Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, UNCCD COP17, 25 August 2026
Dear Vice-Minister Munkhtamir Batbayar,
Executive Director Dulguun Damdin-Od,
Your Excellency Mr. Odbayar Erdenetsogt,
Distinguished Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!
It is my honour and pleasure to join you at this important Ministerial Meeting.
At the outset, I sincerely thank the Government of Mongolia, the International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries – which I had a privilege to visit in 2022 – for inviting me and bringing us together around an issue of particular importance.
Mongolia’s leadership is especially meaningful. As a landlocked country itself and host of COP17, it brings to this discussion not only political commitment, but direct national experience of the interconnection between land degradation, drought, livelihoods, resilience and sustainable development.
As it was noted multiple times, countries like Mongolia can and should be not just landlocked, but land-linked. And the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) that I am privileged to represent is a handy tool for that. Let me explain why.
Our organization brings together 28 Member States covering 90% of the vast Asian continent. Among them are landlocked countries (six out of 32 LLDCs) with very different geographies, economies and development paths. Yet they share one fundamental reality: geography should not determine destiny.
Connectivity cannot be understood merely as building more roads, railways or transit corridors. To be truly sustainable, it must be secure, efficient, inclusive, resilient and environmentally responsible. It must reduce the economic costs of geography while strengthening, rather than undermining, the resilience of communities and ecosystems.
An idea of establishing a dedicated Council on Sustainable Connectivity as a CICA advisory body was put forth on the highest political level. The essence of that initiative remains highly relevant today: to promote dialogue and practical cooperation on resilient transport infrastructure, multimodal corridors, digitalized logistics, environmentally sustainable mobility and smoother trade and transit flows.
But sustainable connectivity is broader than infrastructure. It supports trade and economic opportunity, mobility of people, knowledge and technology, people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges. In this sense, connectivity is not simply a means of moving goods from one place to another — it is an enabler of sustainable development, regional integration and confidence among nations.
And for landlocked countries, sustainable connectivity means connecting land with livelihoods, resilience with infrastructure, and environmental responsibility with economic opportunity.
So, developing this theme, in May 2025 on the margins of Kazan Forum, the Russian Federation hosted a Conference on Transport and Logistics Potential of the CICA Member States, focusing on intermodal transportation as a driver of economic growth, focusing on regional interconnectivity and advancing economic cooperation across the CICA region.
An important milestone in this area that is coming up soon is the CICA Conference of Heads of Ports to be convened in Baku by the current Azerbaijani Chairmanship on 9-10 September, which will gather not only port authorities, but also government officials responsible for transport, logistics, maritime affairs and environment, as well as relevant companies and international organizations and partners. It will focus on promoting green transport, green logistics and green ports, with an emphasis on environmental sustainability and innovative technologies, while strengthening cooperative ties, sharing best practices and advancing port connectivity initiatives under the CICA framework.
This cross-sectoral agenda aligns with a vibrant and ambitious set of priorities of the Chairmanship revolving around the topic “Stronger CICA, connectivity, digitalization and sustainable growth in Asia.”
The relevance and demand for this approach was clearly demonstrated earlier this year through the Second Termez Dialogue on Connectivity between Central and South Asia in June 2026, championed by H.E. President Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan. The main event of the forum was a High-Level Plenary Session entitled “Political Dialogue and Economic Connectivity as Foundations for Sustainable Development in the CICA Region.” The discussion brought together Member States, international and regional organizations, expert institutions and development partners around a very practical agenda: transport and logistics, digitalization, trade facilitation, energy security, green development and interregional cooperation. What made the Termez Dialogue particularly valuable was that connectivity was understood in its full sense. Participants linked infrastructure and trade with climate resilience, political dialogue, cultural and humanitarian cooperation, and people-to-people interaction.
This is also why today’s discussion on land degradation, desertification and drought matters so much for the connectivity agenda.
A transport corridor cannot be considered sustainable if the communities along it face declining water availability, degraded land and disappearing livelihoods. Likewise, land restoration and climate resilience cannot be sustained without access to markets, finance, technology, knowledge and regional partnerships.
The two agendas must reinforce one another.
This is precisely where regional platforms can complement the work of the United Nations. CICA can help connect national experiences, subregional initiatives and global processes — and turn political dialogue into practical cooperation.
The multiple events and efforts of CICA Member States that I outlined demonstrated that this is possible. And COP17 provides an important opportunity to ensure that environmental resilience becomes an integral part of how we understand connectivity and development across our continent.
Excellencies,
Landlocked should never mean disconnected.
CICA stands ready to contribute to this effort in partnership with Mongolia and UN entities, the International Think Tank for LLDCs and all interested partners.
I thank you.
