Nations chart ‘Yerevan Pathway’ to speed up action for nature
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• The 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was held in Yerevan, Armenia from October 19 to 30.
• It was held in conjunction with the 12th meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CP-MOP-12) and the sixth meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (NP-MOP-6).
What is the Yerevan Pathway?
• One major outcome of COP17 was the Yerevan Pathway, a negotiated response to the outcome of the first global review of collective progress in the implementation of the KMGBF.
• The Yerevan Pathway sets out a shared response to those findings, identifying priorities for action through 2030 and areas where progress will need to be accelerated.
• These include tackling nature-harmful subsidies and incentives, increasing financial, scientific and technical support for developing countries, aligning national budgets and economic decisions with the
KMGBF, and strengthening implementation, monitoring, reporting and review mechanisms.
• The pathway calls on countries to tackle subsidies that harm nature and to increase financial, scientific and technical support for developing countries.
• It also calls for national budgets and economic decisions to be aligned with the framework, and for stronger monitoring and reporting.
Other key outcomes of COP17:
• Parties adopted nearly 50 decisions, covering areas including protected areas and forests, wildlife management, invasive alien species, marine and coastal biodiversity, and synthetic biology.
• Parties also agreed on the rules of operation for the new permanent subsidiary body on Article 8(j), officially named the ‘Sevan Guidelines’. These set the rules of operation for a new permanent body strengthening the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in shaping global biodiversity policy.
• Nearly $2 billion in new biodiversity funding was announced. This included $560 million under the Global Environment Facility’s latest replenishment and $500 million through the Species Recovery Alliance.
• Another $330 million is going to the Value Nature Fund, which aims to mobilise private capital for nature.
• Other initiatives included a new biodiversity bond and investment incubator launched by the Asian Development Bank, and new indicators to improve biodiversity monitoring and accountability.
• With four years remaining to achieve the world’s 23 biodiversity targets, attention now turns to implementing the decisions and commitments made in Yerevan.
• The Yerevan Pathway will help guide national efforts through 2030 with progress to be assessed through changes in policies, delivery of resources and measurable improvements for nature and people.
• The next Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP18) will be held in Ecuador with two years remaining to achieve the world’s biodiversity targets.
