Biodiversity talks end with the Yerevan Pathway and nearly $2bn in new money
Countries agreed priorities to 2030, including more support for developing nations, but conservation groups call the outcome weak.
Yerevan — The UN biodiversity conference, COP17, closed in Yerevan on Saturday, a day late, with the adoption of the Yerevan Pathway, a plan of priorities to 2030 after the first global review of progress on the world's 23 nature targets. That review found the world off track.
The priorities include ending subsidies that harm nature and giving developing countries more financial, scientific and technical support.
What was agreed
- Nearly $2 billion in new funding commitments were announced, including $560 million through the Global Environment Facility and its biodiversity fund.
- Rules were set for a new permanent body on the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
- New indicators will track the state of nature.
"The test is not what governments agreed in Yerevan, but what they change when they return home," said Astrid Schomaker, who heads the convention.
The criticism
The Wildlife Conservation Society said the talks were weak on ambition. "We cannot afford another conference that diagnoses the crisis without accelerating the cure," said its vice-president for international policy, Susan Lieberman.
The next conference is due in Ecuador in 2028.
Source: Premium Times, 31 October 2026.
