Yerevan (Armenia): Delegates have worked for nearly 24 hours at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which achieved ‘breakthroughs’ on resource mobilisation…

Yerevan (Armenia): Delegates have worked for nearly 24 hours at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which achieved ‘breakthroughs’ on resource mobilisation and allocation of funds for biodiversity conservation while concerns remained over the collection of funds and recognition of indigenous rights.The plenary chaired by president of the COP and Environment Minister of Armenia Hambardzum Matevosyan began the meeting at about 11 pm local time (IST 12.30 am) to discuss proposals which required unanimous consensus among the parties to become decisions. However, countries failed to agree on many of the issues in the first several hours with the meeting continuing beyond 7 am.The consensus on the agenda of ‘resource mobilization’ that came past midnight gave hopes that the decision would help bridge the gap of annual funding of USD 200 billion (Rs 19 lakh crore) for conservation of biodiversity of which at least USD 30 billion/year has to go to conservation works in developing countries.Countries running out of time as only 25% of target met in ecosystem restorationSimilarly, the convention also decided on the allocation of funds collected under ‘Cali Fund’, a mechanism under which companies using genetic material (Digital Sequence Information or DSI) of plants and organisms are expected to contribute 1 per cent of their revenue. The decision stated 70 per cent of the funds would be allocated based on benefits index, where countries are ranked based on relative biodiversity. The decision allocated 20 per cent of the funds to all other countries while 10 per cent was reserved for countries with lower gross national income.Still a promiseHowever, contributions by companies were purely voluntary. While a study commissioned by the CBD had put the annual collection at nearly USD 1 billion (over Rs 9,500 crore) only about USD 10,000 (Rs 9.5 lakh) has been received till now.Felix Finkbeiner of the Plant-for-the-Planet Foundation noted that key decisions about the workings of the fund were postponed until COP18 in two years. “This virtually guarantees that companies will face very little pressure to pay in and we’ll only see negligible contributions to the fund until at least 2028,” he said, echoing the concerns of several observers.Many decisions that involved urging the countries to reduce ‘harmful incentives’ that harm nature and increase positive ones were deleted.However, consensus eluded key decisions on recognition of the indigenous rights. Under Article 8(j) of the CBD, countries are obliged to respect and maintain indigenous and local communities’ knowledge relevant to biodiversity. It also mandates sharing of benefits derived from such biodiversity. However, countries have continued to differ on many issues proposals related to the indigenous rights.At around 3.50 am, a delegate from the Democratic Republic of Congo expressed frustration over the delay in the proceedings. The chair adopted the strategy of moving ahead with proposals that had less disagreements. However, well after 7 am, some agendas remained.While contentious agendas could be pushed to the next COP, usually held after a two-year gap, such a move is seen as the failure of the presidency and hosting nation to resolve issues.This story was produced as part of the 2026 CBD COP17 Fellowship, operated by Informed Earth in collaboration with Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.

Source: Deccan Herald