World leaders face growing pressure to close a multibillion-dollar conservation funding gap, reform harmful subsidies and accelerate action to protect nature, as a new $500 million species recovery pledge offers hope ahead of crucial negotiations.
The United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP17) opens in Yerevan, Armenia, on Monday amid mounting warnings that global efforts to halt biodiversity loss are falling dangerously behind, with governments under pressure to turn conservation pledges into measurable action before the 2030 deadline.
The two-week summit, running until October 30 under the theme “Taking Action for Nature”, brings together representatives of nearly 200 countries to assess progress under the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in 2022.
The negotiations come as the UN’s first global assessment of biodiversity action reveals a widening gap between political commitments and implementation, raising serious questions about whether countries can achieve their agreed conservation targets.
According to the State of Biodiversity Action report, nearly 90% of countries have established national biodiversity targets, but fewer than half of the targets assessed by governments are on track.
Around 60% of countries have developed national biodiversity strategies and action plans, while more than 70% have submitted national reports. However, implementation remains inadequate, particularly in financing, harmful subsidy reform and integrating biodiversity protection into economic decision-making.
The report will form the basis of COP17’s first formal global review of collective progress towards the framework’s 23 targets for 2030.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who attended a high-level leaders’ summit in Yerevan on October 16, warned that the international community was running out of time to reverse nature’s decline.
“Nature won’t thrive on good intentions,” Guterres said, urging stronger financial commitments, improved accountability and greater cooperation between developed and developing countries.
Biodiversity finance emerges as major challenge
Financing is expected to dominate negotiations as governments confront a substantial shortfall in resources needed to conserve and restore ecosystems.
Under the 2022 biodiversity agreement, countries committed to mobilising at least $200 billion annually from public and private sources by 2030.
However, figures cited by the Associated Press, based on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development data, indicate that annual biodiversity financing stood between $75 billion and $92 billion during 2023-2025, less than half the target.
Developing countries are particularly concerned about access to predictable and affordable resources for conservation.
The global framework calls for international biodiversity financing for developing countries to reach at least $20 billion annually by 2025 and $30 billion by 2030. Available figures indicate that approximately $19 billion was mobilised in 2024.
Negotiators will also confront the challenge of reforming environmentally harmful subsidies.
The framework calls for reducing harmful incentives by at least $500 billion annually by 2030, but progress remains limited.
Guterres warned that global financial systems continue to support activities that destroy nature, citing an estimated $7.3 trillion flowing into nature-negative activities in 2023.
New $500 million commitment for endangered species
Despite the financing concerns, a new conservation initiative announced ahead of COP17 has provided fresh momentum.
On October 16, nine private philanthropic organisations, including the Bezos Earth Fund, Re and Rainforest Trust, announced commitments exceeding $500 million over five years to prevent extinctions and support the recovery of threatened species.
The initiative, known as the Species Recovery Alliance, aims to expand coordinated conservation investment across more than 100 countries.
A separate government-led coalition, the Coalition of Action to Recover Endangered Species, was also launched to accelerate international cooperation on species recovery.
The announcements support the global biodiversity framework’s target of preventing human-induced extinctions and reducing extinction risks.
However, the new philanthropic commitments remain modest compared with the scale of global biodiversity financing needs.
Yerevan Declaration renews political commitments
Ahead of the formal negotiations, world leaders adopted the Yerevan Declaration on October 16, reaffirming their commitment to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
The declaration emphasises ecosystem restoration, greater biodiversity financing, scientific cooperation and stronger participation by Indigenous Peoples, women, youth and local communities.
However, the political statement contains no new quantified collective financing commitments or detailed implementation timetable.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan urged governments to move beyond promises, acknowledging that global efforts remained insufficient to meet the agreed targets.
The host country has also highlighted the relationship between biodiversity conservation, regional peace and cross-border environmental cooperation.
Conservation targets remain distant
The Kunming-Montreal framework requires countries to conserve at least 30% of the planet’s terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine areas by 2030, commonly known as the 30×30 target.
Yet current national commitments would protect only around 26% of terrestrial ecosystems and 12% of marine ecosystems by the deadline, according to figures highlighted by the United Nations.
The biodiversity crisis also continues to intensify.
The World Wide Fund for Nature’s 2026 Living Planet Report recorded a 73% average decline in the size of monitored wildlife populations between 1970 and 2022.
Scientists identify habitat destruction, pollution, overexploitation, invasive species and climate change among the major drivers of biodiversity loss.
Another sensitive issue at COP17 is the Cali Fund, established to channel contributions from companies benefiting commercially from digital genetic sequence information towards biodiversity conservation and benefit-sharing.
The mechanism has attracted little funding, raising questions about how governments can encourage meaningful contributions from biotechnology, pharmaceutical and other industries.
Why COP17 matters for South Asia
For South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the negotiations have major implications for conservation financing, ecosystem restoration and climate resilience.
The region faces overlapping environmental pressures affecting the Sundarbans mangrove forests, Himalayan ecosystems, wetlands, rivers and marine biodiversity.
Strengthened financial and technical support could help countries protect vulnerable ecosystems while safeguarding livelihoods dependent on forests, agriculture and fisheries.
COP17 will also consider how Indigenous Peoples and local communities can participate more effectively in biodiversity governance and how conservation efforts can respect their rights.
The central challenge for negotiators is to transform the first global biodiversity assessment into stronger national action, credible financing arrangements and a practical pathway to meeting the 2030 goals.
With only four years remaining, the outcome in Yerevan will provide a crucial indication of whether governments can move beyond political declarations and deliver meaningful protection for the natural systems sustaining life on Earth.
