{"id":651203,"date":"2026-10-19T15:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T15:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/651203\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T15:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T15:52:09","slug":"protecting-earths-fragile-biodiversity-takes-spotlight-at-armenia-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/651203\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting Earth\u2019s fragile biodiversity takes spotlight at Armenia talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The aim of the talks in the Armenian capital is to assess progress so far and build on an agreed blueprint for biodiversity protection known as the\u00a0Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework<\/a>, adopted four years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2022, 196 countries made commitments. But we are all accountable to each other and to future generations. What happens here in Yerevan matters. Billions of people whose lives are being upended by the impacts of biodiversity loss depend on progress being made here in the next two weeks,\u201d said Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biodiversity, Astrid Schomaker.<\/p>\n

Tapping into indigenous ideas<\/p>\n

Insisting that \u201ctaking action for nature does work\u201d, Ms. Schomaker called for the \u201cuntapped energy and ideas\u201d of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, women and youth to contribute to the decisions made at the talks. \u201cWe need even greater engagement from cities, businesses and financial institutions\u2026the science is clear. No nation, no economy, no society is immune from the impacts of biodiversity loss,\u201d she insisted.<\/p>\n

The goals of the Convention include tackling the main drivers of biodiversity loss, including changes in how land and seas are used, the unsustainable exploitation of species, climate change, pollution and invasive species.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps the Kunming-Montreal framework\u2019s best-known ambition is\u00a0\u201c30 by 30\u201d<\/a>: conserving 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030, the deadline for achieving the UN\u00a0Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> (SDGs).\u00a0<\/p>\n

To do this, national action plans must align with international goals, finance must match current needs and consumption and production should be in accord with \u201cthe finite resources of our planet\u201d, Ms. Schomaker maintained.<\/p>\n

Why do these talks matter?<\/p>\n

A core aim of the Yerevan talks \u2013 also known as COP17, or the 17th Conference Of Parties \u2013 is \u201cto turn commitments into measurable progress on the ground\u201d, insisted Armenia\u2019s Permanent Representative to the UN, Paruyr Hovhannisyan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want COP17 to send a clear political signal that addressing biodiversity loss requires coordinated action by governments, international organizations, the private sector and civil society,\u201d he told UN News. \u201cThis means strengthening implementation, mobilizing adequate resources, and improving monitoring and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the big issues governments will grapple with in Yerevan:<\/p>\n

Taking stock: Countries will conduct the very first global review of collective progress under the framework by presenting\u00a0their national reports and updated national biodiversity strategies and action plans. This will show\u00a0what has been achieved since 2022 and where faster action is needed.\u00a0Closing the implementation gap: The question is how to translate national targets and plans into measurable results on the ground.Finding the money: The framework calls for at least $200 billion annually from all sources by 2030, including at least $30 billion in international biodiversity finance, according to Armenia\u2019s UN Ambassador Mr. Hovhannisyan.Making the\u00a0Cali Fund<\/a> work: This global financial mechanism established under the\u00a0UN Convention on Biodiversity<\/a> was agreed at COP16 in Cali, Colombia. Talks at Yerevan aim to advance practical arrangements for the fund, which was designed to collect funds from companies that use digital genetic data and redistribute these monies to protect biodiversity and Indigenous Peoples.Tracking progress: Better monitoring, data, capacity and cooperation are needed so countries can measure whether commitments are actually delivering results.\u00a0Changing the economics: Some of the areas furthest behind require action outside environment ministries, including on finance, business, sustainable consumption and harmful incentives.<\/p>\n

The meeting follows warnings from UN chief Ant\u00f3nio Guterres in Yerevan on Friday that more than one million species face extinction.<\/p>\n

War on nature<\/p>\n

In his call for an\u00a0end to the \u201cwar on nature\u201d,\u00a0the UN Secretary-General appealed to governments, business and communities to accelerate efforts to protect biodiversity for future generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, humankind saws another branch through the tree of life. Climate chaos, invasive species, overgrazing and overfishing, excessive fertilizers, pesticides, plastics and heavy metals, all these and more are driving the triple planetary crisis of pollution, biodiversity loss and climate chaos,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The UN chief warned that the world is\u00a0edging ever closer towards becoming uninhabitable. But he also pointed to international biodiversity action agreed under the\u00a0Kunming-Montreal Framework.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It had inspired action worldwide, Mr. Guterres insisted, noting that since 2022, an additional 1.3 million square kilometres of land and six million square kilometres of ocean have received formal protection.<\/p>\n

But \u201cprogress is uneven and far too slow\u201d and countries risk falling \u201cwell short\u201d of the goal of conserving 30 per cent of the world\u2019s land and sea by 2030, the UN chief said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The aim of the talks in the Armenian capital is to assess progress so far and build on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-651203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}