CBD COP17 in Yerevan: Nations Agree to Speed Up Nature Goals, but the Cali Fund Stays Unresolved
The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) ended in Yerevan, Armenia, after two weeks of talks (19-30 October 2026, running into the early hours of 31 October). Nearly 200 countries took part.
The main aim was to put the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework back on track. The UN had warned that the world is not on course to meet its 2030 targets, including protecting 30% of Earth's land and oceans, reducing pollution and invasive species, and raising money for conservation.
In a key text, countries were urged to "accelerate" their efforts and take "increased action" against the drivers of nature loss. Observers called it a step forward, but said the language on harmful subsidies (government support for activities like fossil fuels, intensive farming and overfishing that damage nature) was weak.
There was a rare fight over science, with some countries accused of blocking key scientific reports. Dozens of countries issued a joint statement that "science is not negotiable".
Debates on finance were tense. The European Union pushed wealthy emerging economies such as China to contribute; a draft text invited countries outside the traditional donor group to join voluntarily.
Key design questions on the Cali Fund, a UN fund meant to collect money from companies that profit from genetic data, were left unresolved and pushed to the next COP. Ecuador won a secret vote over Panama to host COP18 in 2028.
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
The Convention on Biological Diversity is the main world treaty for protecting the variety of life on Earth. It was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and came into force in December 1993. Countries that have joined it are called Parties, and they meet every two years at the Conference of the Parties (COP), its top decision-making body.
The Yerevan summit was the 17th meeting of the CBD's top body. It had to review how far countries have moved on the shared 2030 goals and settle unfinished work on money and benefit-sharing.
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is the world's main plan to stop and reverse the loss of nature by 2030. It was adopted in December 2022 at COP15 in Montreal (under China's presidency, which is why "Kunming" is in the name). It has 4 long-term goals for 2050 and 23 action targets for 2030.
COP17's central task was to rescue the GBF's 2030 targets after UN warnings that progress is too slow. The weak deal on harmful subsidies (Target 18) and the fights over finance (Target 19) and the Cali Fund (Target 13) all relate to specific targets of this framework.
Digital Sequence Information (DSI) and the Cali Fund
Every living thing carries a genetic code, written in DNA or RNA. Scientists can read this code and store it as digital data, a long string of letters, in online databases. This data is called Digital Sequence Information (DSI). The Cali Fund is a global fund, set up under the Convention on Biological Diversity, which asks companies that make money using DSI to share part of their profits for protecting nature and supporting the communities that look after it.
At COP17 in Yerevan, countries were meant to settle the Cali Fund's design, but key questions were pushed to COP18 in 2028. Critics warned this means the nearly empty fund will likely stay empty until then, which weakens Target 13 of the global biodiversity plan.
- CBD COP17: Yerevan, Armenia, 19-30 October 2026 (closed early on 31 October); COP17 president from Armenia
- COP18: Ecuador, 2028 (chosen over Panama in a secret vote)
- GBF 2030 targets include 30x30, harmful subsidies cut of US$ 500 billion a year (Target 18) and US$ 200 billion a year in finance (Target 19)
- Cali Fund: created by Decision 16/2 (COP16, Cali, 2024); launched 25 February 2025; about US$ 7,085 received by October 2026
- CBD: 196 Parties; the United States is not a Party
- COP15 (2022) adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: 4 goals, 23 targets