On September 22, President of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh delivered a statement at the General Debate of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly. He expressed Mongolia’s position on pressing issues of international relations, such as climate change.
During his speech, the president said that the most effective way to reduce climate change and desertification is to plant trees, and announced that Mongolia will launch a new movement aimed to plant billions of trees by 2030.
“Correctly diagnosing the causes of climate change is the key to mitigating its consequences. We have not made much effort to treat our Mother Nature properly, which has led to today’s environmental catastrophe,” he said.
President U.Khurelsukh continued, “During the lockdown, we saw some positive changes, such as rapid ozone replenishment, reduction of environmental pollution and recovery of nature and ecosystems around the world. This shows that people need to change their attitude towards nature and take real steps to achieve results.”
He emphasized that Mongolians have always worshiped nature, mountains and water and believe that people receive energy from them. Desertification and dust storms, which threaten the livelihoods of more than 2 billion people around the world, are a major problem for Mongolians. Today, a significant part of Mongolia’s territory is affected to some extent by desertification and land degradation, President U.Khurelsukh stated.
“Let’s learn from the traditional methods of nomadic civilization created by Mongolians to treat nature properly, and let’s fight against climate change together with modern scientific and technological achievements and traditional experiences of other nations,” he added.
POLAND TO REOPEN EMBASSY IN UB
On September 21, President U.Khurelsukh met President of Poland Andrzej Duda to discuss relations and cooperation between the countries.
President U.Khurelsukh thanked Poland for attaching great significance to its relations with Mongolia and deciding to reopen its embassy in Ulaanbaatar.
The president voiced readiness to maintain the current frequency of high-level visits and strengthen the long-standing friendly relations between the two countries in all sectors of common interest. He said he wanted the intergovernmental commission to discuss joint implementation of projects and programs, particularly cooperation in supporting export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises through assistance of advanced technologies.
President Duda said the Polish side will soon make a high level visit to Mongolia to officially open its embassy and proposed expanding relations and cooperation through scientific and youth exchange programs.
COOPERATION WITH UNDP DISCUSSED
On the same day, President U.Khurelsukh met Administrator of United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Achim Steiner to discuss cooperation and future plans.
The president thanked the UNDP for its cooperation in fighting the pandemic and mitigating its consequences. He noted that in the next four years, Mongolia aims to focus on poverty reduction, good governance, combat against desertification and climate change, green tourism, renewable energy, women’s empowerment, gender equality and digital transition.
Steiner said that some agreements on green development have been reached and signed with the government of Mongolia. He added that the UNDP is willing to cooperate by supporting initiatives and proposal of the Mongolian president.
