Attachments
CONTEXT
- Mongolia is prone to frequent extreme weather events such as droughts, dust storms, flash floods, forest fires, and dzuds, a Mongolian term to describe harsh winter conditions that can lead to large-scale livestock deaths.
- Recurring droughts in Mongolia severely hinder the production of staple crops—including animal fodder, barley, oats, potatoes, vegetables, and wheat—and negatively affect the livelihoods of many rural communities who rely on agricultural production as a primary source of household income.
- Approximately 30 percent of Mongolia’s population consists of nomadic pastoralists residing in remote rural areas and dependent on livestock rearing, which often provides a household’s entire income and approximately 30 percent of its food source. As such, these populations remain particularly vulnerable to climate-related shocks, such as severe dzud during winter seasons in recent years. For example, dzud conditions between November 2023 and March 2024 resulted in the deaths of approximately 7.2 million livestock, or approximately 11 percent of the country-wide herd, representing the worst such event since 2010, according to the UN.
- Over the past decade, many nomadic herders have lost their livestock during dzuds and subsequently migrated to urban centers in search of other livelihood opportunities. As of 2020, approximately half of Mongolia’s population resided in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. The rapid urbanization of cities across Mongolia has resulted in a proliferation of informal urban settlements and worsening air pollution, placing additional pressure on the country’s already-fragile ecosystem. Pasture degradation, poverty, as well as climate variability and extreme weather events increase disaster risks for the growing populations of Mongolian cities.