COP17: A stronger voice for land rights, and the work ahead

03 September, 2026 - COP17 is behind us, and the decisions on land tenure and rangelands and pastoralists were released just yesterday, so it’s a good moment to reflect, and to look ahead to the biodiversity and climate COPs still to come.

It's worth laying out what this COP actually achieved for rangelands, pastoralists, small holder and family farmers, women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples – the people whose rights we came here to advance. Yet despite key agenda items being blocked, I truly believe this COP was a success in many ways.

This Convention, focused directly on land, sits especially close to our work and mandate, particularly this year which falls during the International Year on Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP), and in one of the great pastoral nations of the world, We arrived in Ulaanbaatar with our Mobility Matters Campaign - our push to get pastoralist mobility recognised in law and practice - five clear asks and specific language proposals for the decisions we developed together with our partners TMG and Landesa. I want to measure the outcome against them directly, because it shows exactly where our members' work is already paying off, and where the work will continue into COP18. And that’s exactly what happened this time around, civil society and grassroots organisations were vocal and organised, including with a large contingent of Indigenous Peoples and local community representatives, including many pastoralist people.

First, we asked for pastoralist mobility to be recognised as non-negotiable. The finalised decision on rangelands recognises the importance of tenure, pastoral mobility, including transboundary mobility and the role pastoralists play in stewarding rangelands, the largest ecosystem on our earth. The Global Pastoralist Declaration developed by 300 pastoralists from around the world at the Global Gathering of Pastoralists, shows just how central this demand was to pastoralist communities themselves.

Second, we asked Parties to turn existing land rights decisions into action, embedding tenure into national plans, data systems and accountability structures. The land tenure decision moves positively into that direction: it highlights the potential of land tenure focal points, it puts land tenure security where it belongs, at the foundation of the conversation. It strengthens recognition of customary and communal tenure, links land-tenure data and the Status of Land Tenure and Governance report (which FAO, CIRAD and ILC launched earlier this year) to future UNCCD reporting, reinforces the rights of women and girls and other land-dependent groups, and, valuably, brought all four caucuses into the land-tenure discussion, despite the political blockages on gender and civil society participation. While we celebrate some of the language in the decision, however, it should be noted that where the decision falls short is identifying concrete targets for implementation.

Third, we asked for direct financing and decision-making power for the people already doing this work, a message echoed by so many. There is positive news here: a financial commitment of USD 1.2 billion under the UNCCD Rangeland Flagship Initiative towards rangeland restoration. Yet, it falls significantly short of the annual financing gap of USD 278 billion needed between now and 2030 as identified by the UNCCD. Despite this gap, that's hard-won ground, and it reflects the momentum our members have built behind rangelands and pastoralists over many years, not just the two weeks of the COP.
That being said, this financing flows through governments, development banks and investment funds. It is not the direct, un-intermediated access for pastoralist and Indigenous-led organisations that we and so many others specifically asked for. We’ll be watching, and pushing, for that distinction.

Fourth, we asked for dedicated, core-funded gender capacity within the UNCCD Secretariat. That hasn't landed in the text. It's worth remembering what the UN Deputy Secretary-General said in her opening remarks to this COP:

Civil society's closing statement is clear that gender needs a firmer place on the COP18 agenda, and I share that view. But this is unfinished business, not a closed door.

Fifth, we asked for restoration to be linked explicitly to food systems and livelihoods. COP17 opened an important space to reconnect land restoration with food systems. The recognition of pastoralists and rangelands is particularly significant: healthy rangelands sustain food production, biodiversity and livelihoods. The specific naming of both family and small holder farmers is also something to celebrate. The next step is to make this connection explicit in national implementation, ensuring that land restoration goes hand in hand with secure land rights and the rights of the people who produce food and manage the land.

So the work ahead is clear. The blocked agenda items in official negotiations were disappointing, but as we know, this does not erase decisions taken in previous COPs.

Beyond the UNCCD processes and work towards COP18, another piece of work is to get recognition beyond the UNCCD space that pastoralist stewardship is a sustainable and adaptive climate, livelihood and cultural practice!

It was truly wonderful to meet so many ILC friends, members and allies, new and old, and to see the sheer volume of what ILC and our members organised and took part in – reflecting ILC’s ethos of diversity while working towards a shared goal.The ILC pavilion was a good place to meet, converse and share the collective work of our network with COP delegates, including Ministers and senior officials.

Tremendous appreciation is owed to NLC Mongolia, to its host NAMAC, and to all our members for the support that made this COP possible. And to the Government of Mongolia for their warm welcome, stellar organisation and their continuous efforts both to ensure rangelands and pastoralists get much needed attention and the national commitments they have made to support pastoralism. We need to keep making the case together, nationally, regionally, and in rooms like the one we built in Ulaanbaatar.

Follow the campaign, and help us keep the momentum going: mobilitymatters2026.org.

More from the UNCCD civil society panel, including statements, can be found here. A helpful summary from IISD is available here.