The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s (SDSN) COP Resource Hub is your guide to preparing for the three Conferences of the Parties (COPs) on desertification (UNCCD COP17), biodiversity (CBD COP17), and climate (UNFCCC COP31). Designed for stakeholders across sectors, this Hub brings together key insights, practical tools, and opportunities to engage, helping the SDSN community navigate the COP process, understand priority issues, and contribute to meaningful, coordinated action.
In 2026, the SDSN will engage in the three major global COPs. Together, these meetings offer a critical opportunity to advance more integrated approaches to climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation, while addressing shared challenges in financing, implementation, and global cooperation.
The 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification will take place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Under the theme “Restoring Land. Restoring Hope,” the conference will focus on tackling land degradation and advancing sustainable land management.
The 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will be held in Yerevan, Armenia. With the theme “Taking action for nature,” it will review progress on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and accelerate biodiversity commitments.
The 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will take place in Antalya, Türkiye. Hosted by Türkiye, with Australia serving as the President of Negotiations and the Pacific hosting pre-COP, the conference — deemed the “Implementation COP” and the “COP of the Future” — will focus on accelerating the global energy transition, strengthening emissions reduction targets for 2035, and advancing new partnership models for climate action.
This year will be a decisive test of global commitment — where pledges to protect vulnerable regions, scale climate finance, and accelerate a just energy transition must translate into measurable action. The negotiations held in Mongolia, Armenia, and Türkiye will shape climate, restoration, and biodiversity sustainable development pathways well beyond 2030, making this moment critical for turning ambition into reality.
For the upcoming COPs on desertification, biodiversity, and climate, the SDSN is mobilizing its network around the following priorities.
Accelerate a Clean Energy Transition
The SDSN supports the UN Secretary-General’s call to advance a just, orderly, and equitable energy transition by expanding electrification, tripling renewable energy capacity, and doubling energy efficiency.
Scale-Up Climate Finance
The SDSN is advancing innovative financing mechanisms to help mobilize the USD 1.3 trillion annually needed for climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.
Conserve & Advance Sustainable Development in Tropical Forests
The SDSN promotes science-based approaches to forest conservation and restoration, interweaving scientific, Indigenous, and Local Knowledge across the Amazon, Congo Basin, and Borneo.
Transform Our Food & Land-Use Systems
The SDSN advances integrated approaches to food systems and land-use transformation, supporting evidence-based policymaking to align agriculture, biodiversity, nutrition, water, trade, and climate objectives.
Expand Education & Youth Leadership for Sustainable Development
The SDSN promotes education for sustainable development and empowers students, educators, and young leaders with the knowledge, skills, and networks needed to accelerate evidence-based climate action and sustainable development
Strengthen National & Regional Climate Action
The SDSN is mobilizing its networks to support the implementation of ambitious and integrated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
As the global climate agenda moves from pledges to implementation, COP31 in Türkiye will be a defining moment for advancing a just and equitable energy transition. Building on the outcomes of the UNFCCC COP30 in Belém, Brazil, and the first Global Stocktake, negotiations in 2026 are expected to focus on accelerating the deployment of clean energy, strengthening energy security, and enhancing resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Momentum continues to build around efforts to transition energy systems toward cleaner and more sustainable sources. Key priorities include increasing electricity’s share of global final energy consumption from just over 20% today to 35% by 2035 ("35x35"), tripling renewable energy capacity, and doubling energy efficiency improvement rates by 2030. Supporting this implementation agenda, 57 countries reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating a just energy transition at the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in April 2026. As governments increasingly connect energy security, economic development, and climate goals, support for these targets continues to grow. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated during the 2026 London Climate Action Week, “the renewables revolution is well underway.”
At COP30, 195 parties adopted the Belém Package, which established the first dedicated just transition mechanism, advanced guidance for the Global Goal on Adaptation, and outlined a pathway toward mobilizing USD 1.3 trillion annually in climate finance by 2035. Complementing these outcomes, the Mutirão Decision introduced implementation-focused initiatives, such as the Global Implementation Accelerator and the Belém Mission to 1.5°C, to support countries in delivering their NDCs and NAPs. In June 2026, the Brazilian COP30 Presidency also advanced a roadmap to support the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly, and equitable manner.
Financing this transition remains critical, particularly for emerging markets and developing economies working to modernize grids, deploy storage, expand renewable energy, and strengthen energy efficiency. As climate impacts intensify and global energy demand continues to rise, COP31 presents a key opportunity to translate the Belém outcomes into action.
Climate finance remains a defining issue — and defining barrier — across the multilateral agenda. As countries move from negotiation to implementation, attention is increasingly focused on how governments, financial institutions, and the private sector can mobilize financing at the speed and scale required. The SDSN is actively exploring innovative financing mechanisms and funding sources to help meet the USD 1.3 trillion annual target for climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries, while global negotiations continue to focus on scaling financial instruments to bridge the climate finance gap.
UNCCD COP17 is expected to highlight the urgent need to scale investment in drought resilience, sustainable land management, and ecosystem restoration. With land restoration estimated to require nearly USD 1 billion per day, ministers, development banks, and private sector leaders will focus on unlocking large-scale investment and closing the financing gap.
Similarly, CBD COP17 will serve as a key stocktake of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with a strong focus on aligning financial flows with biodiversity goals. As biodiversity loss accelerates, discussions are expected to emphasize the growing importance of mobilizing institutional capital for nature, adaptation, and resilience.
At COP31, closing the gap between global climate targets and national implementation will remain a central priority. Alongside efforts to operationalize the pathway toward USD 1.3 trillion annually in climate finance by 2035, the Global Implementation Accelerator — launched at COP30 under the joint leadership of the COP30 and COP31 Presidencies — aims to support countries in delivering their NDCs and NAPs.
Following COP30 — the first ever UNFCCC COP held in the Amazon rainforest — tropical forests remain a central issue for climate negotiators. In the lead-up to COP31 in Türkiye, the Brazilian COP30 Presidency has advanced a roadmap for halting and reversing deforestation, drawing on contributions from a range of stakeholders, including the SDSN’s Science Panel for the Amazon, which provided inputs to the Presidency’s emerging roadmap. This roadmap is expected to help shape negotiations on forest protection, land use, and climate mitigation at COP31.
Tropical forests will also feature prominently at the UNCCD COP17 and CBD COP17. As forest ecosystems approach critical tipping points linked to biodiversity loss, desertification, and land degradation, UNCCD COP17 is expected to emphasize land restoration and land degradation neutrality, while CBD COP17 will review progress on forest and biodiversity targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Together, these three COPs represent critical opportunities to advance tropical forest connectivity as a key strategy for conserving ecosystems, supporting sustainable development, and strengthening climate resilience. They also provide an important platform to highlight Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ knowledge systems, which are essential for effective and equitable tropical forest governance.
The SDSN will contribute to these objectives by supporting science-based policymaking through its Science Panels for the Amazon (SPA), Congo Basin (SPCB), and Borneo (SPB). Building on the momentum generated by the announcement of their flagship Assessment Reports, the panels aim to advance evidence-based solutions, innovative financing mechanisms, and stronger international cooperation for tropical forest conservation. Through their engagement at UNCCD COP17, CBD COP17, and COP31, they will work to strengthen the scientific foundations of policy discussions and accelerate collective action to protect the world’s tropical forests.
Food and land use systems are increasingly being recognized as a shared leverage point for development goals, requiring coordinated action across climate, biodiversity, and desertification agendas.
At UNCCD COP17, the urgent need to restore degraded soils will be a central focus, as a foundation for global food security and rural livelihoods. With food demand set to rise by 50% by 2050 and land degradation driven largely by food systems, discussions will link soil restoration to productivity, resilience, and sustainable agriculture.
At CBD COP17, agrifood systems are expected to be recognized as key entry points for implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Progress on biodiversity will depend on transforming food systems through scaled-up implementation of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), including ecosystem restoration, biodiversity-friendly practices, pollution reduction, and sustainable land and forest management.
In Türkiye, the COP31 agenda will focus on addressing acute food insecurity affecting approximately 318 million people due to climate shocks, while transforming food systems that account for one-third of global emissions but receive only around 4% of climate finance. Key priorities include strengthening the food–water–climate nexus, financing women farmers, empowering youth, and building climate-resilient agriculture.
Last year, a decade after the Paris Agreement, 138 countries submitted updated NDCs, setting 2035 targets and strengthening 2030 goals that will undoubtedly color the upcoming negotiations.
At CBD COP17, national implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework will be assessed through the 7th National Reports, submitted by 125 countries representing nearly two-thirds of Parties to the Convention. These reports will inform the first collective stocktake of biodiversity progress and guide stronger alignment between national policy and global biodiversity targets.
At COP31, implementation will be reinforced through initiatives launched under the COP30–COP31 leadership, including the Global Implementation Accelerator, which supports countries in delivering their NDCs and NAPs. The FINI initiative (Fostering Investible National Implementation) is also helping make NAPs investible by mobilizing governments, development banks, insurers, and private capital to unlock USD 1 trillion in adaptation pipelines and increase private sector participation.
These processes underscore the importance of scaling implementation capacity at the country level. In tandem, the SDSN currently mobilizes over 2,100 member institutions and supports several regional climate projects to translate global commitments into measurable national and regional action.
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