In brief
At the 17th Conference of the Parties in Yerevan, lawmakers completed a twelve‑hour negotiation marathon that produced the Yerevan Pathway—a roadmap to strengthen national strategies, monitor progress, and mobilize finance for biodiversity. The agreement sets a path toward the 2030 targets of the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and schedules the next COP in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028.
The 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Yerevan from 19 to 31 October, saw more than 100 governments finish a marathon of negotiations lasting roughly twelve hours, from Friday night through Saturday morning, and agreed on a new plan to spur biodiversity action.
The Yerevan Pathway was adopted during the closing plenary when COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan, Armenia’s environment minister, struck the gavel to sign key decisions on the first global biodiversity progress review and resource mobilisation. The measure builds on the 23 objectives set in 2022 by the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
Matevosyan explained that the talks had produced more agenda items, many of which were long‑anticipated, than could have been expected.
"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," said Matevosyan.
Executive Secretary Astrid Schomaker of the Convention’s secretariat echoed this sentiment, noting that the Pathway addresses gaps identified in the global report.
"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," said Schomaker.
The pathway, crafted during the global review process, prioritises several elements: stronger national biodiversity strategies, improved monitoring, increased financing, technology transfer, and capacity building. It also insists on whole‑of‑government coordination and meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women and young people.
While the Cop talks were largely successful, divisions over biodiversity finance, harmful subsidies and scientific evidence remained, underscoring the complexity of translating global commitments into measurable action with only four years left until the 2030 deadline.
Following the decision on the Yerevan Pathway, the conference voted to schedule COP18 in Quito, Ecuador’s capital, in 2028, marking a shift back to South America for the next gathering of parties.
The negotiations, which wrapped the conference’s formal schedule, demonstrated how a concentrated effort can produce tangible outcomes even amid regional and fiscal disagreements. For participant delegations, the focus now turns to the implementation of the Pathway’s measures and the monitoring framework that will track progress toward the 2030 biodiversity targets.
As the global community moves forward, the Yerevan Pathway will likely serve as a blueprint for future biodiversity negotiations, with its emphasis on national strategy, funding, technology, capacity building, and inclusive involvement.
