The past two weeks in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, have brought climate, land and biodiversity issues close to the business agenda, as governments, investors and companies gathered for the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP17.

The meeting, which ran from August 17 to 28, also provided a glimpse of what the 2026 “triple COP” year could mean for companies as environmental negotiations move from land to biodiversity and finally climate.

Kenya participated in discussions on drought resilience, land restoration and financing. For Kenya, the issues negotiated in Ulaanbaatar touched agriculture, livestock, tourism, water, infrastructure and finance.

The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) estimates that land degradation, desertification and drought cost the global economy $878 billion annually. Up to 40 percent of the world’s land is degraded.

For businesses, the biggest shift is the growing importance of environmental data. A bank financing agriculture needs to know how drought could affect a farmer’s ability to settle a loan. An insurer needs information on exposure to floods and drought.

Kenya is putting some of this infrastructure in place. In April 2025, the CBK issued the Kenya Green Finance Taxonomy and Climate Risk Disclosure Framework for banking. The taxonomy is designed to help financial institutions assess whether economic activities support climate objectives, while the disclosure framework seeks to make climate-related information more consistent and comparable for investors and other users.

That means the data discussed in Ulaanbaatar is increasingly becoming relevant to decisions being made in Kenyan boardrooms and banks. The quality of information on drought, water stress, land degradation and climate exposure will increasingly influence how capital is allocated and how financial risks are assessed.

That was visible at COP17, where the UNCCD’s Business4Land platform pushed for better information on land and soil health to help companies and investors make decisions.

The financing gap is also important. UNCCD says about $355 billion is needed annually between 2025 and 2030 to meet global land-restoration and drought-resilience targets. The current investment is about $77 billion a year.

That gap represents a problem for governments but also an opportunity for businesses. A drought does not stop at the farm gate. It can reduce livestock and crop production, increase food prices, weaken family incomes and affect manufacturers, retailers, banks, transporters and insurers.

As the triple COP year moves from Mongolia to Armenia and Türkiye, the companies that understand their dependence on land, water, climate and biodiversity and have the data to measure those risks, may be better placed to protect their supply chains, attract capital and compete in the economy that is emerging.

The same applies to degraded soils and disappearing ecosystems. Rangelands cover 54 percent of the Earth’s terrestrial surface, support the livelihoods of about 500 million pastoralists and contribute to the food and value chains on which billions more people depend.

For Kenya, where agriculture and livestock remain major economic activities, this makes investment in resilience increasingly a business decision rather than simply an environmental one.

There is also a growing market around the response. Agroforestry can improve farm productivity while restoring degraded land. Better water management can reduce exposure to scarcity. Sustainable livestock systems can strengthen value chains while protecting rangelands. Restoration projects can create new investment opportunities where credible data, financing mechanisms and markets exist.

The remaining two COPs this year will widen the conversation. The Convention on Biological Diversity COP17 in Armenia in October will focus on implementation of the global biodiversity framework, while the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change COP31 in Türkiye in November will take forward discussions on climate finance, adaptation and other issues directly relevant to investment.

For Kenyan companies, the lesson from Ulaanbaatar is therefore not simply that another environmental COP has taken place; it is that land, climate and biodiversity risks are increasingly financial risks.

Companies will need better information about their exposure to drought, floods, water stress and degraded ecosystems, while investors will need clearer evidence about which businesses are building resilience and which remain exposed.

As the triple COP year moves from Mongolia to Armenia and Türkiye, the companies that understand their dependence on land, water, climate and biodiversity, and have the data to measure those risks, may be better placed to protect their supply chains, attract capital and compete in the economy that is emerging.