Thank you, Mr. Alex Heikens (moderator), for giving me the floor!
Dear fellow panelists, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!
I am glad to be back at the historic city of Ulaanbaatar and thank the distinguished hosts for the traditional Mongolian hospitality extended to me and my delegation.
Primarily, let me express my utmost gratitude to the President of Mongolia, H.E. Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, for his leadership in championing this remarkable initiative, which represents a powerful and timely response to the environmental challenges confronting our region. It is quite symbolic that Mongolia hosts such an important Sustainability Dialogue on that occasion.
I am glad to see Mr. Ban Ki-moon and grateful to his foundation, along with
Mr. Gi-Wook Shin representing Stanford University, for co–organizing this crucial event.
Ladies and gentlemen, as we turn our focus to trees - billions of them - we recognize not only their importance as tools for climate mitigation but also as powerful symbols of regional unity, cooperation, and shared environmental responsibility. Mongolia’s “Billion Trees” campaign represents the kind of leadership and action-oriented vision we need more than ever in our region, where desertification, land degradation, and biodiversity loss continue to threaten the sustainability of our ecosystems and livelihoods.
Moreover, landlocked countries need more focus on these kinds of initiatives to sustain their economies as well. At the Seventh meeting of the CICA Ministerial Council in December 2024, Mongolia called on Member States to work closely with the International Think Tank for Landlocked Developing Countries based here in Ulaanbaatar. I was privileged to visit that institution in 2022 and believe that it provides valuable input to generate knowledge and analytical tools to overcome common challenges in connectivity. I have no doubt that landlocked countries could and should serve as land-linked bridges.
To meet all these and other challenges, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia – shortly, CICA – has all the necessary toolkit for its Member States to cooperate on a wide range of issues. Comprising 28 Member States whose territories cover 90% of Asia, CICA is a unique multilateral platform, and actually the only pan-Asian organization, giving equal opportunities to all its members to exchange best practices and make decisions based on consensus.
Our geography stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and from the Arctic to the Indian Ocean. So, CICA Member States come from various backgrounds. But at least one thing unites them all: they work together on a truly equal footing, regardless of their size.
At the 7th Ministerial Council meeting in December 2024, the CICA Chairmanship was handed over from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan for a two-year term. From the very outset, Azerbaijan outlined an ambitious set of priorities of its Chairmanship focusing our confidence-building measures on three pillars: connectivity, digitalization and sustainability. The latter one certainly echoes the framework for today’s forum – sustainability dialogue.
The successful presidency of COP29 by Azerbaijan has given renewed momentum to our shared climate and environmental agenda. Under the climate diplomacy leadership of H.E. President Ilham Aliyev, COP29 achieved groundbreaking outcomes for climate action, including climate finance for developing countries, adaptation, and full operationalization of carbon markets and the Fund for responding to loss and damage, among others. Moreover, through 14 global action agenda initiatives that the COP29 Presidency put forward, further contribution was made to strengthen collective climate efforts. This creates a valuable opportunity for CICA to further align with global climate priorities while developing its own regional model for green development.
To elaborate on the current efforts of CICA Member States within and beyond the environmental agenda, let me note that the Catalogue of CBMs covers 18 priority areas across five dimensions: military-political, economic, environmental, human, and new challenges and threats. Each priority area has a coordinator state and co-coordinators.
Out of these five dimensions, the environmental one is growing in relevance and urgency, and Mongolia serves as the coordinator of the Environment protection priority area, while Bangladesh and China are co-coordinators. This role reflects Mongolia’s longstanding commitment to building environmentally resilient communities across Asia and sharing its unique experiences in land restoration and ecosystem management. So, it is no coincidence that at the CICA Ministerial in December Mongolia initiated establishing a "Global Coalition on Sustainable Rangelands and Pastoralists for the Future". This is also a good example of a cross-dimensional approach promoted by the Chairmanship, as this initiative covers both environment and agriculture.
The environmental dimension prioritizes the exchange of best practices on national policies for environmental protection and sustainable development. These objectives align directly with the need for coordinated ecosystem restoration and tree-planting across our shared landscapes.
In this regard, I would like to inform that in April 2023 CICA Member States supported the initiative of the then Kazakh Chairmanship to open so called CICA Alleys in the capital cities of Member States. As the champion of the “Billion Trees” initiative, Ulaanbaatar might as well be an Asian capital, besides Astana, to launch such a noble eco-action by holding a tree-planting ceremony under the CICA logo as part of this broader initiative of the President.
Mongolia will host the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 2026, and I congratulate Mongolia on this significant event. Yet Ulaanbaatar’s leadership in this area is not new. Over the past decade, it has hosted and contributed to multiple milestone events within CICA, including the First Experts’ Meeting on Combating Desertification in Asia in Ulaanbaatar in 2011. That meeting laid the foundation for broader cooperation on dryland restoration.
Since then, CICA Member States have convened in Türkiye, China, Iran, Bangladesh, and Kazakhstan to build on this foundation through seminars, dialogues, and workshops focused on biodiversity conservation, dust control, eco-city design, and low-carbon development. For example, in July 2023, Bangladesh, with support from the CICA Secretariat, hosted a workshop on “Ecosystem Restoration in the Context of Climate and Other Vulnerability.” Experts from 15 CICA Member States—including Mongolia—came together to share knowledge on protecting vulnerable ecosystems such as wetlands, mangroves, forests, and coastal zones.
These kinds of confidence-building measures underscore the growing recognition that environment protection must be pursued through shared learning and collective action.
Ladies and gentlemen,
At the Sixth CICA Summit, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed convening a Ministerial Conference on Environmental Issues in Astana. This event was successfully held in August 2024 and culminated in the adoption of a High-level Statement. Key outcomes of the conference included strong commitments to climate mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity conservation, sustainable water management, pollution control, and the exchange of knowledge on sustainable practices. These outcomes laid a solid foundation for further cooperation and highlighted the need for institutionalizing environmental themes within the CICA platform to ensure joint action on environmental challenges.
In light of these developments, many CICA Member States are taking bold steps in this direction. For example, China’s “Great Green Wall” project has already changed the landscape of its northern regions, turning deserts into forests. India, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have all demonstrated innovative afforestation programs tailored to their local contexts and ecosystems. These examples demonstrate that reforestation is not just an environmental strategy – it is a regional necessity and a vehicle for cross-border cooperation. CICA’s vision for a sustainable future emphasizes supporting its Member States in transitioning to decarbonize their economies via these kinds of vital campaigns.
CICA Member States actively address environmental sustainability through international cooperation and high-profile initiatives. Tajikistan leads in water diplomacy within the UN, an Observer Organization of CICA, notably driving the International Decade for Action: Water for Sustainable Development (2018–2028). Just a week ago, Dushanbe hosted the International Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation to protect Central Asia’s glacial ecosystems. On the margins of this conference, Azerbaijan’s CICA Chairmanship, together with CICA Secretariat, organized a side event on "Water Security and Climate Resilience" to address environmental challenges in the region, to foster regional cooperation and to promote innovative solutions for water management and climate adaptation in CICA Member States.
Furthermore, CICA’s environmental agenda includes participating in these events to raise awareness among its Member States by organizing side events and panel sessions at global forums. For example, the World Environment Day, which will be held in Azerbaijan next year, will highlight climate change in the region and build on the legacy of COP29. Additionally, Kazakhstan will host the Regional Climate Summit in 2026 under UN auspices to align Central Asian climate policies. Finally, the 2026 UN Water Conference, co-hosted by the UAE and Senegal, will see CICA members advocate for transboundary water solutions.
Dear participants,
Trees are not merely an ecological intervention – they are a strategy for building peace, promoting economic resilience, and enhancing human well-being. They transcend borders and cultures, and they remind us that the health of our region depends on the health of our shared ecosystems. The “Billions of Trees” initiative is a timely and visionary call for action, and we at CICA are proud to stand alongside Mongolia and all our Member States in supporting its implementation.
I thank you.
