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Climate Change Impact Reduction in Mongolia: Insights from Future Earth Asia’s Latest Webinar

The third Future Earth Asia webinar series was held on October 8, with speakers from the Future Earth Mongolian National Committee, on the theme of “Climate change impact reduction through transdisciplinary models.” This webinar series is organized by the Future Earth Asia Regional Committee to learn about the initiatives of consortium members that make up the community to foster future collaborations.

Dr. Suvdantsetseg Balt, Mongolian Academy of Sciences and Future Earth Mongolian National Committee, moderated the webinar.

Dr. Battogtokh Dorjgotov, Chair of Future Earth Mongolian Committee / Ministry of Economic Development of Mongolia, spoke about the transdisciplinary research model as a sustainable development model.” He introduced that Mongolia has a vast land area with a very diverse landscape (arid land, steppe, etc.) and that the livelihoods of its people are also diverse and so are the challenges posed to nature and people by climate change.

Dr. Dorigotov also introduced the key recommendations that emerged from the national review of the implementation of the SDGs, which inspired the engagement of stakeholders in the research and actions towards sustainability. He then overviewed the concept and model of transdisciplinary research being conducted in Mongolia and explained that these studies question two major issues: How to overcome natural disasters and difficult socioeconomic situations, and how to develop an inclusive and knowledge-based economy in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Dr. Dashtseren Avirmed, Member of the Future Earth National Committee and Director of the Institute of Geography and Geoecology (IGG), Mongolian Academy of Sciences, gave a presentation on “challenges of natural components changes through environmental monitoring networks and transdisciplinary research in Mongolia.”

He emphasized that Mongolia, with its dynamic diversity of zones and sub-zones, such as tundra, steppe, and desert, is highly sensitive to the effects of climate change and human activity. Among the various challenges, he explained the critical situations and future predictions based on data obtained from many IGG monitoring sites, with a focus on global warming, the degradation of permafrost and glaciers, desertification, and water shortages.

Two cases of transdisciplinary research were introduced. The first project aimed to assess the vulnerability of the livestock sector in grasslands and create adaptation strategies and development policies. Local herders and decision makers also participated in the project, and they discussed how to balance the conservation of grassland ecosystems and sustainable development, and made policy recommendations. The second project, which aims to halt desertification, is being carried out with the participation of state-run companies and local people and decision-makers in the province.