In brief
At COP–17 in Yerevan, delegates reached a historic agreement: the Yerevan Pathway, a detailed step‑by‑step plan to speed up biodiversity action from 2026 to 2030. The pathway builds on the 23 targets of the Kunming‑Montreal framework, prioritising stronger national strategies, enhanced monitoring, increased finance, technology transfer, capacity building and inclusive participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women and youth. Divisions remain over financing, harmful subsidies and scientific evidence, while the next conference, COP18, will be held in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028.
After 12 hours of marathon negotiations that stretched from Friday night into Saturday morning, more than 100 countries sealed a landmark agreement at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP–17) in Yerevan, Armenia. The Yerevan Pathway, a comprehensive 2026‑2030 plan, was adopted to launch a coordinated global effort to expedite biodiversity action and meet the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s 2030 targets.
COP–17, held from October 19 to 31, topped out with a final plenary session that saw the closing gavel struck by COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan, Armenia’s environment minister. His words echoed the forum’s theme—Taking Action for Nature—as delegates applauded the adoption of key decisions on the first global biodiversity progress review and a new resource‑mobilization strategy. "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.
"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,"
Executive Secretary of the Convention’s secretariat, Astrid Schomaker, added that the pathway “becomes central to discussions on accelerating biodiversity action from 2026 to 2030.” The agreement does not merely set targets; it outlines a set of concrete actions for ministers and governments to implement, drawing on the broader commitments of the Kunming‑Montreal framework adopted in 2022.
Key Elements of the Yerevan Pathway
Building upon the 23‑target framework, the Yerevan Pathway focuses on five core areas:
Stronger national biodiversity strategies that align with international commitments and encourage policy coherence.
Improved monitoring and data collection to track progress, enable adaptive management, and increase transparency.
Increased financing for conservation, restoration, and sustainable use, along with mechanisms to mobilise private sector investment.
Technology transfer and capacity building to empower developing countries with tools, expertise and research needed to protect ecosystems.
Inclusive participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women and youth, ensuring that those most connected to nature help shape the path forward.
The pathway also stresses whole‑of‑government coordination and the importance of navigating harmful subsidies that undermine biodiversity conservation.
Despite the consensus on the Yerevan Pathway, divisions linger in several critical areas. Delegates debated the most efficient ways to secure financing, specifically how to close the significant funding gap between the size of biodiversity loss and the resources required to reverse it. Discussions also highlighted the need to dismantle subsidies that promote destructive land‑use practices and to reconcile differing scientific perspectives on the urgency of action and the best methods to achieve it.
Another source of grip saw the conference’s design as a test case for how to translate global ambitions into measurable, country‑level outcomes. While countries signed up to the Pathway, how rapidly and evenly it will be implemented remains an open question that will shape the international community’s capacity to meet 2030 milestones.
Looking Ahead: COP18 and Beyond
The outcome of COP–17 also set the next conference’s location: COP18 will convene in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028. The choice signals a continued focus on delivering actionable outcomes, with Quito’s domestic biodiversity richness positioning Ecuador as an appropriate host to illustrate the successes and challenges of the Yerevan Pathway.
As the global community turns its attention to the next phases of the Kunming‑Montreal framework, the Yerevan Pathway serves both as a roadmap and a barometer of progress. Its success will hinge on the willingness of governments—especially the more affluent—to mobilise finance, dismantle harmful subsidies, and empower local stakeholders. In what has been called the last four years to reach 2030, COP17’s marathon talks offer a concrete set of tools, but they also underscore that, at this stage, the global biodiversity agenda is as much about diplomacy and politics as it is about science and nature.
