In brief
COP17 in Yerevan closed with the adoption of the Yerevan Pathway, a set of strategies to boost national plans, monitoring and financing for biodiversity. The meeting, which spanned 12 hours of negotiations, also set the next conference in Quito, Ecuador, for 2028. Delegates highlighted the need to implement the Kunming‑Montreal Framework targets, while acknowledging remaining disputes over finance and subsidies.
In late October, more than 100 nations closed the 17th Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Yerevan, Armenia, after nearly 12 hours of talks, by adopting the Yerevan Pathway to accelerate biodiversity action through 2026‑2030.
The Yerevan Pathway prioritizes stronger national biodiversity strategies, improved monitoring, increased financing, technology transfer, capacity‑building and whole‑of‑government coordination. It also calls for inclusive participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, and youth in the planning and implementation of biodiversity measures.
Dialogues spanned from Friday night through Saturday morning, yet delegates managed to come to a breakthrough over the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which was adopted in 2022 with 23 targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
"I think we've achieved more than we could have expected in terms of the diversity of the agenda items, in terms of the importance of those items for many countries and parties, and in terms of the items that were anticipated for a long time that have managed to be approved and adopted," said COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan, Armenia's environment minister, at the closing plenary.
"It is wonderful that we have faced up to the gaps identified in the global report. We have adopted the Yerevan Pathway, and now we need to follow this pathway towards 2030," added Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
While the Pathway marks a notable step forward, the meeting also highlighted divisions that remain over biodiversity finance, harmful subsidies and certain aspects of scientific evidence. Delegates acknowledged that progress will require concrete actions and additional funding commitments.
The conference also confirmed that the next Conference of the Parties, COP18, will be held in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028, furthering the momentum for global biodiversity governance.
