In brief
At COP17, more than 100 countries agreed on the Yerevan Pathway, a plan aimed at speeding up biodiversity measures from 2026 to 2030. The pathway calls for stronger national strategies, enhanced monitoring, increased financing, technology transfer, and capacity building, while emphasizing inclusive participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, and youth. COP17 also set the next conference, COP18, in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028.
Over a hundred nations gathered in Yerevan, Armenia's capital, to finalize agreements at the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17). Delegates endured a marathon of roughly twelve hours of negotiation that stretched from Friday night through Saturday morning, culminating in the unanimous adoption of the Yerevan Pathway—an accelerated plan of action designed to speed progress on biodiversity goals between 2026 and 2030. The outcome echoes the 2022 Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s pledge to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030, setting the stage for the next conference, COP18, to be held in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028.
At the closing of the plenary, COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan, Armenia's environment minister, banged the gavel to signal the adoption of the key decisions. He remarked that the diversity of the agenda items, their importance to many countries and parties, and the approval of long‑anticipated items had exceeded expectations.
Matevosyan said:
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,
The decree also acknowledges persistent divisions over biodiversity finance, harmful subsidies and scientific evidence, underscoring the challenging path ahead.
Yerevan Pathway’s Inclusive Blueprint
The Yerevan Pathway, developed through the global review process, sets priorities that go beyond mere policy. It calls for stronger national biodiversity strategies, improved monitoring, increased financing, technology transfer, and capacity building. It also places a strong emphasis on whole‑of‑government coordination and, crucially, on meaningful participation by Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, and youth. As executive secretary Astrid Schomaker noted, these groups bring invaluable traditional knowledge and stewardship practices essential for achieving the framework’s 2030 targets.
Schomaker 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,
The pathway’s focus on inclusivity positions native communities at the heart of conservation efforts, ensuring that their rights and voices shape the mechanisms that will safeguard ecosystems.
Despite broad agreement, the negotiations highlighted ongoing discord over how to mobilize the needed funds and dismantle subsidies that undermine biodiversity. These debates foreshadow the work that national governments will face in translating the pathway’s ambitious targets into concrete action over the next four years.
Looking ahead, COP17 also set the next Conference of the Parties, COP18, to take place in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028. The announcement underscores the global community’s intent to keep momentum, while the choice of Quito signals recognition of the Inter‑American region’s biodiversity significance and its indigenous populations’ stewardship traditions.
Implementing the Yerevan Pathway will require a sustained partnership between states and the communities that depend on ecosystems for livelihoods. The pathway’s emphasis on financing, technology, and capacity building recognises that national governments cannot act alone; intervention must be coupled with support that empowers local and Indigenous groups to contribute effectively.
In the broader context of the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Yerevan Pathway represents a concrete roadmap toward reversing nature loss by 2030. By clarifying roles, strengthening frameworks, and prioritising inclusive participation, it offers a blueprint that could accelerate progress, yet its success hinges on political will and the collective commitment to uphold commitments made by the world’s most vulnerable communities.
