COP17: FAO urges faster biodiversity action through agrifood systems
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) urged faster delivery of global nature commitments at the COP17 biodiversity conference in Yerevan. The conference's global review named the implementation gap as the central issue through 2030.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has called for faster delivery of global biodiversity commitments as the 17th UN Biodiversity Conference (COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, completed its global review of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). The review named the implementation gap as the central issue for the second half of the framework period, which runs to 2030.
Addressing the conference's high-level segment, FAO Deputy Director-General Godfrey Magwenzi said country commitment was strong but implementation now needs to accelerate. He said there is no food security and nutrition without biodiversity.
What the analysis shows
COP17 brought together representatives of the 196 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. The framework was adopted in 2022, so the conference marked the midpoint to the 2030 deadline. The global review found unprecedented engagement in biodiversity planning, but implementation that is too slow to reach the 2030 targets.
FAO examined 78 revised national biodiversity plans and almost 13,000 individual actions. Agrifood systems are linked to 63 percent of national targets and 36 percent of the actions analysed. While 84 percent of plans identify financial needs, only 44 percent quantify them and just 19 percent include costed agrifood-related actions. Fewer than half of planned actions have measurable indicators.
New initiatives and funding
The conference saw the launch of the Yerevan Tech for Biodiversity Monitoring Hub, which brings together organizations responsible for the framework's 27 headline indicators, and the Yerevan Global OECM Action Hub, which supports areas outside formal protected zones where nature is effectively conserved. FAO also backed a platform on mountains and freshwater ecosystems.
FAO released updated Guidelines for Integrated Land Use Planning, the first major update since 1993. The Netherlands' Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature, Jaimi van Essen, announced a EUR 1.5 million contribution to FAO's biodiversity work.
Through FAO-supported programmes, 91 countries have accessed more than USD 645 million in Global Environment Facility grants and USD 4.34 billion in co-financing. A restoration progress report showed countries have committed to restore nearly one billion hectares, with around 252 million hectares in 149 countries currently reported as under restoration.
