Mongolia has agreed to join forces with the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea, and the United Nations to combat the rising frequency of yellow dust storms in recent years. Sandstorms originating from Mongolia’s desertified areas have reached air-quality and heat-stress levels in China and South Korea, making this issue one of urgent regional concern, according to MONTSAME.
State Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia Batbayar Shurenchuluun met with Deputy Executive Secretary for Partnership and Coordination of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) Hirohito Toda, and Head of the Director of the UN ESCAP East and North-East Asia Office of the (based in Incheon, South Korea) Dr. Ganbold Baasanjav, on October 24, 2025, and discussed this issue.
They emphasized the need to step up efforts to prevent sand- and dust-storms and strengthen climate-adaptation action, and agreed to launch joint regional and national initiatives and present them at the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (COP17) to be held next August in Ulaanbaatar. The parties also exchanged views on joint projects and programmes and the proposals Mongolia is putting forward ahead of COP17.