Reporter’s Diary: Reporting COP17 from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

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After about a 15-hour flight from Abuja to Istanbul (6hrs 25 min) and then to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (8hrs, 20 min), I finally arrived in the “Land of the Eternal Blue Sky”- Mongolia, to cover the 17th session of the UNCCD Land conference as one of the UNCCD media fellows.

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It’s an opportunity I’m truly excited about, and I look forward to engaging with the process and relevant experts for my reporting.

I have covered a couple of the UNFCCC conferences in the past, but this is my first time covering the UNCCD Conference of the Parties. I’m genuinely grateful for the opportunity.

UNCCD COP is one of the three Rio Conventions. The other two are the CBD COP (the Biodiversity COP) and the well-known Climate Change COP (UNFCCC COP). Nigeria is a signatory to these conventions. Both the UNCCD and CBD COPs are held biannually, while the UNFCCC COP occurs annually. Interestingly, this year, all three conventions will be hosted across three different countries.

Today, the conference Blue Zone registered about 10, 000 participants, and the Green Zone was reported to have more than 15,000 participants.

Please follow PREMIUM TIMES for interesting updates on the discussions unfolding in Mongolia. Below are some of the stories published so far to keep you informed about what will shape the conversations in Mongolia and what Nigeria and other African nations aim to push for at the negotiation table.

I’d be happy to connect with you if you are here. Until then, look out for more updates on PREMIUM TIMES.

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P/S: The Mongolian currency is called the tugrik or Togrok (MNT), and it trades at approximately 3,594.40 MNT per $1, roughly 0.38 MNT per N1, and about 2.66 MNT per 1 NGN in direct cross-rate terms.

In Mongolia, we say: Mash ikh bayarlalaa—Thank you very much. 😃

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