COP17 Biodiversity Talks Close in Yerevan With 'Yerevan Pathway' Deal to Speed Action, Finance Still Short
Governments at the UN biodiversity conference COP17 in Armenia's capital Yerevan agreed on October 31 to step up efforts to protect global biodiversity after talks ran through the night, although the finance to deliver it remains elusive.
The two-week conference oversaw the first global review of the Global Biodiversity Framework agreed in Montreal four years ago. Nearly 90% of parties to the biodiversity convention had set national targets, although fewer than half of those assessed were on track, the UN said, and delegates agreed the world was off track on almost all of its targets.
Governments adopted a decision dubbed the Yerevan Pathway, agreeing faster action on reducing harmful subsidies, increasing finance for developing countries and aligning national spending with biodiversity goals. The Montreal framework set goals including conserving 30% of land, inland waters, marine and coastal areas by 2030, restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems, mobilising $200 billion a year for biodiversity and reducing harmful incentives by at least $500 billion a year by 2030. Organisers said more than $1.8 billion in finance from governments, philanthropies and investors had been announced during the conference.
"At a time when multilateralism is under pressure, COP17 has shown that international cooperation can still deliver," said Anita de Horde, executive director of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation. "The real success of COP17 will be measured by what governments implement before COP18," she said. Delegates agreed COP18 will be held in the Ecuadorean capital, Quito, in 2028. Daudi Sumba, chief conservation officer at WWF International, said the review had sent a "strong signal" but needed to be backed up with finance. Fresh global climate talks begin in Turkey on November 9. (Reporting by Reuters)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：亚美尼亚首都 Yerevan 天际线与 Ararat 山。资料图，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 3.0。 / The Yerevan skyline and Mount Ararat in Armenia. File photo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
