Contributor
Myra Wong
Date
09/18/2026
GerHub’s Key Takeaways
from COP17
For the communities GerHub serves, desertification is not an abstract issue. In Mongolia, where 77% of the land is already degraded, this can mean disrupted livelihoods and difficult decisions about whether and where to move. The impacts of desertification do not stop when people leave rural areas. Migration can lead to new challenges in cities, including pressure on housing, heating, water, sanitation, energy, and livelihoods. This is why addressing desertification and building resilient ger areas are connected challenges.
Songinokhairkhan district, one of the main districts where GerHub works. Source: GerHub
This connection is at the heart of GerHub’s work. As we mark ten years of working alongside ger-area communities to develop innovative, locally grounded solutions, we also marked our first time participating as an observer organization at the Seventeenth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in Ulaanbaatar from August 17–28, 2026.
Being able to host COP17 in Mongolia created an important occasion: to bring Mongolia’s experiences and knowledge into a global dialogue, while also learning from approaches being developed around the world. Following the conclusion of the conference, three takeaways stood out to us.
1. Youth are not just the future. They are leading today’s conversations.
Participants of the UNCCD Youth Caucus - Source: COP17 Media Library
COP17 made clear the importance of creating meaningful space for young people to shape conversations around land, climate, and development. We were encouraged to see strong youth voices from Mongolia and around the world, including through the Youth Negotiators Academy, which sent their largest group of youth yet into the negotiating rooms. We also celebrate the launch of World Food Forum’s National Youth Chapter Mongolia, where young people can now contribute to the future of Mongolia’s agrifood systems.
GerHub’s Gerude program, focusing on nurturing creative problem-solvers and changemakers through the Young Urban Farmers Program. Source: GerHub
This is closely aligned with GerHub’s own approach. Through our Gerude and Young Changemakers Award (YCMA), we work to create opportunities for young people to develop the skills, confidence, and networks needed to address the uncertainties facing their communities. University students are given the room to turn their community-driven ideas into action, and the program has successfully funded and incubated multiple impactful student-led projects targeting different challenges in Ulaanbaatar’s ger districts, one example being a public green space project.
2. Innovation deserves recognition and investment.
One of the most encouraging aspects of COP17 was seeing practical, original responses to land degradation and climate issues being developed, funded, and put into action across Mongolia and beyond. We were particularly inspired by the growing number of initiatives advancing renewable energy, energy efficiency, and greener urban development. Among them, the Young Ecopreneur Programme (YECO) stood out for its support of young innovators driving green businesses and sustainable solutions.
Implementation of Coal-to-Solar. Source: URECA LLC
At GerHub, we are committed to investing in and scaling energy-efficient solutions through our Coal-to-Solar project in partnership with URECA, a climate tech company. With support from development organizations, government, and the private sector, we successfully expanded the project to reach more than 80 households across Ulaanbaatar and Erdenet. At COP17, we observed how other projects have successfully scaled internationally through partnerships, and we concluded that beyond recognition, innovative projects need investment.
3. Shared knowledge is essential to a sustainable future.
No single organization, community, or country can solve desertification alone.
COP17 brought together governments, researchers, Indigenous and local communities, civil society organizations, businesses, and young people working on remarkably different landscapes and issues. Yet they all shared the same questions: How can degraded land be restored? How can livelihoods be protected? How can communities adapt without losing their knowledge, identity, or connection to place?
Mr. Chimedtseren Nadmid, herder of Arkhangai Province and panelist for “Scaling Integrated Water and Land Resilience Solutions in Mongolia: From Scarcity to Security” - Source: COP17 Media Library
Across the conference, organizations emphasized the importance of Indigenous and local knowledge as part of the solution. Panels increasingly centered people directly affected by land degradation and climate change, recognizing that lived experience must help shape the responses to these matters.
This is where we feel we can contribute to the discussion. Through our partnerships with community leaders, families, and youth in Songinokharikhan district, home to the the second-largest ger area in Ulaanbaatar, we have had the opportunity to learn about the unique challenges, uplift and support their ideas for a path forward, and establish income-generating opportunities through Felt City Tours, a community-based tourism initiative.
Community member and Felt City Tours host, Mr. Amgalan Purevjal, explaining his ger-making studio. Source: GerHub
We hope to continue demonstrating the successes of this approach at the local level and provide evidence for how inclusive, community-driven collaboration can contribute to the broader international conversation.
Going forward, we welcome opportunities to connect COP17’s youth networks and ideas with Mongolia’s emerging changemakers, and to collaborate on ways of ensuring the youth of Mongolia have the tools to develop novel solutions for a changing environment.
COP17 reminded us that knowledge becomes more powerful when it is shared. As GerHub enters its next decade, we remain committed to working alongside communities in Mongolia and partners around the world to restore not only degraded land, but also hope for the people who call it home.
Contributor: Myra Wong