In brief
The 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity closed after 12 hours of negotiations with the adoption of the Yerevan Pathway, an action plan to accelerate biodiversity efforts from 2026‑2030. The pathway calls for stronger national strategies, improved monitoring, increased financing, technology transfer, capacity‑building, and inclusive participation of Indigenous peoples, women, and youth. Delegates also set COP18 to be held in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028.
Over 100 countries reached agreements at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, after marathon negotiations spanning roughly 12 hours from Friday night through Saturday morning, Xinhua reports. In the closing plenary, COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan, Armenia’s environment minister, banged the gavel to adopt the Yerevan Pathway, a plan to accelerate biodiversity action from 2026‑2030.
"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," Matevosyan said, according to Xinhua.
"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," said Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity secretariat.
The pathway was developed through the global review process and prioritizes stronger national biodiversity strategies, improved monitoring, increased financing, technology transfer, capacity building, whole‑of‑government coordination, and meaningful participation by Indigenous peoples, local communities, women and young people, Xinhua noted. While the conference marked a breakthrough, divisions over biodiversity finance, harmful subsidies, and scientific evidence persisted, the outlet reported.
Alongside the new pathway, COP17 voted to hold the next conference, COP18, in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028, and reaffirmed the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s 23 targets to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030, Xinhua added.
