UN Biodiversity Conference opens at Yerevan for the first global review of the Kunming-Montreal framework

19 October 2026

The UN Biodiversity Conference opened in the Armenian capital Yerevan, where governments will assess progress on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted four years earlier. Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said 196 countries made commitments in 2022 and that billions of people whose lives are being upended by biodiversity loss depend on progress in the next two weeks. The meeting, known as COP17, will carry out the very first global review of collective progress under the framework, with countries presenting national reports and updated national biodiversity strategies and action plans. The framework's best known ambition is the 30 by 30 target of conserving 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030. Armenia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Paruyr Hovhannisyan, said the aim is to turn commitments into measurable progress on the ground. Schomaker also called for greater engagement from Indigenous Peoples and local communities, women, youth, cities, businesses and financial institutions.