they are the conveyors of centuries old knowledge and our unique nomadic traditions. and their voices are essential for the future of rangeland stewardship. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to invite Mr. Gan Dilsger Tagch, Pastoralist Youth Representative Mongolia, and Ms. Hindu Umaro Ibrahim, Global Pastoralist Representative, to deliver their highlights. Please welcome.

On good morning. Excellencies, head of state and government, dear deputy, Executive, no, Deputy Secretary General of the UN, dear sister and pastoralist, Amina Mohamed, distinguished ministers, COP president, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, dear Yasmine, ladies and gentlemen, brothers, indigenous and pastoralist communities around the room. It is an honor to be here in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, here where pastoralists' land are more than a national economy. Here, as in my country Chad, land is a way of life. I stand before you today with a simple message. If we want to restore land, We must listen to the peoples who have cared for it for generations. Land is home. Land is identity. I have seen extraordinary resilience of pastoralist community facing drought, desertification, and climate change. But I have also seen what happened When mobility is blocked, territories are fragmented, knowledge is ignored, and decisions are made about our land without us. That is why the International Year of Rangeland and Pastoralists must be a turning point, not simply a gathering or a declaration, but a pathway. That is why We need that the pastoralists and indigenous pastoralists to be recognized as right holders, as knowledge holders, but also solution providers. Pastoralists contribute to food security, we hear that, to biodiversity, to health ecosystem, climate resilience, culture, economy across all Africa, the Americans, the Europe, the Asia. Pastoralists connect communities. Pastoralists care for peoples, for land, and for the knowledge. Today, I call open all member states here to draw pastoralists as a priority for cooperation, to work together, despite our differences. We all come from land, and we all depend on it. For pastoralists, mobility is not a problem. Mobility is a solution. We call on all government and all of you here to secure collective land rights, protect livestock, and ensure the corridors and the seasonal movement for the pastures are for the communities to access water. And it stop all the policy and development that fragmented pastoralist territories. And let us be clear, pastoralists are conservationists. When conservation excludes the peoples who have cared for the landscape for generations, we must ask a question. What exactly are we restoring and for whom? We must invest in people who care for the land through veterinary services, security, fair market and education, innovation, and all above to ensure direct, flexible, unrestricted, and equitable access to finance. And we must put women, youth in the center of all the decision. They cannot be only participants, they must lead and access the resources. Excellencies, I also wanted to make one point very clear here. Indigenous peoples must have a permanent and meaningful place in this conversation. We cannot invite indigenous peoples and pastoralists to speak inside even and when excluding us from the room where decision is have been met around our territories and future. The Ulaanbaatar Declaration call for UN decade for pastoralists, a UN day for pastoralists, a dedicated fund for pastoralists, and indigenous peoples, local communities, and pastoralist caucuses within the UNCCD to be implemented. There are mechanisms for accountability and transparency. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we ask you to look beyond pastoralists as a sector, but recognize, invest, act, and implement Let this International Year of Pastoralists in Rangeland remember for policy we change, finance and decision we make. So restore our right to restore the land, restore rangeland by protecting our custodianship, restore hope by putting indigenous peoples, women, youth and pastoralists at the heart of implementation. The knowledge exists. The solution exists. The people exist. What we need now is a political courage. Let's COP17 be a moment we choose to act all together. I thank you. Please use your headset because my brother from Mongolia will be speaking in Mongolian. Brother.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I represent the central step prairie area from from and my name is. the herder of Mongolia. So the future of the human is laser strongly with our compassion and love to mother nature. And taking this advantage, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my president and to all my dear colleagues, brothers and sisters from all over the world. So the combating climate and conserving our mother nature. This is the very root of our existence. And starting from water consumption, the dealing with the mining of the activities and So as Mongba says, we need to measure seven times and cut only once. So this is the requirement of the time. So therefore, so I've called upon the departing from our desire to consume luxurious goods, fur and other luxurious products. So I would like to call upon to turn into the dairy food consumers. And so as our Mongolian herders, as our vast endless steps, I wish you this tranquility and calmness. And I so wish every success in your future deliberations. Thank you very much.

Thank you both very much. Ladies and gentlemen, now I would like to invite Mr. Sandag Ochirdzin, Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia to deliver his presentation of the Rangeland Moment Initiative at the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Your Excellency, President of Mongolia, Khuresukha, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guest delegates. First of all, from 2024 up until today, the COP17, the chair, Saudi Arabian people. I would like to extend my warm greetings to the people of Saudi Arabia, the host of COP17. Mongolia is a country defined by its vast steppes and its nomadic civilization. For centuries, Mongolian herders have lived in harmony with the land. moving with the seasons and drawing on generations of traditional knowledge to manage their livestock, water and pasture under harsh and highly variable climatic conditions. Today, nomadic pastoralism remains an important source of livelihood for nearly one-third of Mongolia's population. Yet, range lands are much more than a source of livelihood for herders. Mongolia's steppes are among the world's few remaining temperate grassland ecosystems that retain much of their natural integrity. They sustain the migration of millions of Mongolian gazelles and provide habitat for globally threatened species, including the snow leopard, argali sheep, and Przewalski's horse. The interdependence between people, livestock, and nature has shaped Mongolian culture, identity, and way of life for thousands of years. But Mongolia's story is part of a much larger global rangeland story. From the savannas of Africa to the steppes of Central Asia and the pampas of South America, rangelands sustain the livelihoods of millions of people, support for food system and biodiversity, and strengthen climate resilience. They are also home to the cultures and traditional knowledge of peoples around the world. Yet, for too long, the true value of rangelands has not been adequately recognized in global policy, finance, and investment. When rangelands degrade, we lose much more than vegetation and fertile soil. We risk losing biodiversity, water retention capacity, carbon storage, pastoral livelihoods, and generations of traditional knowledge. Today, however, a new chapter is opening for the world's rangelands. With Mongolian initiative, the United Nations General Assembly designated 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. This is much more than the celebration of a single year. It is a global opportunity to recognize the value of rangelands and the conditions of pastoralists and to place rangelands at the heart of our efforts on land, climate, biodiversity, food security, and sustainable development. 2026 is the defining moment for the global rangeland movement, and it is a defining moment for Mongolia too. 2026 is a historic year for bringing global recognition to the value of ranchlands and pastoralism and turning that recognition into action. For Mongolia, this year holds even greater significance. Rangelands and pastoralism are an integral part of our history, culture, and way of life. Today, as the presidency of COP17, Mongolia has historic opportunity to connect our traditional knowledge and experience with the future of rangelands worldwide. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we must now move from recognizing the value of rangelands to taking action, from commitment to implementation, and from policy to investment. This is precisely where the single action step action agenda, the policy legacy of COP17 comes in. The step action agenda is a strategic framework designed to connect our shared ambition for healthy, productive and resilient rangelands with concrete action, partnership and investment. It brings together Mongolia's flagship initiatives on rangelands, the waterland, access, and nature-based solutions for sustainable infrastructure. Together, these initiatives seek to connect policy with implementation, traditional knowledge with science and innovation, land restoration with sustainable pastoral livelihoods, and national priorities with investment and international cooperation. Most importantly, pastoralists must be recognized not simply as beneficiaries, but as equal partners, knowledge holders, and leaders in sustainable rangeland management. The International Year has brought unprecedented global attention and new momentum to rangelands. COP17 provides an opportunity to translate this momentum into concrete action. And the step action agenda can provide a foundation for carrying this work beyond Ulaanbaatar and beyond 2027. Mongolia invites rangeland countries development partners, financial institutions, the private sector, civil society, scientists and researchers, and above all pastoralists to join us in this effort. Together, we can move rangelands from the margins of global policy and investment to the center of our collective efforts on land restoration, climate resilience, biodiversity, and sustainable development. Let me conclude with a simple message. 2026 is a historic moment for the world's rangelands. COP17 is our opportunity to turn this global momentum into action. The step is our heritage. The step action agenda is our shared future. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Indeed, the lands of humanity are not merely possessions, they are a living heritage entrusted to us by our ancestors and the profound responsibility that we must pass on to future generations. Your Excellency, Mr. President, representatives of governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, indigenous peoples, pastoralists, and farmers from the 197 parties around the globe. distinguished delegates at COP17, the global platform where we come together to seek solutions. I wish you every success in your deliberation and throughout the conference proceeding. Thank you. Restoring land, restoring hope. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. President, for participating opening ceremony.