In brief
COP17 in Yerevan saw a 12‑hour marathon that produced the Yerevan Pathway, a comprehensive plan to speed up biodiversity measures through stronger national strategies, monitoring, financing, and inclusive participation. The next conference will take place in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028.
Xinhua reports that over 100 countries reached agreements at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, on October 31, 2026, adopting a new plan called the Yerevan Pathway to accelerate biodiversity action between 2026 and 2030.
According to Xinhua, the negotiation extended roughly 12 hours from Friday night through Saturday morning, marking a marathon effort to finalize deals on national strategies, monitoring, finance, technology transfer, and inclusive participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, and youth.
Xinhua notes that the Yerevan Pathway prioritizes stronger national biodiversity strategies, improved monitoring, increased financing, technology transfer and capacity‑building, whole‑of‑government coordination, and meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women and young people, all aimed at meeting the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s 2030 targets.
In a note about future conferences, Xinhua states that the COPs voted to hold COP18 in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028.
"I think we've achieved more than we could have expected in terms of the diversity of the agenda items, in terms of the importance of those items for many countries and parties, and in terms of the items that were anticipated for a long time that have managed to be approved and adopted," said COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan, Armenia’s environment minister.
"It is wonderful that we have faced up to the gaps identified in the global report. We have adopted the Yerevan Pathway, and now we need to follow this pathway towards 2030,"
Quoted by Xinhua, Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, affirmed the need to act swiftly for nature.
