Parliamentarians gather in Mongolia to turn land restoration commitments into action

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia – On 25 August 2026, parliamentarians from around the world gathered at the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD-COP17) for a High-Level Parliamentary Forum focused on translating global commitments on desertification, land degradation and drought into concrete national action. 

The High-Level Parliamentary Forum, titled “From Commitment to Action: Parliamentary Leadership to Address Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought”, brought together lawmakers, alongside senior political and UN leaders, to examine how parliaments can use legislation, public budgets, government oversight and representation to accelerate implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.  

The Forum was co-organized by the G20 Global Land Initiative of the UNCCD, the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC), and the State Great Hural (Parliament) of Mongolia.   

“Global commitments only become real when they are translated into national laws, budgets and accountability,” said Yasmine Fouad, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of UNCCD. “Parliamentarians are therefore essential to the architecture of implementation, shaping the enabling policies, allocating resources, overseeing delivery and ensuring that the voices of affected communities are reflected in national action.” 

The Forum was part of the Global Changemaker Academy for Parliamentarians (G-CAP), an annual five-day leadership programme organized by the G20 Global Land Initiative, hosted at UNCCD, in collaboration with UNSSC. Every year, the programme convenes a selected group of national parliamentarians for five impactful and engaging days focused on land restoration. This year’s edition brought together 26 parliamentarians from 25 countries for dialogue and learning on land conservation, sustainable land management and restoration.

The high-level discussion featured: Carlos Alvarado Quesada, 48th President of Costa Rica; Prof. Hani Sewilam, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of Egypt; and parliamentarians from Mongolia and Türkiye. The representatives of the State Great Hural (Parliament) of Mongolia included Ms. Mandkhai Mendbayar, Chair of the Standing Committee on Environment, Food and Agriculture, and Ms. Bolormaa Enkhbat, a G-CAP 2025 alumna. Ms. Nilhan Ayan, the COP31 Presidency’s Environment and Climate Envoy was also a panelist. 

Following the high-level conversation, parliamentarians moved into facilitated discussions to identify practical actions they could take within their national mandates, with a focus on legislation, budgeting, oversight and representation. 

The recommendations will be consolidated into the Key Messages and Parliamentary Priorities for Action from the COP17 High-Level Parliamentary Forum and will inform the development of a Parliamentarians’ Action Toolkit on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought, providing practical guidance for lawmakers beyond COP17. 

With land degradation increasingly affecting food and water security, biodiversity, climate resilience, livelihoods and economic development, the Forum highlighted the critical role of parliamentarians in ensuring that commitments made at international negotiations follow through into action on the ground. 

For more information on G-CAP, please contact Sandhya Balasubrahmanyam, Learning Portfolio Manager at UNSSC, at gcap@unssc.org.