Batyn Batbaatar

Batyn Batbaatar (Mongolian: Батын Батбаатар; born 30 December 1973) is a Mongolian politician who has been the Minister of Environment and Climate Change for the Zandanshatar cabinet since 2025. A former member of the Democratic Party and current chairman of the Civil Will–Green Party, he was elected to the State Great Khural twice, now serving his non-consecutive second term since 2024.^[1][2]

Batbaatar was born on 30 December 1973 in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of the Mongolian People's Republic. He completed his secondary education at the 47th secondary school of Ulaanbaatar in 1991. He graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in Economics from the National University of Mongolia (NUM) School of Economics in 1999 and 2000, respectively. In 2002, he completed a bachelor's in Law at NUM School of Law.^[1]

Between 2003 and 2013, Batbaatar served as the Chairman of the Democratic Party (DP) in Chingeltei district of Ulaanbaatar.^[1] He was first elected to the State Great Khural from the 66th Bayangol constituency in the 2004 parliamentary election.^[3]

In the 2016 parliamentary election, due to disagreements with the party leadership, Batbaatar didn't run as a member of the DP. Despite officially not leaving, he submitted his candidacy documents as a member of the Civil Movement Party in late May. The General Election Commission didn't register his documents due to affiliation irregularities.^[4] Subsequently, after leaving the DP, he joined the Civil Will–Green Party (CWGP) in early June and ran in the 70th Bayangol constituency,^[5] where he later lost to the Mongolian People's Party (MPP) candidate.

On 5 June 2023, the then-chairperson of the CWGP, Tserendorjiin Gankhuyag, resigned and was succeeded by Batbaatar.^[6] He was officially registered as the party chairman by the Supreme Court in January 2024.^[7] The next year, during the 2024 parliamentary election, the CWGP won four seats in the expanded State Great Khural via proportional representation. Batbaatar, who ranked first in the party's closed list, was elected to parliament for the second time.^[8]

After the resignation of prime minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene in June 2025, his successor, Gombojavyn Zandanshatar, unveiled a new coalition government comprising the MPP, the HUN Party, and the CWGP.^[9] Batbaatar was appointed as Minister of Environment and Climate Change on 18 June 2025,^[10] becoming the only CWGP cabinet minister.

For the 2027 presidential election, Batbaatar announced his intention to run for president as the CWGP candidate during a 26-year anniversary party conference on 9 March 2026, a move that was met with criticism from within the party. The same day, some party members separately held an extraordinary party session and elected member of parliament Rinchindorjiin Batbold as the next chairperson.^[11]