Jessika Roswall

🌿 A positive outcome for nature at COP17 in Yerevan!

After intensive negotiations, COP17 has concluded with important agreements to advance our collective efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

A major achievement is the successful conclusion of the first Global Review of Collective Implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. For the first time, we have collectively taken stock of the progress made since its adoption. The review shows unprecedented action by countries around the world, but also that we are not moving fast enough. With the Yerevan Pathway, we have an important opportunity to accelerate implementation and turn our global commitments into concrete results by 2030.

We also made progress on biodiversity finance, reached an agreement on digital sequence information to advance the Cali Fund, and agreed on practical arrangements to make the participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities work in practice.

I am particularly encouraged by the strong international interest in our Friends of Credits for Nature and Biodiversity initiative, which can help us explore new ways of mobilising private investment for nature.

These outcomes show that multilateral cooperation can deliver, even in challenging times.

My thanks to the Armenian COP Presidency for steering these negotiations, and my sincere gratitude to the entire EU negotiating team, our European Commission colleagues and the Irish Presidency for their extraordinary dedication, professionalism and excellent cooperation. These agreements are the result of a truly collective European effort.

We leave Yerevan with important agreements and renewed momentum. But our work is far from over.

Nature cannot wait. Now we must turn these commitments into concrete action - faster, together and at scale.