Ulaanbaatar [Mongolia], August 24 (ANI): Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on Monday held a series of high-level bilateral meetings with South Asian counterparts on the sidelines of the ongoing 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The conference prioritises regional cooperation on climate resilience, wildlife conservation, and ecosystem restoration.
In a series of posts on X, the Union Minister highlighted key bilateral dialogue with Bhutan’s Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Lyonpo Younten Phuntsho. He noted that the discussions focused on agroforestry, climate-resilient agriculture, and advancing transboundary cooperation for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration.
“Glad to have met with Minister for Agriculture and Livestock of the Royal Government of Bhutan, Mr Lyonpo Younten Phuntsho, on the sidelines of the ongoing @UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia today. Our conversations primarily focused on agroforestry and climate-resilient agriculture. We also deliberated on areas for advancing our transboundary cooperation with particular focus on biodiversity conservation and ecosystem restoration,” he wrote.
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The Union Minister also met with Sri Lanka’s Environment Minister Dammika Patabendi to address critical environmental issues with an emphasis on preserving elephant populations, expanding capacity building, and strengthening bilateral collaboration on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.
“Met with Dr Dammika Patabendi, M.P. Minister of Environment, Government of Sri Lanka, on the sidelines of the ongoing @UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia today. We spoke on a range of issues with particular focus on wildlife conservations, emphasising the need to preserve our elephants and further strengthen our bilateral cooperation on mitigation and adaptation aspects of climate change. We also spoke on capacity building and knowledge exchange in the area of forestry and wildlife conservation,” he wrote.
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Alongside his bilateral engagements, Minister Yadav also addressed the Land 2030+: Linking Action, Network and Delivery — Finance, Partnerships and Livelihoods For Restoration at Scale session.
Highlighting India’s global leadership as a major pledger to the Bonn Challenge, he noted, “India is among the major global pledgers to the Bonn Challenge and in the last 10 years, under the leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi ji, we have successfully restored degraded and deforested land of 21.76 million hectares against the target of 26 million hectares. This demonstrates the commitment of the country to translate the ambitions into action involving stakeholders and local communities.”
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The 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is being hosted by Mongolia in its capital city, Ulaanbaatar, from 17 to 28 August 2026 under the theme Restoring Land. Restoring Hope.
According to the UN, COP17 is expected to bring together delegates from UNCCD’s 197 Parties, alongside leaders from government, business and civil society, as well as scientists, youth, Indigenous Peoples, pastoralists and smallholder farmers.
They will convene to forge solutions to the interconnected challenges of desertification, land degradation and drought, recognising that restoring land is also essential to reducing instability, preventing displacement and strengthening human and national security in vulnerable regions.
During the two-week conference, participants will engage in a high-level segment including ministerial dialogues, alongside multistakeholder forums and thematic discussions on science-policy integration, innovation and solutions, tools and technologies, and financing. In addition to formal negotiations, COP17 is expected to catalyze collective action on rangelands, resilience and water, as well as food systems and soil health, according to UN. (ANI)
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