COP17: Nations Seek Reset With Nature Goals Slipping

COP17 has opened in Armenia on Monday, where nearly 200 countries have gathered for United Nations (UN) talks on biodiversity, following pressure to meet 2030 nature protection targets and close the global conservation funding gap.

The summit, known as COP17 (17th Conference of the Parties), comes four years after countries agreed to halt and reverse nature loss. However, many of the 23 targets under the Global Biodiversity Framework are falling behind schedule.

One major goal is to protect 30 percent of the world’s land and oceans by 2030. Another is to reduce harmful subsidies for fossil fuels and other industries. Progress on these commitments has remained slow.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan acknowledged the challenge before the formal talks, saying on Friday: “We must honestly admit that collectively, we are not yet on track as needed.”

The summit is taking place following pressure on public finances and competing global concerns, including conflicts, geopolitical tensions and an energy crisis.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also warned that the world must act faster to protect nature. He made the remarks at a high-level session on Friday that drew only a few world leaders, including Guterres and several leaders from Central Asia. Guterres described an ongoing “war on nature” that threatens the planet’s ability to support future generations.

“We need more action, more speed and more will,” he said.

He added: “Halfway to 2030, Yerevan is our moment of accountability. It is time to ask ourselves — are we doing enough?”

A United Nations scorecard released before the COP17 found that countries have made some progress towards the 23 biodiversity targets. However, progress remains uneven and is too slow to meet the 2030 deadline.

Funding is expected to be a major point of disagreement during the negotiations. The report said efforts to close the funding gap for biodiversity protection “falls far short” of what is needed. European and other wealthy countries, expected to provide biodiversity funding, have also called on large emerging economies such as China to contribute.

Meanwhile, countries are expected to discuss how private investment can help close the funding gap. One proposal is to encourage companies to contribute part of their profits to a United Nations fund that supports conservation projects in developing countries. The fund currently has limited resources.

Guterres also criticised government support for industries that harm the environment. He said governments were “spending money on the wrong things” despite promises to reform harmful subsidies.

“Subsidising fossil fuels is subsidising suicide,” he said, describing coal, oil and gas as fuels that are “boiling our planet and are the scourge of biodiversity”.

For Armenia, the mountainous Caucasus country hosting the talks, COP17 is one of the largest international events it has organised. Thousands of visitors are expected over the next two weeks. The hosts have stressed that the summit’s success will depend on action, not new promises.

“The world does not need a new vision. We have one. What it needs is delivery,” Adil Najam, global president of WWF International, said on Friday.