Nearly 200 countries are gathering in Armenia for crucial negotiations aimed at rescuing a landmark global biodiversity pact, as governments struggle to meet commitments to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030.
The countries agreed to the historic goal four years ago under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, often described as the “Paris Agreement for Nature”. However, progress has been too slow, putting several key targets at risk, including the goal of protecting 30% of the world’s land and oceans.
Some of the pact’s most challenging objectives, including reducing subsidies for fossil fuels and other industries that harm nature, have seen limited progress.
“We must honestly admit that collectively, we are not yet on track as needed,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Friday ahead of the formal UN negotiations, known as COP17.
The summit comes amid mounting pressure on public finances, armed conflicts, geopolitical tensions and a global energy crisis, all of which threaten to push biodiversity protection further down governments’ agendas.
Only a handful of world leaders, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and mainly heads of state from neighbouring Central Asian countries, attended a high-level session ahead of the formal negotiations.
Guterres warned that the stakes were exceptionally high, describing an unrelenting “war on nature” that threatens the planet’s ability to sustain future generations.
“We need more action, more speed and more will,” he said.
“Halfway to 2030, Yerevan is our moment of accountability. It is time to ask ourselves — are we doing enough?”
Funding Gap Poses Major Challenge
A UN assessment released ahead of COP17 found that progress towards the framework’s 23 biodiversity targets was uneven and insufficient to meet the 2030 deadline.
Financing remains one of the biggest obstacles. The assessment said efforts to bridge the substantial funding gap for biodiversity protection “fall far short” of what is needed.
Wealthy European and other developed countries, which are expected to provide financial support for biodiversity conservation, have pressed large emerging economies such as China to contribute as well.
However, negotiations are expected to focus increasingly on mobilising private investment to supplement strained public budgets.
One priority is to encourage businesses to contribute a portion of their profits to a UN fund intended to support conservation efforts in developing countries. The fund remains severely underfunded.
Guterres also criticised government incentives for extractive industries, saying countries were “spending money on the wrong things” despite pledges to reform subsidies that damage the environment.
“Subsidising fossil fuels is subsidising suicide,” he said, referring to coal, oil and gas, which he said were “boiling our planet and are the scourge of biodiversity”.
Armenia Hosts Major International Summit
For Armenia, a mountainous country in the Caucasus, COP17 is among the largest international events it has ever hosted, with thousands of visitors expected over the two-week summit.
The Armenian hosts have emphasised that the summit’s success will be measured by concrete action rather than new promises.
“The world does not need a new vision. We have one. What it needs is delivery,” WWF International Global President Adil Najam said on Friday.
The negotiations are expected to test whether governments can translate existing commitments into practical measures, secure the financing needed for conservation and accelerate efforts to protect ecosystems before the 2030 deadline.