Overview
- Negotiators approved hard-fought final texts late on Friday, Oct. 30, ending the COP17 meeting in Yerevan but many delegations described the outcome as disappointing.
- The summit produced only limited progress on biodiversity finance, with the COP leaving key decisions on the design and scaling of the Cali Fund unresolved and most new mechanisms effectively under-resourced.
- Parties failed to secure strong commitments on harmful subsidy reform, with language on cutting incentives for activities like fossil fuels, intensive agriculture and overfishing substantially weakened or deferred.
- Delegates publicly criticised attempts to undermine scientific assessments during talks, and dozens of countries formally expressed regret over constrained uptake of technical evidence.
- Ecuador won the secret vote to host the next biodiversity meeting in 2028, while a few governments pledged fresh money to UN funds and negotiators warned that implementation will now depend on national action and future negotiations.