Mongolia Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

limited natural freshwater resources in some areas; the burning of soft coal in power plants and the lack of enforcement of environmental laws leads to air pollution in Ulaanbaatar; deforestation and overgrazing increase soil erosion from wind and rain; water pollution; desertification and mining activities have a deleterious effect on the environment

Environment - international agreements

party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

desert; continental (large daily and seasonal temperature ranges)

Land use

agricultural land: 73% (2018 est.)

arable land: 0.4% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 72.6% (2018 est.)

forest: 7% (2018 est.)

other: 20% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 69.1% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 1.4% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.14% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

8.62% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 41.3 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 25.37 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 13.72 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 2.9 million tons (2016 est.)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Hovsgol Nuur - 2,620 sq km; Har Us Nuur - 1,760 sq km; 

salt water lake(s): Uvs Nuur - 3,350 sq km; Hyargas Nuur - 1,360 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Amur (shared with China [s] and Russia [m]) - 4,444 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 50 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 170 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 250 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

34.8 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)