LocationsMongolia advances pathway to scale clean heating solutions for Ulaanbaatar’s ger districts
August 24, 2026
Ulaanbaatar, 24 August 2026 – The Government of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar Municipality and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), together with development and financing partners, convened a high-level dialogue at UNCCD COP17 today to advance Mongolia’s transition from coal-based household heating towards cleaner, more affordable and climate-resilient solutions.
The dialogue, “Mongolia’s Path from Coal to Clean Heating Solutions in Ger Districts,” supported by the Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF), brought together senior government officials, development finance institutions, international partners and the private sector to explore how proven clean-heating solutions can move from successful pilots to implementation at scale.
More than 60 percent of Ulaanbaatar’s winter air pollution originates from coal burning in ger district households. At the same time, Mongolia has significant renewable energy potential, creating an opportunity to address household heating alongside wider priorities for energy security, sustainable urban development and climate resilience.
Naidalaa Badrakh, Minister of Energy of Mongolia emphasized that “Mongolia sees the energy transition not simply as an environmental agenda, but as a new development opportunity to drive economic growth, strengthen energy independence and improve the quality of life of our people. The Government will therefore continue to expand cooperation with the private sector and international development partners and foster an enabling environment for investment to advance this transition.”
The Government has identified energy sector transiton as a national development priority, with ongoing efforts to strengthen energy security, expand renewable energy and attract private investment. For Ulaanbaatar, where long and extremely cold winters make reliable heating essential, scaling clean heating is also an important part of the city’s longer-term development.
Jargalsaikhan Ganbaatar, Deputy Governor of the Capital City noted that “Clean heating is closely connected to how we plan the future of Ulaanbaatar – from modernizing infrastructure and strengthening energy resilience to creating a healthier and more sustainable living environment. The Municipality is ready to lead in bringing together urban planning, investment and implementation so that solutions already tested in ger districts can reach many more households.”
Taking place during UNCCD COP17, the dialogue also highlighted the connections between energy, land, climate and human development. Globally, renewable energy deployment is accelerating: 585 GW of renewable capacity was added in 2024, representing more than 92 percent of all new power capacity. Mongolia itself has an estimated 2,600 GW of renewable energy potential.
Marcos Neto, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support stated that “The energy transition is not simply about adding renewable capacity. it is about enabling people and economies to prosper while reducing pressure on the natural systems. Mongolia is showing how locally developed solutions can connect the energy, climate, land and human development agendas. The opportunity now is to create the policy, financing and partnerships needed to take those solutions to systemic scale.”
At the center of the discussion was the proposed Solar Facility Initiative, a blended-finance mechanism designed to combine public resources, private capital and international climate finance to potentially scale clean-heating solutions to more than 10,000 households in Ulaanbaatar’s ger districts. The initiative is intended to build on Mongolia’s experience with locally developed solar-powered heating systems and create a scalable financing model for wider deployment.
Lionel Laurens, UNDP Resident Representative in Mongolia affirmed that “We started by demonstrating that solar-powered heating solutions can work under Mongolia’s demanding winter conditions. The next step is to move from proof of concept to scale by thinking out-of the box, and leveraging all opportunities to bridge the financing gap, including through carbon markets. Together with government, financial institutions, local innovators and development partners, we need to connect the dots, innovate and make markets work for people.”
The dialogue concluded with a call to translate the momentum generated at COP17 into concrete partnerships and investment, helping Mongolia move from proven clean-heating solutions towards a scalable model that strengthens energy security, supports sustainable urban development and delivers tangible benefits for people and the environment.
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For more information, please contact:
Khulan Bayarsaikhan | Communication Analyst | UNDP Mongolia | khulan.bayarsaikhan@undp.org