Nearly 200 nations approved agreements at a UN biodiversity summit in Armenia on Friday, October 30, aimed at speeding progress toward the global goal of stopping and reversing nature loss by 2030.
Delegates endorsed the texts after negotiations in Yerevan ran past the conference’s scheduled finish. The talks lasted nearly two weeks. The final versions were not immediately public.
Some details of the agreements were therefore unclear. It was also unclear which proposals remained after negotiations. COP17’s main task was to review progress under the 2022 Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The framework’s targets include protecting 30 percent of land and sea and addressing pollution and other causes of biodiversity decline. Before the summit, the UN warned that progress was too slow to meet the 2030 goals. Talks were particularly contentious over funding for conservation.
They were also contentious over subsidies that support activities harmful to nature, including fossil fuels, intensive agriculture and overfishing. More than $1.8 billion in new biodiversity funding had been announced during the summit. The broader shortfall in financing remained a concern.
The agreements signal renewed political commitment. Their impact will depend on whether countries turn the pledges into action.