The UN Biodiversity Conference, COP17, kicks off on 19 October in Yerevan, Armenia.

Countries will review their collective progress on targets to protect 30% of land and sea and restore 30% of damaged habitats by 2030. Additional targets cover pollution, invasive species and funding for nature.

As holder of the EU Council Presidency, the Republic of Ireland will lead EU negotiations at the summit. 

The All Ireland Science Media Centre asked experts to comment.

Professor Jane Stout, Vice President for Biodiversity and Climate Action, Trinity College Dublin, comments: 

“The 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity brings together governments and stakeholders for the first global ‘stocktake’ of collective progress towards the Global Biodiversity Framework 2030 Targets. This will highlight where we are making progress, and importantly, where we are not.

“The draft global progress report shows that although government and NGO engagement has increased, action has been taken to address all 23 targets, and more countries have now set national targets for biodiversity, the pace of progress is unlikely to be sufficient. There is the need for a ‘course correction’ to get on track in terms of implementation of actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. In short, we haven’t been ambitious enough in our actions, and we are too slow in implementing them.

“This meeting is significant for Ireland, as we currently hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union, which means Irish leadership will be at the forefront of international negotiations and diplomacy. Ireland has played a crucial role in European nature policy in recent years: Irish diplomatic interventions rescued the EU Nature Restoration Law and ensured it came into effect in 2024. Ireland has also shown leadership when it comes to engaging citizens in nature, and held the world’s first national citizens’ assembly dedicated to biodiversity in 2022. It also leads the way in cross-sectoral conservation action for pollinators, through the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, which is recognised as a blueprint pioneer, influencing conservation strategies internationally.

“However, Ireland has a poor record of biodiversity protection on the ground: most of our protected habitats are in poor condition, our peatlands are heavily degraded by drainage and historical extraction, and we lag behind targets in terms of formal protection of land and seas. Of the species that have been assessed, a higher proportion are at risk of extinction than the EU or global average. Until we seriously address damaging intensive practices in agriculture and forestry, pollution through excessive nitrogen deposition and agricultural run-off into water bodies, and climate change, in a cross-sectoral, whole-of-government way, we will not succeed in meeting our biodiversity targets.

“One of the key issues on the agenda at COP17 will be funding: where it comes from, how it is distributed, and what it is invested in. Given the return on investment in nature is estimated to be huge, it makes financial sense, yet the mechanisms for funding nature protection and restoration are not well established, particularly in ensuring that resources reach local communities, priority areas and indigenous people actively doing the front-line work.

“The theme for the meeting is “Taking Action for Nature”. To me, this emphasises that the time for talking and targets is over – it is time for action.”

Note: Prof. Stout is attending COP17 as Vice President for Biodiversity and Climate Action at Trinity College Dublin, which has observer status at the summit. She will be on a panel with the Royal Entomological Society, who arranged her attendance, and will meet with international pollinator conservation stakeholders as Co-Founder of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.

Declaration of interest: “no interests to declare”