UN CBD COP-17: Adoption of the Yerevan Pathway
The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP-17) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) concluded in Yerevan, Armenia adopting the Yerevan Pathway. India emphasized the urgent need for adequate, predictable finance and technology transfer from developed nations to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) effectively.
- Following the first global review of the KMGBF which showed insufficient progress, nations adopted the “Yerevan Pathway” to accelerate action and implementation ahead of the 2030 deadline.
- The pathway calls on member nations to align their national budgets and economic decisions with biodiversity goals, reform harmful subsidies, and strengthen monitoring mechanisms.
- Sevan Guidelines for Indigenous Peoples: Nations adopted the Sevan Guidelines to establish the operational rules for a new permanent subsidiary body under Article 8(j) of the Convention.
- These voluntary Sevan Guidelines empower Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) by ensuring their rights, roles, and traditional ecological knowledge are structurally integrated into global biodiversity policy and decision-making.
- New Biodiversity Funding Pledges: Nearly USD 2 billion in new biodiversity funding was announced at the summit.
- This includes USD 560 million under the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) (established at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit) latest replenishment and USD 500 million through the Species Recovery Alliance.
- The Asian Development Bank launched a biodiversity bond and investment incubator to promote nature-related investment.
- Diluted Stance on Harmful Subsidies: Reforming subsidies that harm nature was highly contentious. Attempts to include strong language that would “urge” countries to scale up the elimination of harmful subsidies were opposed by nations including Saudi Arabia, Russia, and India.
- The final text was softened to merely “encourage” countries to accelerate reform “in accordance with national circumstances”.
- Digital Sequence Information (DSI) and the Cali Fund: Negotiations continued on the benefit-sharing mechanism for genetic data (the Cali Fund), which was operationalized at the COP – 16 (2024).
- While technical disagreements prevented a definitive resolution, a pilot phase was agreed upon allowing the Steering Committee to issue certificates to companies that make voluntary contributions.
- COP-17 left unresolved several institutional and financing questions, including aspects of the Article 8(j) body’s governance, the future biodiversity-finance mechanism and the full implementation arrangements of the Cali Fund, essentially “kicking the can down the road” to COP18, which is scheduled to be held in Quito, Ecuador, in 2028.
