Biodiversity summit reaches fresh pact in Yerevan as funding gaps persist

Delegates representing almost 200 nations have agreed on an action plan to restore global nature protection efforts, concluding almost a fortnight of contentious talks in Armenia. The pact was finalised early on Saturday morning in Yerevan, running several hours past the scheduled deadline.

The negotiations were aimed at reviving momentum behind the Global Biodiversity Framework signed four years ago in 2022. That treaty committed nations to halting and reversing ecosystem declines by 2030, establishing 24 distinct objectives that included shielding 30 percent of the planet's land and marine environments. Scientists have warned that the Earth faces a sixth mass extinction, with wildlife vanishing at 100 times natural rates because of human activity.

However, the United Nations disclosed during the summit that the international community is currently meeting only one of the two dozen agreed goals. In the newly adopted Yerevan package, governments formally admitted they have fallen behind on their conservation commitments.

Financing remains the principal hurdle confronting global conservation programs. In 2022, participants pledged to allocate $30bn by the decade's close alongside generating $170bn through private channels. Yet the UN reported that many states have subsequently diverted international aid towards national defence budgets and energy crises, resulting in funding streams falling far short of target levels.

The Yerevan summit generated over $1bn in fresh commitments, roughly half of which was contributed by philanthropic donors, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio's organisation Re:wild. Delegates also discussed reducing government subsidies that actively harm ecosystems, such as state support for industrial bottom trawling.

Efforts to secure funding from commercial businesses that monetise wild genetic resources made limited headway. The designated Cali Fund, created to collect voluntary contributions from companies profiting from environmental genetic material, was anticipated to yield up to $3.6bn per year, but stood at just $10,000 when the summit commenced.

Discussions were further complicated by diplomatic friction over the formal endorsement of environmental science assessments. A handful of nations, including Russia and Saudi Arabia, disrupted the approval of scientific summaries, prompting criticism from other delegations regarding political interference in scientific consensus.

Despite the broader shortfalls, conservation advocates pointed out that targeted protection projects continue to demonstrate results. Governments have placed 623 million acres (252 million hectares) of damaged territory under formal protection. In addition, recent conservation interventions have supported the comeback of several vulnerable species, including tigers, green sea turtles, elephants and bluefin tuna.