This document presents key findings from the National Dialogue on Water in Mongolia, which took place between October 2023 and December 2024. The Dialogue aimed to support actions to address Mongolia’s water sector challenges associated with increasing water demand by identifying:
Policy priorities, including priority areas for water-related investment,
Options to address financing needs and enhance financing capacities, and
Technologies and innovation in line with policy priorities, financing strategies and capacities.
The Dialogue was conducted under the overall supervision of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MECC). It has been facilitated by teams of experts from Asia Water Council (AWC) and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), who prepared this report. The report brings together findings from a literature review, a questionnaire filled out by various government institutions, workshops, a webinar, stakeholder interviews and focus group discussions. Strong engagement with stakeholders from across the country made this exercise a true dialogue.
Water policies around the world are in urgent need of reform and water challenges cannot be resolved all at once. This is also the case in Mongolia, with a range of policy and institutional challenges (Chapter 2). Demand for water is growing in Mongolia and water demand is projected to exceed current water supply by 2040 or even sooner. At the same time, water resources are under pressure due to aquifer depletion, climate change, and pollution. Water scarcity is likely to worsen in high-demand areas, for example in urbanised areas such as Ulaanbaatar, industrialised areas such as the Southern Gobi Desert, livestock grazing areas, and in areas with planned agricultural, industrial and energy developments.
To address those challenges, the Dialogue centred around the topic of water demand management, by highlighting recommendations on policies for improving water availability and managing water demand (Chapter 2), strategies to mobilise funding and finance for the sector (Chapter 3), and technologies for water information and human resources (Chapter 4),
To keep the momentum of the National Dialogue on Water, the main recommendations emerging from the report have been brought together under a prioritised action plan which is presented in Annex A.