From Wealth to Wellbeing: Mongolia's Next Development Chapter

When people speak about Mongolia, they often point to its vast mineral wealth.

And rightly so. Mongolia's natural resources have helped drive economic growth, increase exports and elevate the country into upper-middle-income status. Yet there is another reality that deserves equal attention. Too many Mongolians remain excluded from the opportunities that growth has created. Poverty persists. Development outcomes vary dramatically between urban and rural areas. Entire communities remain vulnerable to climate shocks, land degradation and limited access to quality services. These inequalities are also reflected in access to health, education and opportunities to realize one's full potential.

As the United Nations and the Government of Mongolia begin shaping the next United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for 2028-2032, I believe the central question before us is simple: How can Mongolia transform its mineral wealth, natural capital and human potential into shared prosperity that reaches every community and leaves no one behind?

For me, the answer begins with a clear ambition: helping the remaining quarter of Mongolia's population who continue to experience poverty and multidimensional deprivation build pathways to dignified and resilient livelihoods. Recent analysis shows that more than one quarter of Mongolians experience multidimensional poverty, with poverty concentrated particularly in rural and remote areas. Importantly, many households live only just above or below the poverty threshold, meaning that smart policy choices and targeted investments could dramatically improve people's lives. Such investments must also strengthen the health, education and skills that enable people to participate fully in economic opportunity.

This is not fundamentally a story about poverty reduction. It is a story about expanding people's choices. Opportunity is ultimately about people having the health, knowledge, skills and confidence needed to shape their own futures.

Mongolia possesses extraordinary assets. It has mineral resources sought by the world. It has some of the planet's most spectacular landscapes. It has a rich nomadic culture and globally significant biodiversity. It has a young population full of talent and ambition. The challenge is not whether Mongolia has opportunities. The challenge is ensuring those opportunities benefit more people, in more places, for generations to come.

That is why economic diversification must be at the heart of Mongolia's next development chapter. This diversification should also accelerate Mongolia's transition towards renewable energy and a greener, more resilient economy.

Mining will remain an important pillar of the economy. However, mining alone cannot create sufficient opportunities for all Mongolians, nor should the country's future prosperity depend entirely on commodity cycles. The revenues generated by mining provide a unique opportunity to invest in the sectors that can create jobs, reduce inequality and strengthen resilience. A share of this wealth should be invested in people through better education, health and skills, helping build the foundation for a diversified and resilient economy.

One of those sectors is livestock and agriculture.

For centuries, herder communities have sustained Mongolia's culture, economy and landscapes. Yet many herder households face increasing pressures from climate change, desertification, dzud, declining pasture quality and limited access to markets and services. Too often, migration to urban areas is driven not by choice but by necessity.

The goal should not be to prevent mobility. People should always be free to pursue opportunities wherever they choose. Rather, our ambition should be to ensure that herders and rural communities have genuine choices.

That means improving access to quality healthcare, education, digital connectivity and social protection in rural areas. It means harnessing digital transformation, mobile services and innovative approaches that help overcome Mongolia's vast distances and bring opportunities closer to people, wherever they live.

It also means helping rural communities capture more value from what they already produce.

Too much of Mongolia's wealth leaves the countryside in raw form. The future lies not simply in producing more wool, cashmere, meat or milk, but in creating higher-value products and stronger value chains. Milk can become cheese and dairy products. Wool can become premium garments. Leather can become internationally competitive brands. Meat can become processed products serving domestic and export markets. Value addition creates jobs, increases incomes and allows more wealth to remain within local communities.

At the same time, resilience requires healthier ecosystems. The future prosperity of herder communities depends on the future health of Mongolia's rangelands. In many areas, this means improving pasture management, reducing pressure on degraded land, strengthening herd composition and adopting more sustainable husbandry practices. Healthy rangelands are not only an environmental objective. They are the foundation of livelihoods, food security and economic resilience.

This brings me to a second conviction.

Mongolia's future cannot be built solely around people. It must also be built around nature.

Hosting UNCCD COP17 was a reminder that land restoration is about far more than environmental protection. Restoring land means restoring livelihoods, resilience, dignity and hope. Healthy ecosystems underpin water security, food systems, biodiversity, climate resilience and economic opportunity. People and nature do not compete. They rise or fall together.

Mongolia has an extraordinary opportunity to position itself as a global leader in nature-positive development.

Its vast steppes, unique wildlife, migratory corridors and protected areas represent assets of immense ecological and economic value. Protecting these landscapes is an investment in future generations. It is also an investment in high-value, low-volume tourism that can generate sustainable livelihoods while preserving the character and beauty that make Mongolia unique.

The choices Mongolia makes regarding land use, infrastructure and mining will therefore be critical.

Mining can continue to drive growth. But it must be environmentally and socially responsible, with strong labour standards and decent work opportunities for those employed across the sector. Decisions about where and how mining occurs should be informed by science, long-term planning and the value of natural ecosystems. Economic opportunities created today should not come at the expense of biodiversity, water resources or future tourism potential. Sustainable development requires balancing immediate gains with long-term prosperity.

The good news is that Mongolia does not have to choose between development and environmental stewardship.

The conversations emerging from COP17, the Steppe Action Agenda and the stakeholder consultations for the next Cooperation Framework point to a different path: one that integrates land restoration, climate resilience, livelihoods, biodiversity conservation and economic transformation. One that recognizes that restoring landscapes can strengthen communities and that reducing poverty can go hand in hand with protecting nature.

Achieving this vision will require more than investment alone. It will require coherent policies, strong institutions and effective coordination across sectors. This is where partnerships and the next Cooperation Framework can help translate ambition into results.

The United Nations stands ready to support that vision.

Not by providing Mongolia's answers, but by helping bring partners together, supporting policy reforms, mobilizing expertise and investment, and strengthening the institutions needed to turn ambition into action.

My hope for the next Cooperation Framework is therefore ambitious but achievable:

• A Mongolia where mineral wealth is transformed into human development through quality education, good health and opportunities for all.
• A Mongolia where women and men share equally in opportunity, leadership and the benefits of growth.
• A Mongolia where rural communities thrive because they have choices and opportunities.
• A Mongolia where healthy rangelands support resilient livelihoods.
• A Mongolia where biodiversity, wildlife and landscapes are protected for future generations.
• A Mongolia where economic growth becomes more inclusive, diversified and sustainable.
• And ultimately, a Mongolia where prosperity reaches every community and no one is left behind.

This is the development journey that, in my view, should define Mongolia's next chapter. And it is a journey the United Nations is proud to support.