Armenia urged governments to agree priority measures for protecting nature at the COP17 opening ceremony in Yerevan on October 18, Carbon Pulse reported. The appeal comes as countries prepare to review progress on global biodiversity commitments, with implementation lagging behind ambition.
The Convention on Biological Diversity lists the formal conference for October 19–30, following Sunday's ceremony. It will conduct the first global review of the Kunming-Montreal framework, adopted in 2022 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 through 23 targets.
According to the convention's State of Biodiversity Action report, nearly 90% of its 196 parties have set national targets. Yet fewer than half of the national targets assessed by governments are on track. The findings distinguish widespread participation in planning from actual progress toward protecting ecosystems.
Financing remains a central obstacle. AP reported ahead of the meeting that fundraising has fallen short of ambitions. Countries previously committed to mobilising $200 billion annually by 2030 and reforming or eliminating harmful subsidies worth $500 billion a year. Those figures describe agreed objectives, rather than new funding secured at this opening.
The European Commission says its priorities include faster implementation, mobilising finance and placing Indigenous peoples and local communities at the centre of conservation. It stresses that healthy ecosystems support jobs, health and climate resilience, connecting the negotiations to livelihoods beyond environment ministries.
The UN assessment identifies gaps in finance, coordination and data, with business action, consumption and harmful incentives among areas lagging furthest behind. Governments will use the Yerevan review to consider how to accelerate implementation. The conference's scheduled October 30 conclusion will follow almost two weeks of talks on turning existing commitments into results.
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