In brief
At the 17th Conference of the Parties, an international coalition of more than 100 countries adopted the Yerevan Pathway during marathon negotiations, setting a 2026–2030 agenda that prioritizes stronger national strategies, improved monitoring, increased financing, technology transfer, and inclusive participation of Indigenous peoples, local communities, women and youth. The decision marks a significant advance in the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and paves the way for COP18 in Quito in 2028.
The 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), held in Yerevan, Armenia, concluded with the adoption of the I‑Yerevan Pathway, a strategic plan designed to accelerate biodiversity action from 2026 to 2030. The pathway emerged from a marathon 12‑hour negotiation that began Friday night and continued through Saturday morning, during which more than 100 countries formulated and accepted a set of priority actions to reverse nature loss.
In a setting dominated by the theme “Taking Action for Nature,” delegates urged the world to transform international commitments into measurable outcomes. The UN‑funded conference built upon the Kunming‑Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which was adopted in 2022 and established 23 targets for halting and reversing biodiversity loss by the end of this decade.
The Yerevan Pathway, developed through a global review process, centers on four key pillars: stronger national biodiversity strategies, improved monitoring systems, increased financing, and technology transfer. It also recognizes capacity‑building and whole‑government coordination as essential to ensuring that governments can implement the agreed actions.
"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 Matevsyan, Armenia's Environment Minister. His remarks underscored how the pathway’s comprehensive agenda addressed gaps identified in the global report and clarified the steps needed to reach 2030 targets.
"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," added Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the Convention’s secretariat. Her comment reflected an awareness that the pathway’s success hinges on turning high‑level agreements into concrete national practices.
Key Provisions of the Yerevan Pathway
Biodiversity — the variety and variability of life on Earth — is measured by the number of species, genetic diversity within those species, and the ecosystems that support them. The Yerevan Pathway calls for nations to develop national biodiversity strategies and action plans, or to strengthen existing ones, ensuring that they are integrated into broader environmental and development policies.
Monitoring is positioned as a central element: each country will need to establish or improve national monitoring systems that track progress toward biodiversity targets and report data to the global review mechanism. The pathway also prescribes the scaling up of financial flows—both public and private—to support conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of biodiversity resources.
Technology transfer and capacity building are expected to bridge resource gaps, especially for low‑income countries. The pathway stresses the importance of sharing best practices, scientific knowledge, and conservation tools across borders, thereby increasing the overall effectiveness of biodiversity interventions.
In alignment with calls for inclusive governance, the plan prioritizes the participation of Indigenous peoples, local communities, women, and youth in decision‑making processes. Their lived experience and traditional knowledge are regarded as critical components of sustainable biodiversity management. The pathway also encourages partnership with the private sector and civil society to expand reach and impact.
Looking ahead, COP17 set the next meeting date and host: COP18 will be convened in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028. Delegates agreed that this timing will allow close‑to‑term follow‑up on the Yerevan Pathway’s implementation while keeping momentum toward the decade‑long goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
For the scientific community, the Yerevan Pathway provides an operational roadmap that concreteizes international intentions into measurable indicators. By demanding rigorous monitoring and transparent reporting, the plan urges researchers to refine data‑collection methods and improve predictive models of biodiversity trends.
Technology transfer, a cornerstone of the pathway, opens new avenues for quantum computing and advanced data analytics to accelerate ecosystem assessments. The ability to model complex ecological interactions at scale could transform conservation strategies, allowing policymakers to identify critical restoration targets in real time.
While the Yerevan Pathway’s ambitious schedule will test national capacities, the collaborative framework built at COP17 lays a foundation for cross‑country data exchange. Such synergy is essential for confirming the effectiveness of biodiversity actions and for iterating on strategies as new scientific insights emerge.
In summary, the Yerevan Pathway marks a decisive step toward achieving the 2030 biodiversity targets set by the Kunming‑Montreal Framework. By tying national strategies, monitoring, financing, technology, and inclusive governance into a single, actionable plan, COP17 winners have created a blueprint—backed by more than a hundred countries—to translate climate and biodiversity pledges into tangible, data‑driven outcomes.