Negotiators are meeting in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 19 to 30 for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP17, days before the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) opens in Antalya, Turkey. For the first time, countries will assess their collective progress on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), a landmark 2022 agreement aimed at halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030.
Nearly 200 countries signed on to the framework, which sets 23 targets for 2030. These include protecting at least 30% of the world’s land, inland waters and seas, restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems, and mobilising at least $200 billion a year for biodiversity from all sources. Countries also pledged $30 billion annually in international public finance and a shift of at least $500 billion a year in subsidies that harm nature. The framework further calls for biodiversity to be built into decision-making and for the benefits of using genetic resources to be shared more fairly.
A critical halfway point
COP17 will examine where countries stand against their commitments, where implementation is lagging, and what must change in the four years left before 2030. The review will rely mainly on national reports, biodiversity strategies and other evidence submitted by governments.
Early findings are not encouraging. The UN’s first global progress assessment, released just before the Yerevan meeting, found that almost 90% of countries have set national biodiversity targets, but fewer than half of the targets assessed are on track. It urges faster implementation and greater ambition. The stakes are also economic and human: ecosystem decline is often linked to food insecurity, water stress, extreme heat and wildfires, and the degradation of forests and other ecosystems can alter rainfall patterns.
What countries will focus on
A major question is whether governments can turn the 2030 targets into real action. The global review is expected to identify implementation gaps and form the basis for decisions on getting countries back on course.
Finance will be another central issue. Beyond how much is spent on biodiversity, COP17 will have to consider whether governments continue to fund activities that harm it. The Cali Fund, created at COP16 in Colombia to share the benefits from commercial use of digital sequence information on genetic resources, is also on the agenda, as are the role and rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, whose knowledge and stewardship are central to conservation.
Aimee Roberson, executive director of the Indigenous-led nonprofit Cultural Survival, said Indigenous Peoples’ capacity to protect ecosystems is closely tied to their rights over their territories and their ability to maintain their traditional ways of life. She argued that upholding Indigenous self-determination and governance of their lands is critical to a future in which the diversity of life can flourish.
Why it matters for COP31
The timing is significant. COP17 ends on October 30, and COP31 begins in Antalya on November 9. Climate change and biodiversity loss are closely intertwined: forests, wetlands, mangroves, oceans and other ecosystems buffer against climate impacts, while climate change speeds up biodiversity loss. Climate action that ignores nature can therefore undermine climate goals. The COP31 agenda reflects this overlap, with one of its six global climate action axes focused on “Stewarding Forests, Oceans, and Biodiversity”.
Brian O’Donnell, director of Campaign for Nature, said the first global review shows the world is not on track to meet the Montreal targets and that COP17 must be a turning point. He urged parties to concentrate on the framework’s centrepiece, the target to protect at least 30% of the planet’s land and ocean by 2030, known as 30×30. With renewed leadership and commitment, he said, it is achievable, and delivering it would tackle the leading driver of biodiversity loss while advancing goals on sustainable development, food supply, security, climate change and pandemic prevention. He wants the focus on 30×30 and nature finance to carry over into COP31, noting that the two COPs have worked better together since COP26 in Glasgow, and called for a more concrete push to sharply increase funding for nature protection, both to curb biodiversity loss and to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
For India and other developing countries, both COP17 and COP31 remain crucial for assessing progress and securing climate and biodiversity finance.
