The following is an adapted version of an article written by Bettina Felde-Tóth, a research fellow at the Europe Strategy Institute of the University of Public Service, originally published on the Five Minutes Europe blog of Ludovika.hu.
At COP17, the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the focus will be on implementing existing commitments, not on old ones.
COP17 is the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held from 19 to 30 October 2026 in Yerevan, Armenia. The biodiversity COP differ from the UN Climate Change Conference: while the latter focuses primarily on emissions reduction and climate adaptation, COP17 centres on halting biodiversity loss, restoring ecosystems, ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources, and financing biodiversity conservation.
The current conference’s most important task is to assess the implementation of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022. The framework sets out 23 targets to be achieved by 2030, including effectively protecting at least 30 per cent of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine areas; restoring degraded ecosystems; reducing incentives that harm nature; and increasing financing for biodiversity conservation. COP17 also marks the first comprehensive global review since the framework’s adoption; therefore, the conference is not primarily about setting new goals, but rather about identifying and addressing gaps in implementation.
Why Is It So Urgent That the Conference Yield Tangible Results?
The main reason is time: only four years remain to meet the 2030 global goals. The first comprehensive status assessment published ahead of the conference found that nearly 90 per cent of countries have already set national biodiversity targets. Yet, less than half of the assessed targets are progressing at an adequate pace. Preliminary calculations suggest that even if countries fully implemented existing national commitments, only 27 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 12 per cent of the oceans would be protected by 2030, compared with the 30 per cent target.
Biodiversity loss is not an isolated conservation issue. Healthy ecosystems provide, among other things, fertile soil, pollination, water retention, and numerous food ingredients, while also contributing to resilience against climate change. The deterioration of the state of nature therefore creates economic, social, supply-security, and corporate operational risks. Accordingly, COP17 will prioritize integrating biodiversity considerations into agriculture, trade, the financial system, and other sectoral policies.
The other critical issue is financing. The global framework aims to mobilize $200 billion annually by 2030 from public and private sources, including $30 billion in annual international financing for developing countries. However, current funding falls short of these targets. A key point of contention in the negotiations is that developing countries demand that developed nations fulfil their financial obligations and provide predictable funding, while several developed countries support broadening the donor base and increasing private capital’s involvement.
The EU’s Position
A central element of the European Union’s position is maintaining the level of ambition of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and accelerating its implementation. The EU advocates science-based decision-making, a more unified monitoring system, and stronger accountability; furthermore, it considers it a priority to integrate biodiversity conservation holistically into agricultural, trade, development, and financial policies, rather than treating it as a standalone area of environmental policy.
On financing, the EU supports mobilizing public and private resources, broadening the donor base, and exploring new financing solutions, such as nature credits with appropriate environmental integrity.
The EU also supports making the Cali Fund operational, which aims to ensure that companies that use digital sequence information (DSI) derived from genetic resources of natural origin in their commercial activities contribute financially to the conservation of biodiversity and the fair sharing of the benefits derived therefrom. The EU’s position requires legal certainty, transparent governance, clear certification rules, and more predictable contributions.
‘Biodiversity is therefore increasingly becoming a strategic corporate governance issue’
However, the Cali Fund’s performance to date highlights the limits of voluntary corporate financing, as it currently shows no indication that it will meet its primary financing goal, let alone scale up. This will likely intensify the debate over whether voluntary contributions are sufficient or whether more predictable formalized mechanisms are needed.
One key issue at COP17, therefore, is how corporate engagement can go beyond voluntary conservation programmes. Companies’ raw material procurement, land and water use, investment decisions, product development, and supplier requirements can directly influence ecosystem health. Biodiversity is therefore increasingly becoming a strategic corporate governance issue, particularly in the agricultural, food, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, textile, and financial sectors.
What Will Make This Year’s Conference a Success?
COP17’s success will depend not on yet another general political declaration, but on specific decisions on financing, monitoring, the Cali Fund, the reform of harmful subsidies, and the framework for corporate contributions. The main point of contention is that while virtually all parties support halting biodiversity loss, they don’t agree on who will finance the transition, what role market-based mechanisms should play, or how much voluntary corporate commitments should be replaced with more predictable solutions.
The outcomes from Yerevan could directly pave the way for the discussions at COP31, to be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026. Both conferences share the message that climate change and biodiversity loss cannot be addressed as separate crises. For companies, this means that, alongside decarbonization, they must manage their impacts on nature, make supply chains more resilient, support regenerative solutions, and promote reforms to incentives that harm nature. COP17 is therefore not merely a diplomatic event focused on nature conservation but could also serve as an economic policy turning point that shapes businesses’ future operating conditions.
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