COP17 opens in Armenia amid calls to accelerate biodiversity action — Pajhwok

KABUL (Pajhwok): The 17th UN biodiversity conference (COP17) opened in Armenia on Monday, with representatives from nearly 200 countries reviewing progress towards global nature conservation targets for 2030. According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the conference began in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, on 19 October and will run until 30 October. The meeting marks the first global assessment of countries’ progress in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022, the report said. Under the framework, countries have pledged to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. One of the framework’s key targets is to protect 30 per cent of the world’s land and waters by the end of this decade. Other goals include conserving natural habitats, restoring degraded ecosystems, reducing pollution and preventing the extinction of animal and plant species. However, a UN assessment indicates that progress towards the 23 biodiversity targets has been uneven, with most falling behind the required pace. Securing adequate funding is one of the main challenges facing this year’s conference, according to the report. Developing countries have stressed that implementing nature conservation programmes and achieving the 2030 targets will be difficult without sufficient financial support. Reforming and redirecting subsidies that harm nature, including financial support for polluting activities and extractive industries, is another key issue at the meeting, the report said. The annual target…