Countries attending the COP17 biodiversity conference in Yerevan have adopted a plan to accelerate environmental action after negotiations continued through the final night of the meeting.

The two-week United Nations conference conducted the first global review of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which was adopted in 2022.

That framework contains 23 targets intended to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. One of its best-known objectives is to conserve and effectively manage at least 30% of the world’s land and water by the end of the decade.

The latest review found that progress remains insufficient and that the international community is off track on almost all of its biodiversity targets.

Governments adopted an agreement known as the Yerevan Pathway. It calls for faster action in areas including reforming environmentally harmful subsidies, increasing support for developing countries and bringing national spending into line with biodiversity commitments.

Finance remains the largest unresolved challenge. The existing framework calls for at least $200 billion a year from all sources by 2030. This includes a goal of providing at least $30 billion annually in international biodiversity finance.

COP17 helped mobilise more than $1.8 billion from governments, investors and philanthropic organisations, according to UN conference officials. That included a $500 million pledge connected with species recovery and another $500 million announced by the Netherlands for the Tropical Forest Forever Facility.

Those announcements are significant, but they remain far below the total funding considered necessary to deliver the 2030 objectives.

The conference also increased attention on subsidies that damage nature. Governments worldwide may provide as much as $1.8 trillion each year in incentives considered potentially harmful to biodiversity, particularly in sectors such as fossil fuels and agriculture.

The final agreement encourages countries to accelerate subsidy reform while allowing policies to reflect their national circumstances. That wording helped governments reach consensus, but it also leaves individual countries considerable discretion over implementation.

The agreement gives governments a clearer path forward. Its success will ultimately depend on whether national policies, financial commitments and measurable environmental outcomes follow.