Mongolia’s Steppe at the Crossroads: Building Partnerships to Restore the World’s Rangelands

On July 8-9th 2025, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital city hosted the Mongolia Economic Forum. The forum brought together an eclectic mix of government officials, private sector leaders, civil society organizations, academics, and international partners. Set against the vast backdrop of the Mongolian steppe, the forum created a fitting stage to discuss how the world can finance solutions to reverse land degradation and achieve land degradation neutrality (LDN).

Among the many conversations that took place, two events supported by the Sustainable Investments for Large-Scale Rangeland Restoration (STELARR) project stood out for their focus on dialogue and partnership building, essential ingredients if the world is to restore its rangelands.

Business4Land: Why Businesses Must Care About Soil and Steppe
On the first day of the forum, July 8, in Ulaanbaatar, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) convened a roundtable under its flagship initiative Business4Land (B4L). This initiative works to mobilize companies and financial institutions to act on land degradation and drought, helping them not only manage risks but also unlock new opportunities. At its heart is an ambitious global target: to restore 1.5 billion hectares of land by 2030, a milestone aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goal 15.3.

The conversations at the roundtable were candid and practical. Leaders spoke about the central role land plays in business and the economy. Executives from fashion house Loro Piana, which sources much of its cashmere from Mongolia, the Rangeland Stewardship Council, Sustainable Fibre Alliance and the Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia reminded participants that healthy rangelands are not a side issue, they are the very foundation of sustainable supply chains, from cashmere to meat and beyond.

Businesses called for clear policies, regulatory frameworks, and financial tools, green loans, land-based carbon credits, and others, that would reward sustainable practices and discourage harmful ones. There was a call for governments to change the "rules of the game," ensuring environmental costs are no longer invisible.

The roundtable ended on a high note with concrete commitments. Loro Piana announced that its parent company LVMH intends to join the B4L initiative. The Business Council of Mongolia (BCM) on its part pledged to bring Mongolian businesses into this growing global movement.

Investing in Rangelands: From Words to Action
The following day, July 9, the focus shifted from dialogue to financing. At the offices of the Business Council of Mongolia (BCM) the Rangeland Stewardship Council, together with BCM, UNCCD, and STELARR, hosted an investment roundtable to explore how capital can be directed toward rangeland regeneration and responsible management.

Mongolia's Minister of Environment and Climate Change, H.E. B. Batbaatar, opened the discussions by affirming the government's determination to address rangeland degradation through inclusive and innovative approaches. His remarks carried special resonance as Mongolia prepares to host the UNCCD COP17 in 2026, as one of the flagship events of the UN designated International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.

Around the table were influential voices, including Vivian Gut, Chief Sustainability Officer at Loro Piana, who highlighted the company's Resilient Threads project in Mongolia; Stewart Maginnis, Deputy Director General of IUCN; Houtan Bassiri from UNCCD; and Fiona Flintan of ILRI, who leads the STELARR project. The discussions went beyond theory. Participants examined innovative financing for sustainable cashmere, the adoption of a global rangelands standard as a compass for responsible investment, and the importance of aligning financial strategies with national development and climate ambitions. Above all, they emphasized the need for inclusive models that bring women, youth, indigenous peoples, and herder communities into the center of the picture, not as beneficiaries, but as partners.
Looking Beyond Mongolia

These two events underscored a simple but powerful truth: the private sector is no longer a bystander in the fight against land degradation. Businesses, governments, and communities are bound together by shared dependence on healthy rangelands. For Mongolia, where pastoral traditions and modern industries alike depend on the steppe, this partnership is especially urgent.
As the world looks ahead to the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists in 2026, the momentum created in Ulaanbaatar should offer hope to pastoralists worldwide who depend on these fragile ecosystems. The dialogues are beginning to translate into action, and commitments becoming investments.

Acknowledgment
These roundtables were supported by the STELARR project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), executed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI); alongside the Global Livestock Advocacy for Development (GLAD) project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. ILRI thanks all its donors for making this work possible.