COP17 opens in Yerevan with 22 of 23 nature targets off track
Countries are off track on 22 of 23 global nature targets as UN talks begin in Yerevan, Armenia, Reuters and Carbon Brief reported. The COP17 talks start Monday and last two weeks, Reuters and Climate Home News reported. Who pays to protect nature is a central question, Reuters reported.
Countries are off track on 22 of the 23 global targets meant to halt the loss of nature by 2030, Reuters and Carbon Brief reported, citing a UN report. The findings set the stage for the COP17 biodiversity talks in Yerevan, Armenia.
The talks start Monday and last two weeks, Reuters and Climate Home News reported. Carbon Brief reported that the meeting runs from October 19 to October 30. It is the first major review of the Kunming-Montreal framework, a 2022 deal that aims to protect 30% of the world's land and sea by 2030, Reuters and Climate Home News reported.
A UN report released last week called the first set of country plans "insufficient," Climate Home News reported. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said less than half of country plans are on track. If current pledges are met, only 26% of land and 12% of marine areas will be protected, Guterres said, Climate Home News reported. "The war on nature has not yet ended," he said. In a separate estimate, Reuters reported that the world is likely to reach about 27.5% land protection by 2030.
Money is a central question. The UN says 144 countries have made action plans, but who pays toward a $30 billion public finance goal is less clear, Reuters reported. A broader goal calls for at least $200 billion a year by 2030.
Countries will also look at $500 billion a year in subsidies that harm nature, Reuters reported. "This isn't primarily a story about conservation," said Eva Zabey, who leads the nonprofit Business for Nature, at a media briefing, Reuters reported. "It's an economic, fiscal, political and competitiveness story."
Cristián Samper of the Bezos Earth Fund said the talks are a chance to do more to stop species from dying out. "We know recovery is possible," Samper said, Reuters reported.
UN Environment chief Inger Andersen said, "All leaders and all negotiators must respond to these findings," Climate Home News reported.
What we know: Countries are behind on almost every 2030 nature target as the COP17 talks begin.
What we don't: Whether countries will agree on who pays to close the funding gap.
Where outlets agree Reuters and Carbon Brief report that countries are off track on 22 of 23 nature targets, and Reuters and Climate Home News report that COP17 talks lasting two weeks start in Yerevan.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.