"Countries renewed their promises to protect wildlife at U.N. talks in Armenia, but how to cover the costs remains a question."
"Two weeks of global negotiations to protect the world’s wildlife and ecosystems ended on Saturday in Yerevan, Armenia, with nations reaffirming their pledges to protect nature but still off track to meet an ambitious set of targets by a 2030 deadline.
Biodiversity, the variety of life on the planet, is declining at levels unprecedented in human history, scientists say.
In 2022, in a landmark agreement made under the United Nations biodiversity treaty, nations pledged to reverse those losses by taking action on 23 targets, including protecting 30 percent of the earth’s land and water and reforming industries that drive declines in wildlife.
This year’s meeting marked the halfway point for countries to meet their deadline for those pledges. The United States is the only country, with the exception of the Vatican, that is not party to the treaty, though it attends the meeting and participates from the sidelines."
Catrin Einhorn reports for the New York Times October 31, 2026.
SEE ALSO:
"‘Bunch Of Baloney’: Calls Grow For Cop Summit Reforms As Countries On Track To Fail Nature Targets" (Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/31/cop17-reforms-fails-...
"COP17: Nations Chart ‘Yerevan Pathway’ To Speed Up Action For Nature" (UN News)
https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/11/1168718
