Nearly 200 Countries Adopt Biodiversity Agreements at COP17

Nearly 200 countries adopted biodiversity agreements at the COP17 summit in Yerevan on October 30, after negotiations lasting nearly two weeks ran into overtime. The agreements are intended to help put global efforts to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 back on track, but the final texts were not immediately available for public review. The meeting was the first global review of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022. The framework sets targets for 2030, including conserving at least 30% of land and waters. The Convention on Biological Diversity said fewer than half of the assessed national targets were on track, and current pledges fell short of the 30% conservation goal. A United Nations assessment reported that countries were on track to meet only one of 20 assessed goals. The assessment also found that funding pledges remained below what is needed to meet nature goals. With the adopted texts not yet available, the specific measures countries agreed to and how they address the shortfall could not be established from the adoption announcement. Financing was a central point of debate. Countries had previously committed to directing 30...