This side event will explore how synergies across the Rio Conventions (UNCCD, UNFCCC, CBD) can transform biodiversity and land-related commitments into investment-ready action on the ground. Using Mongolia, Central Asian countries, and Rwanda as pioneering country cases, the session will demonstrate how ecosystem restoration and sustainable land management can support implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and respective National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), while contributing to the other Rio Conventions and national implementation plans (Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs)), as well as to livelihoods, and food security.

Progress toward KMGBF Target 1 has been reviewed in the Global Report on Collective Progress in the Implementation of the KMGBF, showing gains but also persistent challenges in achieving full coverage of biodiversity-inclusive spatial plans, protecting areas of high biodiversity importance, and ensuring integrated and participatory processes. As IPBES develops methodological guidance by 2028, the Rio Convention synergies process, including a potential joint work plan and capacity-building, could help strengthen knowledge and data exchange for more effective spatial planning.

The event will present the results from the “Economics of Rio Synergies Project” in Mongolia, financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), combining the Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative’s Rio Synergies approach with FAO’s Integrated Land Use Planning Approach (ILUP). Discussions will focus on integrated spatial planning, joint monitoring and reporting systems, and coordinated institutional processes that can reduce duplication, improve policy coherence, and mobilize finance for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable land management. By demonstrating how integrated planning and economics can align biodiversity, land, and climate objectives, the event aims to catalyze partnerships and investments that support implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and Rio Convention commitments.

Expected outcomes include clearer policy and investment entry points for integrated implementation of the Rio Conventions, a stronger understanding of the economic benefits of integrated biodiversity and land-based action, and practical lessons from Mongolia with relevance for other countries.

The target audience will include senior representatives from governments, research institutions, donors, civil society, and the private sector.