Road to COP17: Virtual Global Youth Engagement Series
Session 2 | From Riyadh to Ulaanbaatar: Understanding the Road Already Travelled
Background:
Before young people can articulate what they want to see at COP17, they need to understand what has already been agreed. The Road to COP17: Virtual Global Youth Engagement Series is designed as a connecting journey, moving participants from awareness through to participation readiness, and this Session 2: From Riyadh to Ulaanbaatar: Understanding the Road Already Traveled is essential contextual foundation. Without a clear understanding of the commitments, decisions, and political processes that have shaped the road from Riyadh to Ulaanbaater, youth engagement risks being disconnected from the policy landscape it seeks to influence.
COP16 in Riyadh was the largest UNCCD COP to date. It adopted 39 decisions, mobilised over USD 12 billion in pledges, launched the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, strengthened the Convention's Science-Policy Interface, and recognised new caucuses for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. It also introduced the Convention's first-ever Action Agenda, a platform mobilising voluntary commitments from governments, business, finance, cities, and civil society, facilitated by Ambition Loop at the invitation of the COP16 Presidency. Questions left unresolved in Riyadh, including the development of a global drought regime, are now carried into Ulaanbaatar, shaping the terrain that young people will encounter at COP17.
This session closes the knowledge gap that so often limits meaningful youth participation in multilateral processes. As the second session of the Road to COP17 series, it contextualises the Riyadh–Ulaanbaatar Action Agenda in simple, accessible language. It is not a technical training session but rather a guided reading of the road already traveled, delivered in conversation with Ambition Loop.
Speakers:
Wangu Mwangi, Senior Adviser/Programmes Lead, Land and Soil Loop, Ambition Loop
Audrey S-Darko, Co-Focal Points for Sustainable Land Management and Restoration, UNCCD Youth Caucus
Daniela Solis, Co-Focal Points for Sustainable Land Management and Restoration, UNCCD Youth Caucus and Coordinator of the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH)