Ulaanbaatar, 20 August 2026. Mongolia launched the SDG Finance Taxonomy Version 2.0 at the High Level Sustainable Finance Forum on the 20th August during the COP17 to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification which the country is hosting this year. The launch marks major step in Mongolia’s efforts to build a financial system that supports sustainable development.

Taxonomy is a classification tool for identifying green and sustainable economic activities providing a common language for policy makers, financial institutions and businesses, while strengthening transparency and reducing the risk of greenwashing. Mongolia adopted its National Green Taxonomy in 2019 becoming one of the earliest adopters of taxonomy globally, followed by the SDG Finance Taxonomy in 2023, which broadened the framework beyond green activities to include environmental and social priorities aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. The framework was subsequently tested against loan portfolios, generating practical lessons and assessed against internationally agreed common taxonomy principles that informed the development of Version 2.0.

The revised Taxonomy now adopts a Technical Screening Criteria methodology incorporating credible, science-based criteria to identify sustainable economic activities, in alignment with international taxonomies to ensure interoperability across regions and countries. Transitioning from a whitelist-based approach, Version 2.0 introduces a more rigorous assessment approach based on three key principles: an activity must make a Substantial Contribution to an environmental or social objective, Do No Significant Harm to other sustainability objectives, and meet Minimum Social Safeguards.