There may be various and complex challenges already vying for the world’s attention, but there is a critical issue still often forgotten—land degradation. Largely due to human activities that cause the soil fertility, biodiversity, utility, and overall health of the land to decline, land degradation consequentially impacts food production, water availability, livelihoods, and economies, according to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

In Asia and the Pacific, dryland landscapes—including agricultural ecosystems, grasslands, savannas, shrublands, and dry forests—cover approximately 40% of the land area and support more than 40% of its population. The state of these lands are essential for the region's food security, biodiversity conservation, carbon storage, and drought resilience.

The UNCCD, which is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management, is having its 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) on 17–28 August in Mongolia. This year’s theme is “Restoring Land, Restoring Hope”. This year's UNCCD COP17 also coincides with 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Nature Solutions Finance Hub (NSFH) will be participating in two sessions at the UNCCD COP17 as part of ADB’s overall participation. The first is a high-level segment that includes the launch of a new NSFH special initiative to drive action against land degradation and desertification in the region. The second session, organized by the NSFH, will unpack the challenges and opportunities for scaling nature-positive investments, featuring case studies from development partners and the early impacts of the NSFH. In both events, NSFH will bring to the fore the importance of investing in nature and how it underpins economic development that is resilient and sustainable. 

Below is an overview of the NSFH agenda at the UNCCD COP17, with links to the respective sessions for more details.

1. High-Level Segment – Ministerial Dialogue on Innovative Financial Mechanisms for Healthy Land and Drought Resilience (includes the Launch of the Financing Investments and Eradicating Land Degradation and Desertification [FIELD] Initiative) — 24 August 2026, 11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.
2. Nature Solutions Finance Hub: Scaling Investments for Nature-Positive Landscapes and Introducing the FIELD Initiative — 26 August 2026, 3:00–4:30 p.m. | Download session flyer | Download FIELD flyer

The Nature Solutions Finance Hub (NSFH) is an Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led initiative that unites multiple partners to scale innovative nature finance across Asia and the Pacific. Launched at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2023, the NSFH includes the following financing partners: France, through the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the European Union (EU), the Green Climate Fund through the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF) Green Recovery Program, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OPEC Fund), and the UK-ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility. The NSFH technical partners include BirdLife International, Conservation International, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), NatureFinance, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF).