The world has a new plan to save nature, but it still needs the money

The world is set to miss its 2030 conservation goals, leaders acknowledged at a UN biodiversity summit in Yerevan, Armenia. The COP17 talks concluded Saturday with a recognition that progress has been too slow to realistically meet the targets of the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, according to the report.

Representatives from almost 200 countries met over two weeks to review progress on the agreement, which aimed to protect about a third of the world's land and seas by 2030.

The delegates agreed to a plan called the Yerevan Pathway to accelerate progress before the next summit in Ecuador in two years. Under the plan, countries would work to reform subsidies and incentives that harm nature, increase financial, scientific and technical support for developing countries, and strengthen monitoring and reporting.

Steven Guilbeault, former Canadian minister of environment and climate change, said finance remains one of the biggest obstacles. He called the near-empty state of a fund for companies profiting from genetic materials "especially disappointing." He said the world needs to mobilize substantially more public and private finance.

Catherine Weller, global policy director at Fauna & Flora, said the agreement was welcome but noted that funding fell far short of a pledge included in the 2022 deal. She said the world could afford to spend $200 billion a year on protecting and restoring nature.

Conference organizers said governments, philanthropists and businesses announced close to $2 billion in new financial commitments during the gathering. The Netherlands pledged $500 million to the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, a Brazilian initiative that pays countries to keep their forests standing.

Brian O'Donnell, director at Campaign for Nature, said the growing number of national diversity plans and the new pledge to the Brazilian fund were "reasons for cautious optimism."

The source reports that international funding for protected and conserved areas has fallen in a number of countries, and that environmental funding is projected to decline 27 percent for the 2026-30 period.