Nearly 200 countries agree COP17 nature texts in Yerevan after overtime talks

Agreement reached in overtime

Nearly 200 countries adopted a set of hard-fought agreements at the UN biodiversity conference in Yerevan on Friday, 30 October 2026. The texts were approved in overtime after just under two weeks of tense negotiations, and delegates applauded as COP17 president Hambardzum Matevosyan banged the gavel on the documents. The session ran past its originally planned close on Friday, and a plenary planned for early afternoon had reportedly been moved to the evening. The final versions of the documents were not immediately available, so their detailed wording was still unpublished when the decision was announced. The meeting is the 17th UN conference on implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity, and its aim is to put global efforts back on course to halt the destruction of nature by 2030.

Sticking points

Negotiations stalled over reform of subsidies and other incentives that encourage activities harmful to nature, such as fossil fuel production, intensive agriculture and overfishing. The 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework already commits countries to cut environmentally harmful subsidies, including those for fossil fuels such as oil, by at least $500 billion worldwide by 2030. A second dispute concerned new sources of finance for conservation, a difficult question while public budgets are strained by the energy crisis and by conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Delegates also disagreed about how far companies should take part in funding environmental protection measures. An earlier draft text urged countries to speed up their efforts, said more action was needed on the root causes of nature loss, and set out several options for reaching the 2030 goal.

Targets off track

Before the conference opened, the UN warned that the 2030 biodiversity goal would not be met unless countries urgently changed course. Most of the targets are heading for failure, including commitments to protect 30% of land and oceans, to combat pollution and to give poorer countries wider conservation funding. The framework's 30% goal means at least 30% of land and sea areas placed under protection by 2030. A report presented by UN Secretary-General António Guterres found that the international community is lagging behind on almost every point of the Kunming-Montreal agreement, which contains 23 commitments. The world also needs about $700 billion a year more than it currently spends to restore degraded ecosystems, save endangered species and conserve forests, wetlands and other natural habitats.

Ecuador and next steps

Delegates chose Ecuador to host the next UN biodiversity summit, COP18, in 2028. The Yerevan meeting was also meant to serve as a first stocktake of the Kunming-Montreal framework, and almost 200 member states are now to be asked to honour their obligations. German federal environment minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) travelled to Yerevan to advance international cooperation on the issue. Details of the agreed documents had not yet been published when the reports were filed.