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Ulaanbaatar, 12 March 2021: To position Mongolia as a global leader for sustainable cashmere, various key partners and actors in Mongolia’s cashmere sector came together yesterday to hold the first Plenary Meeting of the Mongolian Sustainable Cashmere Platform (MSCP) virtually. Key stakeholders in cashmere industry including government agencies, local and international private sector representatives, herders, cooperatives, international projects, and academia participated in the event.
As many developing countries, Mongolia faces the challenges of balancing economic development with environmental degradation, natural resource depletion, and social issues. Over the last 80 years, average annual temperature increased by 2.25°С in Mongolia and due to the diminished vegetation cover and expansion of desert zones in the north, there is a higher risk for biodiversity degradation and extinction of plants and animals. More than 70% of the country’s total land area is affected by desertification and soil degradation, while larger areas are overgrazed.
The cashmere sector was one of the most heavily disrupted value chains in Mongolia due to Covid-19. The sector saw a decrease of raw cashmere price by at least 50% in 2020 compared to 2019. Most enterprises are running at partial operation potential and are trying hard to keep jobs.
There is a growing need in global market for integrating sustainable development and good governance principles in each step of processing cashmere commodity and supply chain. Therefore, the MSCP has been established and working to support the collaboration and actions of the sector stakeholders including but not limited to public and private sectors, international organizations towards common goals while sharing and exchanging mutually beneficial best practices and experiences. In addition, the Platform has been consulting with international experts on introducing system thinking approach to help the cashmere sector recover from Covid-19.
“In 2020, the Platform has created the much-needed space for actors in the cashmere sector to deepen the dialogue on sustainability, COVID-19 recovery and market access. 2021 will be a year of action for the Platform. It is time to start experimenting together on a range of collective actions on the ground working toward positioning Mongolia as a global leader for sustainable cashmere. ” said Ms. Elaine Conkievich, UNDP Resident Representative.
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For more information about the Platform, please visit: http://sustainablecashmereplatform.com/
For further inquiries:
Javkhlan Bold-Erdene
Communications Consultant | Mongolian Sustainable Cashmere Platform |
