FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20 August 2026
ULAANBAATAR — More than 340 civil society organisations, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women and youth organisations and networks, as well as governments and UN agencies, from around the world sent an urgent joint letter to the Presidencies of the three Rio Conventions (UNCCD, CBD and UNFCCC) and their Executive Secretaries following the unprecedented unilateral blockage of adoption of key agenda items concerning gender equality, civil society engagement, Rio Convention synergies and the UNCCD Future Strategic Framework, including matters related Indigenous Peoples and civil society engagement.
The letter calls on the Mongolian Presidency of UNCCD COP17 to support all Parties to take the urgent action needed to ensure these agenda items are reinstated and that previously agreed commitments and the text of the Convention are upheld. It also calls on Australia and Türkiye in relation to UNFCCC COP31, and Armenia as the CBD COP17 Presidency, to ensure cooperation across the three Rio Conventions and safeguard multilateralism; as well as to protect agreed provisions related to gender equality, the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the full and effective participation of civil society.
The signatories warn that allowing individual Parties to disrupt established multilateral commitments and processes risks setting a dangerous precedent extending far beyond UNCCD COP17. At a time of interconnected crises of land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change, effective multilateral action depends on protecting agreed commitments and ensuring that Indigenous Peoples, women, youth and civil society have a meaningful role in shaping and implementing decisions that directly affect their rights, lands, territories, resources and futures.
The joint letter and full list of signatories are available to the media. Civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ representatives attending UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar are available for interviews and comments.
Media contacts:
Mwanahamisi Singano – WEDO – [email protected]
Beth Roberts – Stand for Her Land – [email protected]
