In brief
At the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Yerevan, Armenias capital, delegates adopted the Yerevan Pathway to accelerate biodiversity action from 2026 to 2030. The plan focuses on stronger national strategies, better monitoring, more funding, tech transfer, capacity building, and inclusive participation of Indigenous peoples, local communities, women, and youth. The conference also set the next meeting, COP18, to take place in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028.
Over 100 countries met in Yerevan and agreed on a new plan that will help meet the 2030 deadline to stop nature loss. The plan, called the Yerevan Pathway, was adopted after a marathon of talks that lasted about 12 hours from Friday night to Saturday morning.
Government representatives praised the effort, praising the wide range of topics covered and the importance of each. “I think we’ve achieved more than we could have expected in terms of the diversity of the agenda items,” said COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan, Armenia’s environment minister, before the meeting’s closing gavel‑moment.
"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,"he added.
Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the Biodiversity Convention’s secretariat, echoed the sentiment.
"We have adopted the Yerevan Pathway, and now we need to follow this pathway towards 2030,"she said.
The Yerevan Pathway focuses on six key actions. It calls for stronger national biodiversity strategies and better monitoring. Governments must raise more money and share technology. Capacity‑building programmes will help people use the new tools. A whole‑of‑government approach will improve coordination. And all voices—Indigenous peoples, local communities, women, and young people—will be asked to participate.
While the Pathway moves many countries forward, some issues remain. Countries still argue over how much money should be given and how harmful subsidies should be stopped. The conference also kept the theme of “Taking Action for Nature” at the forefront, reminding delegates that the next four years are critical.
The meeting also confirmed that the next conference, COP18, will be held in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028. COP17 began on Oct. 19 and officially ended on Saturday, after the closed‑session talks that pushed the agenda into the early hours of the following day.