UN biodiversity conference enters final week with key decisions ahead

YEREVAN, Armenia — As the United Nations Biodiversity Conference prepares to enter its final high-level week, the global biodiversity conservation agenda is reaching a critical juncture. Senior United Nations officials and representatives of the Presidency of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) will hold a press conference on Monday, 26 October, to brief international media on the latest progress in negotiations, major outstanding disagreements, and the key decisions needed to advance global efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

The press conference is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. local time on 26 October at the Press Conference Room in the COP17 Blue Zone in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The event will be broadcast live worldwide via UN Web TV, with arrangements for remote interactive participation, enabling journalists around the world to receive timely updates on the latest developments at the conference.

As the conference enters its final stage, the outcomes of negotiations and issues on which consensus has yet to be reached have become a focus of international attention. UN officials and COP17 Presidency leaders will comprehensively assess the current state of negotiations, identify key outstanding issues, and outline priorities for the high-level week, providing important guidance for the conference’s final decisions.

The press conference will cover three major meetings taking place concurrently under the UN Biodiversity Conference: the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), as well as meetings under the Convention’s two global protocols — the Nagoya Protocol, concerning access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization, and the Cartagena Protocol, concerning biosafety. Together, these three meetings constitute an important international cooperation platform for global biodiversity governance.

Meanwhile, the conference will also focus on the close interconnections between biodiversity conservation, global climate action, and the international financing agenda. How countries can translate international commitments into concrete action, how environmental protection can be coordinated with financial support, and how progress towards achieving the global biodiversity targets for 2030 can be accelerated will be among the key issues during the final high-level week. As crucial negotiations enter a decisive phase, the international community is closely watching whether parties can build further consensus and generate renewed momentum in global efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.