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Nature summit opens with conservation funding short of global goals

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Countries entering a United Nations biodiversity summit in Armenia face a large gap between their conservation promises and the money available to carry them out, the Associated Press reported.

The COP17 meeting in Yerevan begins October 19 and is scheduled to end October 30.

Countries agreed in Montreal in 2022 to protect 30% of important land and waters by 2030 and mobilize $200 billion annually for biodiversity.

AP reported that annual funding from 2023 through 2025 ranged from $75 billion to $92 billion, citing international economic-development data.

A separate commitment calls for increasing support to poorer countries. The latest figure cited in the report was $19 billion in 2024.

Governments also pledged to reform or reduce harmful subsidies by $500 billion a year. Identifying and changing those subsidies has made limited progress.

The summit is intended to assess progress across 23 targets. The United States is not a party to the biodiversity treaty.

Delegates must address how to translate conservation commitments into financed work while pressures from habitat loss, resource extraction, and climate change continue.

Sources: Associated Press; AP report available through ClickOnDetroit

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