Daily Junction.mobi portal

Search News World Business Tech TV Weather Stars More

Why the world can’t agree how to tackle drought

Environment · September 5, 2026 · The Conversation · 4 min

Fighting drought and combating desertification are climate obligations.

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <figure> <img alt="yellow road, big exhibition space buildings in background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/757591/original/file-20260902-50-uizs9v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&rect=0%2C192%2C2048%2C1152&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" /> <figcaption> The UN Cop17 summit in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, took place in August 2026. Susan Ann Samuel, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a> </figcaption> </figure>

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susan-ann-samuel-1540575">Susan Ann Samuel</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-leeds-1122">University of Leeds</a>

Delegates from 196 nations plus EU officials have met in Mongolia to discuss how best to tackle drought and desertification.

Often overlooked by the larger and busier climate summits, this small UN <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/desertification-19970">desertification</a> summit, known as Cop17, felt more important than ever. Yet countries still could not agree on what needs to be done.

Negotiations that were often inconclusive and frustrating continued until 4am on some nights. The closing plenary was <a href="https://enb.iisd.org/convention-combat-desertification-unccd-cop17-summary">gavelled to a conclusion on August 29 at 2.36am</a>.

The issue of drought split the negotiation room <a href="https://enb.iisd.org/convention-combat-desertification-unccd-cop17-daily-report-17aug2026">from the start</a>. On behalf of the African Group and Togo, South Africa pushed a legally binding global drought protocol. The UK, Australia and Cook Islands rejected a binding instrument. India and Suriname wanted flexibility and country-driven design, not a one-size-fits-all approach.

After days of bilateral consultations with the summit presidency, some form of agreement was announced — <a href="https://enb.iisd.org/convention-combat-desertification-unccd-cop17-summary">a deferral, not a resolution</a>. This debate will continue at the next UN desertification summit, due to take place in Egypt in 2027.

<figure class="align-center zoomable"> <a aria-label="Zoomable image" href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/757587/original/file-20260902-50-bjyc5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Big green letter signs spell out Cop17, with country flags in background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/757587/original/file-20260902-50-bjyc5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/757587/original/file-20260902-50-bjyc5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/757587/original/file-20260902-50-bjyc5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/757587/original/file-20260902-50-bjyc5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/757587/original/file-20260902-50-bjyc5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/757587/original/file-20260902-50-bjyc5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/757587/original/file-20260902-50-bjyc5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a> <figcaption> Cop17 was the UN’s 17th summit focusing on land and desertification. Susan Ann Samuel, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a> </figcaption> </figure>

Much of the UK has been struggling with severe droughts, empty reservoirs and hosepipe bans following its hottest summer <a href="https://www.bbc.com/weather/articles/c99dypl3jgmo">since records began in 1884</a>. Indeed, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/27/homes-damaged-storms-floods-follow-heatwaves-england-wales">71.3% of England</a> is still in drought now.

Across the world, every continent – <a href="https://theconversation.com/rain-is-coming-to-antarctica-heres-how-it-will-change-the-frozen-continent-276140">even Antarctica</a> – is dealing with drought or flooding in some form due to climate change. In August, a devastating wall of mud, rock and water swept <a href="https://theconversation.com/nepal-tibet-floods-when-disaster-strikes-before-communities-recover-from-previous-climate-extremes-crisis-escalates-290484">through the Nepal-Tibet border region</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly464k252yo">following a glacial collapse</a>. The death toll continues to rise after flash floods resulting from this <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-does-a-collapsing-glacier-turn-into-a-lethal-wall-of-mud-and-water-an-expert-explains-what-happened-in-nepal-290677?utm_campaign=imagine-39378&utm_content=imagine-39378_uk%7C57%7C39378%7C565fc42e&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_term=Q%26A">rock-ice avalanche in the Himalayas</a>.

During Cop17 in Mongolia, everyone agreed drought was a serious problem. But countries got stuck arguing about what kind of promise to make about it.

They disagreed on three things. First, how strict the promise should be: a firm rule everyone must follow, a gentler agreement, or just voluntary goals each country sets for itself. And second, how to describe the problem: is drought hitting the whole world equally, or something that hurts some places much more than others?

The final question — which is connected to the second — is whose job is it really to deal with this issue? Should there be one big global agreement binding everyone, or should each country be mainly responsible for handling drought within their own borders?

<figure class="align-center zoomable"> <a aria-label="Zoomable image" href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/757594/original/file-20260902-50-8ohcd1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="mongolian people sing and perform at pavilion space, blue background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/757594/original/file-20260902-50-8ohcd1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/757594/original/file-20260902-50-8ohcd1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/757594/original/file-20260902-50-8ohcd1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/757594/original/file-20260902-50-8ohcd1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/757594/original/file-20260902-50-8ohcd1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/757594/original/file-20260902-50-8ohcd1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/757594/original/file-20260902-50-8ohcd1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a> <figcaption> Traditional Mongolian folklore at Cop17. Susan Ann Samuel, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a> </figcaption> </figure>

<h2>Solutions</h2>

The <a href="https://www.unccd.int/convention/overview">United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification</a> (UNCCD) is often described as the global community’s legal instrument for land. It is the only legally binding international framework set up specifically to address desertification, land degradation and drought.

Its history can be traced back to the 1970s, when discussions around desertification heightened in the aftermath of severe drought in sub-Saharan Africa, which killed more than <a href="https://www.unccd.int/convention/history-unccd">200,000 people and millions of animals</a>.

The UNCCD was formally <a href="https://www.unccd.int/convention/history-unccd">established in 1994</a> following the introduction of three major conventions. These were set up during the UN’s <a href="https://www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/rio1992">Earth Summit</a> in Brazil in 1992, and are known as the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-rio-conventions">Rio conventions</a>. Aside from land, the other two annual Cop summits focus on tackling biodiversity and climate.

But climate, biodiversity and land are one interlocking problem. Degraded land releases carbon and worsens climate change; a hotter climate dries out soil and drives drought and desertification; and biodiversity loss strips ecosystems of the very functions that hold water and hold soil together.

Yet the treaties that govern them often run on separate tracks, each with separate secretariats, national focal points, reporting systems and rules.

Page 1 of 2 · Next »

Home · Search · Sitemap · About · Full site