By Simon Jessop and Virginia Furness
LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) – Governments at a UN conference that ended on Saturday have agreed to step up efforts to protect global biodiversity after talks ran through the night, although the finance to deliver it remains elusive.
The two-week COP17 conference in Armenia’s capital came against a fractious political backdrop, and as the world prepares for fresh climate talks in Turkey starting November 9.
The talks in Yerevan oversaw the first global review of the Global Biodiversity Framework agreed in Montreal four years ago. While progress had been made, delegates agreed it was not enough, with the world off track on almost all of its targets.
After intense talks, governments adopted a decision dubbed the Yerevan Pathway, agreeing faster action on areas such as reducing harmful subsidies, increasing finance for developing countries, and aligning national spending with biodiversity goals.
They acknowledged that action so far had been insufficient, and set out priorities to accelerate efforts through to 2030.
“At a time when multilateralism is under pressure, COP17 has shown that international cooperation can still deliver,” said Anita de Horde, executive director of the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation.
“The real success of COP17 will be measured by what governments implement before COP18,” she said, which delegates agreed would be held in the Ecuadorean capital, Quito, in 2028.
The framework agreed in Montreal set goals including conserving 30% of land, inland waters, marine and coastal areas by 2030, restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems, reforming harmful subsidies, and mobilising $200 billion a year to help pay to preserve biodiversity.
Nearly 90% of parties to the biodiversity convention had set national targets, although fewer than half of those assessed were on track, the UN said.
REVIEW SENT ‘STRONG SIGNAL’
Daudi Sumba, chief conservation officer at WWF International, said the review of progress had sent a “strong signal”, but it needed to be backed up with finance.
Organisers said more than $1.8 billion in finance from governments, philanthropies and investors had been announced during the conference.
On the issue of biodiversity-harming subsidies, governments agreed to accelerate efforts towards the existing target of reducing harmful incentives by at least $500 billion a year by 2030.
Delegates also agreed to review existing funding arrangements, set criteria for a future permanent financing mechanism and voluntarily broaden the contributor base, although some said progress overall remained too slow.
“We cannot just plod on to 2030 without a course correction,” said Catherine Weller, global policy director at non-profit Fauna & Flora.
(Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Jan Harvey)
