COP17 adopts Yerevan plan but leaves biodiversity finance gap open

Nearly 200 governments adopted the Yerevan Pathway after overtime talks at COP17, the first global review of the 2022 Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework. The review found the world off track on almost all 23 targets for 2030. Governments agreed to speed up national action, including work on harmful subsidies, biodiversity spending in public budgets and stronger reporting.

The conference also established operating rules for a permanent body representing Indigenous peoples and local communities in the biodiversity convention. Reuters, AFP and Carbon Brief reported that a compromise on expanding the donor base invites willing countries to contribute but does not impose new obligations. No new pool of money was secured, leaving the gap between promised and available finance unresolved.

The outcome is therefore a governance advance rather than a funded rescue plan. It gives countries a common review process and clearer pressure points, but implementation still depends on domestic budgets, development finance and reform of incentives that damage nature. The next test is whether governments revise national plans and spending quickly enough to change the trajectory before 2030, rather than treating the Yerevan text as the completion of the work.