Context

Agricultural methane emissions account for 40% of overall global methane emissions (Global Methane Assessment, 2021). Within agriculture, land-based sources represent both a significant emissions challenge and a major mitigation opportunity. Rangeland methane emissions are primarily driven by grazing ruminants, which can represent up to 70-80% of rangeland farms’ emissions (Reducing emissions in the rangelands, 2026). However, the relative contribution of mobile pastoralism and other extensive grazing systems within this figure remains poorly understood, with limited data disaggregating emissions across different rangeland livestock production systems. This evidence gap is itself significant: it underscores the importance of tackling agricultural methane in rangelands as a priority topic, rather than a reason to delay action, and creates opportunities for exploring co-benefits from improvements in livestock feed digestibility, grazing management, and overall herd health. 

The UNCCD is the principal multilateral framework for protecting and restoring land, particularly in dryland regions, with a core mission to combat desertification, land degradation, and the effects of drought. It is increasingly recognized as a central forum for addressing the interconnected challenges of land degradation, climate change, and biodiversity loss, covering the ecosystems most directly relevant to land-based methane emissions, notably grasslands and rangelands. Given this mandate and the evidence gap outlined above, UNCCD is well positioned to take a leadership role in clarifying and addressing agricultural methane's contribution across rangeland production systems, an opportunity reinforced by the Convention's growing recognition as the principal body governing these ecosystems.

This cross-convention relevance has been recognized at the highest level: the Rio Trio, launched jointly by the UNCCD and CBD COP16 and UNFCCC COP29 Presidencies, and the Belém Joint Statement on the Rio Conventions, both position land, biodiversity and climate action as a shared agenda rather than parallel tracks. With all three Rio Conventions convening in 2026, COP17 is a moment to demonstrate that agricultural methane sits as a solution at the intersection of land, nature and climate to lay the ground for UNCCD COP18 and beyond.

Objectives
 - Build shared language between land degradation and methane (often siloed)
 - Surface practitioner and research perspectives on rangeland livestock management practices that can deliver methane co-benefits, while identifying where evidence gaps remain
 - Identify entry points for methane to be reflected in UNCCD process outcomes/decisions or side declarations

Outcomes
 - A set of recommendations feeding into the UNCCD process to be shared with parties, secretariat, and other stakeholders