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The News
Almost all countries agreed on a new urgent work plan to address the mass extinction crisis facing the planet in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, following days of tough negotiations at an annual summit focused on biodiversity. This agreement comes just four years after signing the "Global Biodiversity Framework," which set ambitious goals to protect 30% of land and seas by the end of this decade.
Hambarsum Matevosyan, co-chair of the conference, clarified that parties reached agreement on the key points of the new plan, expressing satisfaction with the final result endorsed by attending country leaders. Nevertheless, environmental experts warned that the world is moving too slowly to achieve the goals, noting that the UN indicates only one of 24 main goals in the previous agreement will be met.
Katherine Wheeler from "Fauna & Flora International" stated that reaching an agreement is positive news despite its lack of detail, emphasizing that nature is vital for the economy and human well-being and cannot continue without correcting course toward 2030. Craig Bennett, CEO of Wildland Trust, added that there are successful global examples of fixing the situation despite catastrophic losses threatening ecosystems worldwide.
Countries secured protection for vast areas of degraded land equal to Greenland's size, and over a billion dollars were pledged during the summit, half from charitable figures such as Leonardo DiCaprio's Rebuild Foundation. However, experts pointed out that the biggest obstacle to rapid implementation of these plans is funding shortage, noting that much international aid was previously diverted to defense and energy budgets.
The summit also discussed government support for industries harmful to nature, such as overfishing, and attendees agreed on redirecting these funds toward environmental and climate protection despite political challenges faced by some scientific reports. French Minister for Ecological Transition Monique Barbot expressed dismay at attacks on science in certain international meetings, describing them as a clear political movement.
Analysis & context
Analysis & Context
From an analytical perspective, this agreement represents a positive step amid a worsening environmental crisis, but the gap between declared commitments and actual funding remains a major concern for scientists and environmental organizations. The world currently faces unprecedented extinction rates requiring massive investments and immediate human resources to prevent an irreversible environmental catastrophe.
In the broader context, reports indicate that many governments face financial pressures pushing them to redirect environment-funded money toward defense and national security, weakening capacity to implement conservation and restoration projects. This shift in financial priorities threatens collapse of international efforts made over the past decade to protect endangered species like elephants, green fish, and squirrels.
Additionally, the "California Fund," intended to collect billions annually from companies benefiting from genetic materials, faced significant difficulties due to its voluntary nature, reflecting complex regulatory and legal challenges in biological resource exploitation. Experts confirm that inability of companies to pay what local communities deserve for genetic resources remains a point of contention needing international legal resolution.
Finally, the world faces a new political challenge manifesting as some countries attacking scientific reports on nature's condition, undermining credibility of scientific institutions like IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). Professor David Lee describes these attacks as an explicit political attempt harming all humanity's interests, especially with COP31 climate conference approaching where world leaders will meet to discuss environmental and climate challenges.
