The World Is Off Track on Nature — Yerevan Was the Course Correction
The 2026 UN Biodiversity Conference, COP17, concluded in Yerevan, Armenia, on October 31, after two weeks of talks. Its first global review delivered the hard news: the world is off track to meet the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's 23 targets by 2030.
The headline response is the Yerevan Pathway, a negotiated plan to accelerate action in the four years left. It targets nature-harmful subsidies and incentives, more financial, scientific and technical support for developing countries, national budgets aligned with the Framework, and stronger monitoring and reporting.
Parties also adopted the Sevan Guidelines, the rules of operation for the Convention's new permanent body on Article 8(j), strengthening the role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in global biodiversity policy. Decisions also covered protected areas, forests, wildlife, invasive species and marine biodiversity.
Money moved too: nearly US$2 billion in new biodiversity funding was announced, including US$560 million under the GEF-9 replenishment, US$500 million through the Species Recovery Alliance and over US$330 million through the Value Nature Fund.
Canada's delegation, led by Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin with Secretary of State (Nature) Nathalie Provost, championed Indigenous-led conservation and innovative nature finance. Canada joined three coalitions — CARES, Friends of Credits for Nature and Biodiversity, and the Yerevan Global OECM Action Hub — and spotlighted the Northwest Territories agreement aiming to protect up to 380,000 square kilometres.
The next biodiversity COP, COP18, will be held in Ecuador in 2028.
The Twikup Take
Yerevan did not pretend the 2030 goals are on track — it named the gap and set a pathway to close it. For Canada, the test is turning conference themes — Indigenous-led conservation and nature finance — into protected land and water at home.
Image: AI-generated illustration.