UN Resident Coordinator meets Minister for Environment and Tourism

The UN in Mongolia has been a long-term partner in the environment sector of Mongolia. At the meeting, Mr. Mishra had the opportunity to explain the UN development system reform aimed at better-integrated coordination of the UN system in the country.

He conveyed his interests to further strengthen the existing partnerships in the environment and tourism sector in Mongolia. He expressed his appreciation for Mongolia’s commitment to the reduction of greenhouse emission by 27.2 per cent and emphasized the importance of better and improved coordination among all stakeholders to achieve this ambitious goal.

The Minister for Environment and Tourism N. Urtnasan expressed her gratitude for the long-term support from the UN agencies in the environmental protection, sustainable consumption and rehabilitation for use of natural resources. She shared her vision to make Mongolia green by encouraging the Mongolian public to plant trees not only in Ulaanbaatar but also in all provinces. It would require strong commitment and participation from the public to care and nurture the trees, she assured.

Furthermore, she also highlighted the sectoral priorities including addressing water scarcity especially in Gobi region, forestation and revival of the tourism sector that has been hit hard by the pandemic. The tourism sector has suffered a loss of est. 1.5 trillion tugrics and more than 88,000 jobs are at risk.

In 2021, Mongolia received the green recovery fund for nature-based solutions for COVID-19 recovery and green jobs creation through ecological and cultural tourism, to be implemented by UNDP, UNIDO and ILO.  

UN’s Resident Coordinator highlighted the UN’s support through the Partnership Action for Green Economy (PAGE) to implement energy subsidy study in Mongolia and prepare recommendations for a reform plan in the energy sector.

The UN system is implementing about 10 projects in the environment and tourism sector in Mongolia. Mr. Mishra mentioned that this week two UN agencies (UNDP and FAO) are expecting to sign the new projects on Land Degradation and Biodiversity funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) with the MET this week.