COP17 ends in Armenia with two texts and mixed reaction
Delegates at the COP17 biodiversity summit in Yerevan approved two major texts in overtime, but critics said the outcome fell short on nature goals, science disputes and conservation funding. Ecuador will host the next talks in 2028.
Nearly 200 nations struck agreements at the two-week UN summit. Ecuador won the right to host the next biodiversity talks in 2028 after it defeated Panama in a secret vote.
French Ecological Transition Minister Monique Barbut said the outcome was "not commensurate" with the crisis facing the natural world. She said the progress that was not achieved is a series of missed opportunities to speed up the response to biodiversity loss.
Decisions on the design of the Cali Fund are deferred for two years. Pakhi Das of the nonprofit Plant-for-the-Planet said this all but ensures the fund stays empty until then.
Guido Broekhoven of WWF International called the text a positive step forward, with weaknesses on harmful subsidies. An Lambrechts of Greenpeace International said the text expresses political momentum on harmful incentives in weak terms. Observers and delegates also accused some countries of undermining efforts to approve key reports.
Key facts
- Who
- Hambardzum Matevosyan (COP17 president); Monique Barbut (French Ecological Transition Minister); Juliette Landry (veteran COP observer from the IDDRI think tank); Guido Broekhoven (WWF International representative)
- What
- At the end of the two-week COP17 biodiversity summit in Yerevan, Armenia, delegates approved two major texts in overtime, though the outcome was criticised as falling short on nature goals, science disputes and conservation funding. The summit also decided that Ecuador will host the next biodiversity talks in 2028 after defeating Panama in a secret vote.
- When
- 31 October 2026
- Where
- Yerevan, Armenia, Ecuador
- Status
- Reported