Nigerian delegates, alongside their counterparts from other African countries under the African Group of Negotiators, will push for the establishment of a legally binding instrument on drought management and increased financing to address desertification and land degradation across the continent at the forthcoming 17th session of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) in Mongolia.
The Director of the Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought Management Department of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Etim William, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES ahead of the conference.
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“Nigeria, alongside other African countries, wants to push for a legally binding instrument on drought management. This is an African position, and Nigeria supports that position,” Mr William told PREMIUM TIMES.
Mr William, who is also the UNCCD focal point for the Nigerian government, said the proposed instrument would essentially establish a protocol for managing drought.
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“That is one of the areas Nigeria will push for at the COP. Other areas include finance. We need to push for more financial support to meet our national needs and fund our National Adaptation Plan,” he said.
On land degradation, Mr William said Nigeria needs support and partnerships to achieve “land degradation neutrality”.
COP17 in Mongolia
The 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification will be hosted by Mongolia in its capital, Ulaanbaatar, from 17 to 28 August under the theme, “Restoring Land. Restoring Hope.”
According to the United Nations, COP17 is expected to bring together delegates from UNCCD’s 197 Parties, alongside government, business and civil society leaders, scientists, young people, Indigenous Peoples, pastoralists and smallholder farmers.
They will deliberate on solutions to the interconnected challenges of desertification, land degradation and drought, with a focus on how land restoration can help reduce instability, prevent displacement and strengthen human and national security in vulnerable regions.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that at least 60 delegates from Nigeria are expected to participate in the conference.
“Land is our most vital infrastructure — underpinning food security, water, livelihoods and stability. When land fails, insecurity rises — through lost livelihoods, forced displacement and increased competition over scarce resources. With UNCCD COP17, Mongolia is offering the world a powerful message: Restoring Land, Restoring Hope is not only an environmental agenda, but a development and resilience priority,” UNCCD Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad said.
She said that as drought intensifies and land degradation accelerates, the conference must promote practical, investable solutions, including restoring degraded land and soils and strengthening the land-water nexus, to enable communities to thrive.
According to the UNCCD Data Dashboard, approximately 11.96 per cent of Africa’s total land area was recorded as degraded in baseline reporting, while Nigeria reports roughly 23.41 per cent, or 21.07 million hectares, of its total land area as degraded.
In Nigeria, authorities have said more than 50 per cent of the country’s rangelands and grazing routes have been degraded, a development that has contributed to farmer-herder conflicts affecting communities across the country for decades.
Finance
Asked how much financing the Nigerian delegation would seek at COP17 to strengthen efforts to combat land degradation and desertification, Mr William said no fixed figure could be established because the cost of restoration changes over time.
“We have inflation. Something you can do with ₦10 today may cost ₦20 tomorrow. The fact remains that restoration requires a huge investment that no nation can undertake alone. We need support. We need to collaborate and partner with international organisations. We need their support,” he said.
He said Nigeria would also seek partnerships and international support to fund its national priorities on land restoration and drought management.
Asked whether Nigeria would negotiate at COP17 as part of the African bloc, Mr William answered in the affirmative.
“We have the African Group of Negotiators. Whatever the African position is, Nigeria equally supports that position. We are not going to negotiate anything outside the position of the African group,” he said.
Top issues to be addressed in Mongolia
The UNCCD said land degradation is already affecting up to 40 per cent of the world’s land, with far-reaching consequences for food production, water availability, livelihoods and economic stability.
The UN body said COP17 presents a pivotal opportunity for countries and partners to strengthen implementation and mobilise greater investment in drought resilience and sustainable land management.
With a territory of about 1.56 million square kilometres, Mongolia is among the countries significantly affected by desertification and land degradation, with nearly 77 per cent of its land reportedly degraded.
Hosting UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar will draw international attention to land restoration priorities, including approaches that protect livelihoods, food security, and ecosystems in dryland regions, the UNCCD said.
COP17 is also taking place during the United Nations International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP 2026), declared by the UN General Assembly and championed by Mongolia.
The organisers said the year provides an opportunity to accelerate action on the sustainable management, restoration and conservation of rangelands, while highlighting the needs of pastoralist communities whose livelihoods depend directly on these ecosystems.
READ ALSO: SPECIAL REPORT: As climate change pushes fish into deeper waters, Nigerian coastal fishermen lose livelihoods
Rangelands cover more than half of the Earth’s land surface, support the direct livelihoods of about 500 million people and provide one-sixth of the world’s nutrition needs. Yet they remain among the planet’s most overlooked and increasingly degraded ecosystems.
During the two-week conference, participants will engage in discussions, including ministerial dialogues, as well as multistakeholder forums and thematic sessions on science-policy integration, innovation and solutions, tools and technologies, and financing.
In addition to formal negotiations, COP17 is expected to catalyse collective action on rangelands, resilience and water, as well as food systems and soil health.
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