The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP17 in Mongolia ended without agreement on a global drought framework.
Countries remained divided over whether the framework should be legally binding, voluntary or take another form.
The proposed framework aims to strengthen early-warning systems, establish national drought plans and mobilise finance for drought resilience.
Nearly 30% of the world's land surface was affected by drought by the end of 2025, according to an April 2026 analysis.
With drought emergencies and El Niño-related risks growing, negotiations have been pushed to COP18.
In the wee hours of August 29, after two weeks of negotiations in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) gavelled through a decision that left its biggest drought question unanswered: what form should a global drought framework take? The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to UNCCD could not agree on whether it should be a legally binding protocol, a voluntary framework or another instrument.
The framework aims to push countries to shift from drought response to preparation through shared early-warning systems built on soil moisture and vulnerability data rather than rainfall alone; introducing national drought plans as a baseline expectation; and setting up a formal channel to mobilise and direct finance toward resilience.
The need for such an agreement is only getting clearer. By the end of 2025, close to 30 per cent of the world’s land surface was already in drought, nearly triple the share recorded through the 1990s, according to an April 2026 analysis published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. So far this year, Europe is in the grip of a historic drought. In Central America, El Salvador, Panama and Honduras have declared drought emergencies in August. Low water levels have forced re-strictions on traffic through the Panama Canal, underscoring drought effects on global trade.
The world is also witnessing a strong El Niño event, or warming phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation. The “super” El Niño, as it is dubbed, increases the likelihood of drought, extreme heat and rainfall shifts globally through next year. Countries are therefore increasingly accepting that drought is a persistent and transboundary risk. Yet, consensus on a strong global response remains out of reach.
The global drought framework was first set for adoption since UNCCD COP16, held in Riyadh in 2024. However, negotia-tions failed to result in a consensus, pushing the final adoption of the agreement to COP17. In Ulaanbaatar, the effort ran aground again. The closing plenary left the framework’s fate exactly as it was in Riyadh—bracketed, unresolved and pushed to COP18 …
This article was originally published in the October 1-15, 2026 print edition of Down To Earth