The twelve-day-long 17th conference (COP17) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) ended with the uneasiness of unfinished business. Member countries reiterated that the biodiversity crisis existed but did not agree on how countries need to accelerate work and ensure that the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) targets are met by 2030. This is despite the fact that delegates began discussions three days before the formal beginning and spilled over one extra day.
In response to the first review of progress towards the KMGBF, delegates developed the Yerevan Pathway which identifies priorities for action through 2030. The pathway was finalised through negotiations and reiterated the importance of reducing subsidies that harm nature, increasing funding, and aligning national priorities with the KMGBF. The Pathway will guide national efforts through 2030 with progress assessed through changes in policies, resource delivery, and measurable improvements for nature and people.
“Over these two weeks we have demonstrated that differences can be bridged, commitments can become decisions and cooperation can deliver,” said COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan. “With the adoption of the Yerevan Pathway, we demonstrate our collective determination to respond to one of the most urgent challenges of our time. It sets out priorities for collective action, from implementing national plans and mobilising financial resources to strengthening science, monitoring and the participation of all sectors of society.”
Around 50 agenda items were adopted during the meeting. These included decisions on protected areas and forest biodiversity, sustainable wildlife management, invasive alien species, risk assessment of living modified organisms, marine and coastal biodiversity, synthetic biology, and biodiversity mainstreaming.
“The next four years must bring acceleration and alignment with what we agreed when we adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” said Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity. “Ultimately, the test is not what governments agreed in Yerevan, but what they change when they return home,” she said.
During the meeting, rules of operation—the Sevan Guidelines—for the new permanent subsidiary body on Article 8(j) were established; US $2 billion in new biodiversity funding was committed; efforts were made to reform harmful incentives; a new biodiversity bond and investment incubator was launched; and a proposed model framework law on forests to strengthen environmental enforcement was discussed.
However, the civil society is not convinced that enough was done at the meeting, which was supposed to be a turning point for protecting biodiversity.
According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, COP17 presented a clearer picture of the biodiversity crisis, but lacked the ambition to solve it. “We are in the midst of a biodiversity crisis, and timidity will not save nature—we need fewer speeches and more commitments that together build a global response commensurate with the threats nature faces,” said Susan Lieberman, Vice President of International Policy, Wildlife Conservation Society.
“COP17 was supposed to be a turning point for global biodiversity action. Instead, the world’s biodiversity commitments are limping forward. Funding is nowhere near what’s needed, political divisions continue to hold back progress, and communities are paying the price,” said Brianna Fruean, climate and ocean activist from Samoa and ambassador of Together for the Ocean.
COP17 was the midpoint between setting the KMGBF biodiversity targets and meeting them. State of Biodiversity Action report clearly indicated that Parties are nowhere near meeting the targets. The next conference, COP18, would be the last check post towards progress. Parties will now meet in Ecuador in 2028.