The road to Yerevan: Accelerating action on global biodiversity goals

Four years after Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) at COP15 in 2022, implementation is not yet on track to achieve its 2030 mission and targets.

The first Global Report on Collective Progress in the Implementation of the KM-GBF, prepared under the Convention, shows that action is under way, but progress remains uneven.

The report provides the evidence base for the first Global Review at COP17 in Yerevan, where Parties assess collective progress and consider how to close implementation gaps and accelerate delivery. The KM-GBF sets out 23 targets for 2030 across three areas: reducing threats to biodiversity, meeting people’s needs through sustainable use and benefit-sharing, and strengthening the tools and conditions needed for implementation.

COP17 is the seventeenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), where governments come together to review progress towards the goals and targets of the KM-GBF, the global plan for nature adopted in 2022. The meeting will take place in Yerevan, Armenia in October 2026 and will be an important milestone in assessing global progress towards its implementation.

The KM-GBF sets out a shared roadmap for halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030 through 23 global targets covering the protection and restoration of nature, sustainable use of natural resources, biodiversity finance, and inclusive decision-making.

A key part of this process is the Global Review, which has assessed collective progress towards the framework’s goals. Drawing on national reports and other sources it provides the first global picture of progress since the KM-GBF was adopted, giving governments the evidence-base they need to identify where implementation is falling short and what course correction is needed at COP17.

As countries prepare for COP17, there is an opportunity to build on progress and strengthen implementation of the KM-GBF. WWF’s expectations for COP17 set out the actions and political commitments needed to strengthen delivery of the KM-GBF and keep its 2030 mission within reach.

Delivering the KM-GBF will require:

• Embedding biodiversity into the decisions that shape economies and development.
• Stronger collaboration across governments, civil society, businesses, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and other rights holders.
• Long-term commitment and coordinated action across sectors at local national and international levels

Conditions for Accelerating GBF Implementation explores why some countries are making progress while others continue to face challenges. With nature under increasing pressure, understanding what enables governments and partners to act on these lessons has never been more important.

Bringing together findings from the Global Report and lessons from around the world, the paper identifies three pillars for delivery and seven priorities that can help turn biodiversity commitments into meaningful action for people and nature.

Pillar 1: Building demand for action

• Help people see how biodiversity supports the things we value, from health and livelihoods to resilience and wellbeing. For example, public support for peatland restoration in Finland grew when the conversation moved beyond biodiversity alone. By linking healthy peatlands to flood prevention, climate resilience, and long-term social and economic wellbeing, conservation became part of a broader conversation about people’s lives, livelihoods, and future prosperity.
• Support and build coalitions around shared challenges, connecting efforts across biodiversity, climate, food, rights and social justice.

Pillar 2: Building the systems for delivery

• Make biodiversity part of decision making, planning and funding across government.
• Recognize the rights, knowledge and leadership of Indigenous Peoples, local communities and others involved in managing and caring for nature. In Papua New Guinea’s Bismarck Forest Corridor, communities developed their own rules for hunting and resource management based on customary land ownership and local governance systems. The experience shows how recognizing and working through existing community leadership can strengthen local ownership and support lasting conservation outcomes.

Pillar 3: Strengthening international support

• Support country-led approaches that connect policy reform, investment, finance and capacity-building to achieve national biodiversity goals. Brazil used a sustainable sovereign bond (government borrowing instrument) to attract international investment for national priorities such as biodiversity, sustainable land use and natural resource management. Connecting biodiversity finance to broader economic and development priorities, the country showed how international funding can support nationally led action and long-term goals.
• Strengthen regional cooperation by learning from one another and working together on shared biodiversity challenges and ecosystems. Pacific Island countries are collaborating through regional platforms to share knowledge, align biodiversity plans and coordinate action on common priorities. Their experience shows how regional cooperation can help countries address biodiversity, climate and other challenges that extend beyond national borders.
• Use science, research and shared evidence to build trust and strengthen cooperation across borders.

The message for COP 17 is to turn the review into action on the conditions for delivery: public support, biodiversity in government decisions and budgets, and international cooperation that backs country-led action.

WWF expectation paper: From Commitments to Accelerated Delivery
WWF implemention report: Accelerating Implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework
The Living Planet Report 2026: The Science of Hope