UNCCD COP17 – High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Food Systems and Soil Health

UNCCD COP17
UlaanBaatar 2026

High Level Event – Food Systems and Soil Health Day

High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Food Systems and Soil Health

Date: 27 August 2026
Time: 13:00 – 15:00 Ulaanbaatar time/GMT+8
Venue: COP17 Blue Zone, Action Dome, Mongolia
Interpretation EN/FR/ES/MN

Background

Food systems sit at the center of the interconnected challenges of land degradation, climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity. At the same time, they represent a critical entry point for delivering integrated solutions across the Rio Conventions and advancing sustainable development, resilience and global stability.

Recognizing the urgency of these challenges, UNCCD COP16 marked an important milestone through the adoption of Decision 19/COP.16, which calls for strengthened efforts to avoid, reduce and reverse land and soil degradation in agricultural lands and promote sustainable and resilient agrifood systems grounded in healthy soils, biodiversity-friendly practices and sustainable water
management.

Investing in soil health and sustainable land management – including through regenerative agriculture, agroecological practices, crop diversification, sustainable livestock management, and land restoration — is increasingly recognized as a strategic economic opportunity, with the potential to improve agricultural productivity, strengthen resilience to drought and climate change, reduce methane emissions and sequester carbon, restore ecosystems and contribute to land degradation neutrality. Realizing this potential at scale will require mobilizing public and private capital, including through blended finance mechanisms and stronger integration of soil health into investment and financial decision-making.

Transforming agrifood systems at scale will require building on existing efforts to further strengthen policy coherence and institutional coordination across agriculture, environment, climate and finance ministries. Continued progress in improving alignment between sectoral policies, governance frameworks and implementation mechanisms will be key to enhancing the effectiveness of action on the ground. At the same time, farmers, pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples, women and youth remain
central actors in delivering sustainable transformation and restoring degraded agricultural lands.

Ensuring that financial and policy frameworks are inclusive and accessible to these stakeholders will be critical to achieving impact on the ground.

The Food Systems and Soil Health High Level Dialogue will build on COP16 outcomes and contribute to strengthening synergies across the Rio Conventions. The event will highlight country leadership, practical implementation experiences and innovative partnerships capable of scaling regenerative food systems and supporting the UNCCD 2030 objectives.

The High-Level Interactive Dialogue aims to accelerate action to scale sustainable, resilient and inclusive agrifood systems based on healthy soils and sustainable land management. Specifically, the dialogue will:

• Build shared political momentum around soil health as a non-negotiable pillar of food systems
  transformation
• Shift the investment paradigm — from soil health as an environmental cost to soil health as a
  productive and strategic economic asset
• Highlight the role of farmers, pastoralists, women, youth and Indigenous Peoples as key
  actors in restoring and managing healthy soils
• Strengthen coordination between governments, financial institutions, private sector,
  farmers’ organizations and local communities to support implementation on the ground;
• Identify ways to mobilize greater public and private investment in regenerative agriculture,
  soil restoration and sustainable value chains;