U.S. Veto Stalls Global Drought Deal at UN Desertification Summit
At the UN desertification conference in Ulaanbaatar, the United States vetoed language on gender, civil society and Indigenous participation, pushing a worldwide drought agreement back to the 2028 summit in Egypt.
The UN Convention to Combat Desertification gathered in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where a U.S. delegate declined to explain the country's absence from the climate COP while taking an active role in land-degradation discussions. The United States pushed the toughest stance, rejecting African nations’ demand for a financing protocol and blocking the inclusion of previously agreed terms on gender, civil-society and Indigenous peoples, leading participants to dub the omitted wording “Voldemort words.”
Consequently, the global drought agreement was deferred to COP18 in Egypt, though the summit retained drought as a standalone agenda item and approved accords on sand and dust storms, private-sector involvement and grasslands. A $1.3 billion financing package and a new Drought Resilience Investment Fund targeting up to €345 million were announced, with Brazil pledging extensive land restoration. Indigenous leader Hindou Ibrahim protested the U.S. veto, while experts warned that droughts have risen 29 % since 2000, costing at least €260 billion annually. The event highlighted the clash between multilateral goals and the United States’ reluctance to endorse broader social provisions.
Why it matters
U.S. opposition hampers global coordination on drought mitigation, risking greater water scarcity and economic loss.
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