IUCN Food and Agricultural Systems at the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP17
For the first time ever, food and agricultural systems earned their own key messages in the IUCN position paper for a Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). COP17 in Mongolia therefore marks a milestone for IUCN’s policy advocacy in relation to the transformation of agriculture and food systems, one of 8 transformations prioritized in the new IUCN 20-Year years Strategic Vision and 2026-2029 Programme. Notably, it anchored farmers, rangelands and pastoralism, soil health and security, and Nature-based Solutions for agriculture as central to achieving Land Degradation Neutrality.
In the spirit of the theme “Restoring Land, Restoring Hope”, UNCCD COP17 recognised that sustainable and resilient food and agricultural systems are at the heart of the land, climate and biodiversity nexus. On the dedicated thematic day on Food Systems and Soil Health, the attendees zoomed in on how sustainable food and agricultural systems can accelerate progress toward the UNCCD 2030 objectives. While COP16's Action Agenda already included a Food Day, COP17 expanded this into a joint Food Systems and Soil Health Day for the first time. The day brought together a wide range of voices around four priorities: advancing political commitment to soil health, mobilizing finance and investment for sustainable food systems, putting people at the centre of land stewardship, and strengthening coherence across the Rio Conventions (UNCCD; UN Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC; Convention on Biological Diversity CBD).
Food and agricultural systems emerged as a key entry point for synergising action across the Rio Conventions. Even though IUCN heard strong ambitions from many countries to adopt integrated approaches for delivering climate, biodiversity, and land outcomes, formal negotiations to integrate action across the Rio Conventions were blocked. This is why turning that ambition into reality will require working with existing national processes: aligning policies, investments and action, as well as putting peoples and communities at the centre.
COP17 delivered mixed outcomes: On the one hand, there were strong wins on rangelands, grasslands and food systems. This includes commitments to the $1.2 billion Rangelands Flagship Initiative, which promises multi-stakeholder investments to support resilient landscapes, as well as the adoption of a decision on avoiding, reducing and reversing land and soil degradation of agricultural lands. On the other hand, the negotiators were unable to agree on an action plan for drought preparedness, and COP17 did not fully operationalise the Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ Caucuses, nor did it sufficiently advance gender equality.
The case for food and agriculture at COP17
Across two weeks of negotiations and side events related to the Action Agenda, IUCN Food and Agricultural Systems (FAS) thematic team promoted the transformation of food and agricultural systems as a way to achieve simultaneously multiple integrated outcomes across economic, social and environmental dimensions, in contribution not only to the objectives of the three Rio Conventions, but also to the SDGs as a whole. It advocated for family farmers, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities to have a seat at the table in UNCCD decision-making, with stronger voice in existing mechanisms and space to explore more dedicated coordination in the longer term. Another priority was to call for policy coherence across the land, climate and biodiversity agendas, with more integrated, whole-of-government approaches. Moreover, IUCN FAS argued to implement policies and practices that promote soil health and recognise soil security and to scale up Nature-based Solutions in agriculture to conserve soil water and tackle soil and land degradation, backed by secure land tenure, long-term finance and science. IUCN FAS called to align financial flows with sustainable agriculture, including through blended finance, greater direct access to finance for farmers, and repurposing agricultural support away from harmful subsidies.
On the ground in Ulaanbaatar
Across two weeks, IUCN FAS engaged across a wide range of topics: rangeland and pastoral systems restoration, agroecology, agroforestry, landscape approaches for land degradation neutrality, farmer-led, local solutions, and policy coherence across the Rio Conventions.
Friday, 21 August 2026 opened with rangelands and nature-positive agriculture, as a session on EU policy coherence explored how sustainable pastoralism and Nature-based Solutions can help implement the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. The event brought together policymakers, practitioners and investors to showcase IUCN tools for restoration implementation. It also identified replicable approaches and financing opportunities.
The weekend built on this with “Landscapes for Life”, a two-day workshop on protecting, sustainably managing and restoring grasslands, savannahs and rangelands, supported by IUCN, where attendees aligned along the key messages for COP17 and beyond: recognizing these ecosystems as vital and productive, and charting pathways to scale their integration into national action plans.
On Water Day (Tuesday, 25 August 2026), a session co-organized with the Regen10 partnership – of which IUCN is a founding member – explored why implementation across agricultural landscapes remains fragmented despite growing commitments to restore land and deliver regenerative food and agricultural systems at scale. Discussions centred on how an outcomes-based shared reference for regenerative agricultural landscapes, such as that developed by Regen10, could help align policy, investment and implementation across the key stakeholders (government, farmers, financial institutions and businesses) and identified practical opportunities for stronger collaboration extending beyond COP 17.
Land and People Day (Wednesday, 26 August 2026), turned to farmer-led solutions. The session on the Plan to Accelerate Solutions: Together for the Expansion of Resilient and Restorative Agroecology and Agroforestry (PAS TERRA), hosted at the Brazil Pavilion, highlighted how agroecology and agroforestry drive productive restoration, spotlighting the Global Productive Forest Initiative and the Forest and Farm Facility's (FFF) work backing family farmers and producer organisations. IUCN represented FFF, as one of its founding partners alongside FAO, IIED and Agricord. FFF is also one of the founding partners of TERRA, alongside Brazil’s Ministry of Agrarian Development, IFAD, the Agroecology Coalition, the Alliance Bioversity-CIAT and NOW Partners.
Food Systems and Soil Health Day (Thursday, 27 August 2026) was busy for IUCN FAS with four official side events spanning from agroecology and soil health to farmer-led solutions and policy-coherence. The event "One Land, Three Agendas" positioned agroecology as the pathway to operationalise synergies across the Rio Conventions, spotlighting the role of youth, local communities and Indigenous Peoples alongside the policy and finance conditions needed to scale it. A second session made the case for soil health as a strategic entry point for aligning national food systems, land restoration, biodiversity and climate agendas. A third pushed to reposition family farmers from beneficiaries to solution providers, scaling farmer-led responses to land degradation and drought. At the same time, "From Policy to the Ground," shared lessons on institutional coordination and decentralised soil health implementation, while confronting the financing and accessibility gaps for smallholders, pastoralists, women and youth, and calling for stronger cross-sectoral coherence across the Rio Conventions.
From ambition to action: what comes next?
COP17 reaffirmed that food and agricultural systems sit at the heart of the land, climate and biodiversity nexus, and that they remain one of the clearest entry points for synergising action across the Rio Conventions and beyond. IUCN welcomed the strong engagement of the private sector demonstrated through the UNCCD's Business4Land Initiative and the new Rangelands Flagship Initiative. Both initiatives signal a growing willingness to invest in resilient landscapes and sustainable food systems.
Yet turning this momentum into lasting impact on the ground will require more than initial commitments. IUCN FAS is calling for stronger multi-stakeholder collaboration to strengthen the enabling conditions needed to move swiftly from commitments to action: coherent policy, adequate capacity, accessible finance, and the right market incentives.
IUCN stands ready to bring the power of the Union and its constituencies to this task, working alongside governments, farmers' organisations, companies, financial institutions and civil society organizations. This collaboration can help ensure that the ambition articulated in Ulaanbaatar translates into nature-positive and resilient landscapes shaped by local knowledge, secure livelihoods and healthier soils, long after COP17 has concluded.
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