Nearly 200 nations adopt two biodiversity agreements in Yerevan

Nearly 200 nations adopted two concluding agreements at the United Nations biodiversity conference in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, on 30 October 2026. The decisions followed two weeks of negotiations that ran into overtime, France 24/AFP said.

The talks followed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss—the decline in the variety of living things—by 2030.

The final texts were not immediately made public, and it was not immediately clear which competing draft options had survived in the adopted agreements.

Latest · 31 October 2026

Armenia’s environment minister and conference president Hambardzum Matevosyan said decisions had been adopted on around 50 agenda items, citing the Convention’s executive secretary, Armenpress reported. Reviewing the outcomes in Yerevan, he said they exceeded his expectations in both the range of issues addressed and their importance to countries and parties to the Convention.

Community participation and conservation funding

Armenia’s environment minister and COP17 president, Hambardzum Matevosyan, said delegates approved operating procedures for the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Article 8(j) subsidiary body on Indigenous peoples and local communities. Civic.am carried his announcement. Matevosyan described the decision as a step toward strengthening those communities' participation and the role of traditional knowledge in conserving biodiversity.

BBC said more than $1 billion was pledged at the meeting, with 50% coming from philanthropists. These were commitments to provide money, not funds already disbursed.

Ecuador elected COP18 host, Armenia’s environment minister says

Matevosyan also said parties at the closing plenary elected Ecuador by secret ballot to host COP18, the next conference of parties to the biodiversity convention. Civic.am carried the announcement. Matevosyan did not give a vote tally or conference dates.