Extreme weather has raised the significance of Cop17 talks starting this week on tackling drought and land degradation

As swathes of the northern hemisphere bake in what could be the hottest year on record, with wildfires blazing across North America and Europe and heatwaves afflicting millions across Asia, the UN’s bi-annual talks on desertification have assumed much greater importance – and have started attracting more money.

Work will begin this week on allocating more than $12bn (£8.9bn) to vulnerable countries to help them deal with drought and land degradation, when scores of countries gather in Mongolia for Cop17.

Fire has always be part of life on the grasslands, but has grown worse due to rising temperatures and severe droughts. In response, people have turned to their nomadic heritage to help tackle the blazes

Sodnomjamts Damchaabadgar squats in a shallow, rocky depression, working quietly with his hands. Inches above the rim of the pit, the wind whips across the grasslands. But in the marginal shelter of the dig site the air remains calm – essential for delicate operations.

Damchaabadgar, a research fellow at the Institute of Archaeology at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, has erected a ger, a traditional nomad’s tent, nearby, which serves as his sleeping quarters and a field station.

Two gers stand alone against the vast openness of the steppe in Eastern Mongolia. The ger – often called a yurt outside Mongolia – is a round dwelling designed to be assembled or disassembled in a matter of hours

When an Inner Mongolia farmer sought two herders to tend his 3,000 sheep, he was swamped with applicants including graduates, factory labourers and white-collar workers

A Chinese farm owner’s recruitment drive for shepherds has ended in success after his job advert seeking people to work on his Inner Mongolia ranch went viral, drawing the attention of city dwellers struggling to find work and highlighting growing strains in China’s labour market.

Zuo Xiaoyong posted an advert on Chinese social media in late April seeking two shepherds, preferably a couple, to take 3,000 sheep out to graze on a 2,000ha pasture in the summer. The shepherds would also undertake indoor feeding and cleaning during the winter when temperatures can drop below -30C at his ranch roughly 300km from Xilinhot city, near the Mongolian border.

Former deputy speaker describes situation as absurd after being charged with ‘effort to unlawfully seize state power’

A number of younger Mongolian politicians, including many women, are facing the threat of extended jail sentences for their role in challenging the country’s political leadership, in what they claim are early skirmishes in a battle to prevent a slide into authoritarianism.

The dispute forms part of a factional power struggle in the ruling party that is threatening to weaken Mongolia, one of the few democracies in the region, as it seeks to navigate a foreign policy independent of neighbouring Russia and China.

Whether dog-sledding in Mongolia or braving grocery store trips in Alaska’s 40mph winds, these writers recommend the gear they swear by

• Eight winter clothing essentials Scandinavians swear by – from heated socks to ‘allværsjakke’

• Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things

In New York City’s winter months, I’m bundling up for runs and throwing on layers for the office. But compared to Alaska’s glacial mountains and Finland’s snowy forests, the streets of Manhattan are practically a tropical paradise.

If anyone knows exactly what to wear to stay warm in cold weather, it’s the people who live in these places. So I asked seven writers who reside in some of the coldest cities on Earth to recommend the gear they swear by. One writer in Mongolia wore a pair of foot warmers on a nine-day dog sledding adventure. Another in Winnipeg, Canada, shared a pair of gloves she’s dubbed “long johns for your fingers”.

Eight winter clothing essentials Scandinavians swear by – from heated socks to ‘allværsjakke’

I run over 20 miles a week in the winter. Here’s everything I wear to stay warm

The best winter gloves are two pairs, actually (and one is hiding at Home Depot)