News & Key Milestones
COP17 Side Event: Restoring Land, Securing Futures: Carbon Farming in Greater Central Asia, Organized by IIASA & UNCCD
August 22nd, 2026
Background
Link for online participation.
Dryland countries across Greater Central Asia face mounting pressures from land degradation, climate change, biodiversity loss and rising demands on their agricultural systems. At the same time, the region holds considerable potential to enhance soil carbon sequestration, restore degraded landscapes, strengthen rural livelihoods and contribute to global climate and sustainable development goals.
Over the past year, IIASA and UNCCD have jointly carried out a regional feasibility assessment on carbon farming in Greater Central Asia. The resulting report examines the opportunities, constraints, enabling conditions and financing pathways for scaling carbon farming and land restoration across the region.
This side event officially launches the report and offers a platform for dialogue among policymakers, development partners, researchers and practitioners on how to turn emerging evidence into concrete action with particular attention to national policy frameworks, monitoring and reporting systems, regional partnerships for implementation, and opportunities for mobilizing finance.
Objectives
present the key findings and recommendations of the joint IIASA–UNCCD report
- gather national and regional perspectives on the opportunities, risks and enablingconditions for carbon farming
- explore practical financing pathways and investment opportunities emerging from thereport
identify concrete next steps towards a regional partnership for implementation.
