Nature faces a global progress check as COP17 opens in Yerevan

COP17, the 17th meeting of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, opened in Yerevan on 19 October and runs until 30 October. The Convention’s secretariat says its central task is the first global review of collective progress under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The framework sets goals for protecting and restoring nature by 2030. Governments are expected to compare what plans have delivered, not just what they promise. Meetings of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing are taking place alongside COP17. Their decisions have not yet been made, so it would be premature to report the conference’s outcome on 20 October.

The issues matter to Kazakhstan: the condition of steppe, wetlands and other ecosystems affects farming, water and resilience to drought. Watch for the published review, finance commitments and methods for measuring delivery. A final declaration without implementation data cannot on its own halt biodiversity loss.

Cover: editorial illustration.

Source: Convention on Biological Diversity secretariat.