The desertification summit postpones the global framework against drought until COP18

Published at: 28/08/2026 09:28 AM

The seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP17) on desertification ended in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, without reaching the expected global agreement for proactive drought management, following the decision of the 197 member parties to postpone the final resolution for COP18. Despite the lack of regulatory consensus, the multilateral meeting managed to mobilize a total of 1.3 billion dollars for land restoration projects and strengthening resilience in 23 vulnerable countries.

During the deliberations, representatives of international organizations emphasized that the economic divide constitutes the greatest impediment to dealing with environmental deterioration on a regional and global scale. Jahan Chowdhury, representative of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), stressed that the international community has the necessary technical knowledge and tools to address the problem, but warned that the central challenge remains obtaining funding.

The urgency of the pact responds to alarming figures presented during the summit, which reflect that drought phenomena have increased by 30% since 2000 and threaten to affect three out of four people by 2050. In this regard, the Minister of Environment of Mongolia projected that the required annual investments amount to 355 billion dollars, an amount considerably higher than the 77 billion dollars currently being executed.

The closing of the meeting highlighted the need to restructure the international financial architecture before the next multilateral meeting. With the confirmation of Egypt as the venue for COP18, the signatory countries made a commitment to resume the negotiation of the global regulatory framework on drought and to consolidate effective mechanisms for the rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems.

Mazo News Team