BENGALURU, India (AP) — Delegates from almost 200 nations concluded United Nations talks on desertification in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Friday, focusing on how to keep land fertile as a warming climate intensifies and damaged soils and ecosystems become less able to retain water, grow food and sustain communities.

As much as 40% of the planet’s land is degraded, according to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which hosts the biennial conference. Drought is also appearing in places that were not viewed as especially at risk only a decade ago, said Yasmine Fouad, the convention’s executive secretary.

“Drought is arriving alongside the effects of climate change,” Fouad said in an interview. “It is becoming more common, more severe and longer-lasting.”

Delegations departed Ulaanbaatar without settling one of the meeting’s central debates: whether to establish a legally binding international drought agreement. The decision was pushed to the next conference in Egypt two years from now, after having already been delayed at the prior session.

Healthy soils can soften the effects of drought

Farmer Henrik Jan ten Cate examines soil in his drought-hit potato field in Poortvliet, Netherlands, Aug. 11, 2026.

Drought is commonly understood as a lack of rainfall. But experts at the gathering said the scale of its damage increasingly depends on the condition of the land before precipitation declines.

Healthy soils can take in and hold water, allowing crops, pasturelands and natural habitats to endure extended dry spells. Damaged ground, by contrast, lets water run off quickly and becomes less productive, increasing risks for communities as temperatures rise and rainfall patterns become unreliable, land specialists said.

“Healthy soil cannot be maintained without managing water,” Fouad said. “And sustainable water management is not possible unless soil and land are in good condition.”

The relationship between water and land is particularly critical for farming. Joao Campari, WWF International’s global food and agriculture leader, said separating the two ignores a core reality of food production.

“Without water, there is no agriculture. Without land, there is no agriculture,” he said.

Demand for productive land is projected to rise as food needs grow. U.N. assessments indicate that, because of population growth, global food output will need to be 50% higher by 2050 than it was in 2012. Yet increasing production by converting grasslands, savannas and other natural habitats can accelerate land degradation, release carbon stored in soil and weaken landscapes’ ability to retain water.

Damaged land can also contribute to larger sand and dust storms. Fouad said that although such storms travel through the air, they often begin on exposed ground left vulnerable by unsustainable land practices. Rebuilding vegetation and improving land stewardship can stabilize soil and limit the material carried away by heavy winds.

Mongolia conference secures billions for rangeland recovery

A flock of sheep gathers at a livestock market in Dakar, Senegal, May 23, 2026.

The 12-day meeting introduced a rangelands initiative that combines $1.2 billion for 45 projects. Fouad said the Asian Development Bank separately announced $2 billion for programs addressing land degradation across the Asia-Pacific region.

Rangelands, which include grasslands, savannas and other areas used by grazing animals and pastoral communities, make up 54% of the Earth’s land area and support roughly 2 billion people, according to the UNCCD.

Campari said grasslands, savannas and rangelands are being converted for other purposes at about four times the rate of forests. Since these areas store significant amounts of carbon below ground, their loss can add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere even where relatively few trees are removed.

“They hold twice as much carbon as is currently in the atmosphere,” Campari said. “When these areas are cleared for food production, that carbon can leave the soil and enter the air.”

Land restoration confronts a yearly $278 billion finance shortfall

About $355 billion per year will be required through 2030 to fulfill worldwide commitments on restoring land, yet current spending stands near $77 billion, creating an annual gap of $278 billion. Private funding represents only around 6% of global investment in land restoration, U.N. reports say.

The problem involves more than collecting funds; money must reach projects before drought develops into a full-scale emergency. More than 70 countries now have national drought strategies, compared with just three in 2013. Still, climate specialists say many of those plans do not have enough funding to turn early warnings, water management, restoration and climate-adapted farming into practical measures.

Fouad said countries must shift from merely drafting drought plans to developing investment plans, involving businesses, local residents, women and young people in national platforms that can design projects and draw financing.

A new Drought Resilience Investment Facility announced in Ulaanbaatar earlier in the week is intended to mobilize as much as $400 million in public and private funding for water security, sustainable farming, nature-based approaches and land restoration projects.

For Esther Penunia, secretary general of the Asian Farmers Association, the lack of agreement on a drought treaty should not be used as a reason to postpone action.

“We cannot wait until COP18 to act,” she said. “The solutions are already known, and we can carry them out if we receive the resources required.”