Financial clout becomes the decisive factor at the biodiversity summit in Yerevan

The UN biodiversity summit in Yerevan entered its final phase as ministers gathered to decide how the 23 targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework will be pursued over the next four years. Participants describe the talks as a power struggle, with national priorities and the need for flexibility outweighing shared ambition. A key point of contention is the financing of biodiversity measures, especially the removal of environmentally damaging subsidies and the sourcing of new public and private funds.

Experts argue that future negotiations must create a body that includes both environment and finance ministers to secure the necessary money. Meanwhile, some countries are pushing to dilute legally binding human-rights language, substituting it with softer terminology, and there is debate over the role of compensation mechanisms in the final text.