Governments agreed a plan to accelerate efforts to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 at a United Nations summit in Armenia, adopting a roadmap for the remaining four years to meet global targets, but disputes over funding and limited contributions to a corporate benefit-sharing fund exposed continuing obstacles to implementation.

Negotiators from 182 parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the first global review of progress towards the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed in 2022, after two weeks of talks in Yerevan that continued beyond their scheduled Friday conclusion.

The resulting agreement, dubbed the Yerevan Pathway, sets priorities for accelerating implementation of the framework's 23 targets. The review found that the world remains off track to meet them by 2030. The pathway calls on governments to reform subsidies that harm nature, increase financial, scientific and technical support for developing countries, and align national budgets and economic decisions with biodiversity goals.

“We cannot protect nature while continuing to finance its destruction,” said Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, according to a UN statement issued after the event.

The agreement also calls for stronger monitoring and reporting. Among its priorities is reforming at least $500 billion in environmentally harmful subsidies by 2030.

“We’ve seen more treats than tricks today at COP17,” said Daudi Sumba, WWF International's chief conservation officer.

“The Global Review is a strong signal to countries that they must do better when it comes to action for nature, but without clear scaling of the funds to be able to deliver, I fear finance will remain the key issue that continues to haunt the UN biodiversity summits,” he said.

Finance was among the most contentious issues, with governments struggling to agree on arrangements for biodiversity funding after 2030. They eventually adopted criteria to guide the design of a future permanent financial mechanism, agreed to allow a voluntary broadening of the contributor base and called for a formal review of the Global Environment Facility and Global Biodiversity Framework Fund.

The talks also sought to advance the Cali Fund, established to collect contributions from companies benefiting commercially from digital sequence information derived from genetic resources. The fund aims to raise at least $1 billion annually, with money intended to support biodiversity conservation, including in countries and communities providing genetic resources.

However, only around $10,000 had been pledged by the close of COP17. Governments reaffirmed indicative corporate contribution rates and agreed to issue certificates provisionally to help prevent duplicate payments. A review of the fund is scheduled for COP18.

“Almost 35 years later, we’re still not seeing the companies that profit off nature sharing their benefits with the Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities that act as the custodians of much of the biodiversity that their businesses rely upon,” said Vishaish Uppal, WWF-India's director of governance, law and policy.

Delegates also adopted the Sevan Guidelines, setting out the operating rules for a permanent body intended to strengthen the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in shaping global biodiversity policy.

The conference adopted more than 40 decisions, covering issues including protected areas and forests, wildlife management, invasive alien species, marine and coastal biodiversity and synthetic biology.

The Armenian presidency said the conference had mobilised $1.8 billion in pledges. The UN separately reported nearly $2 billion in new biodiversity funding announcements, including $560 million through the Global Environment Facility's latest replenishment and $500 million from the Species Recovery Alliance. A further $330 million was announced for the Value Nature Fund, which aims to mobilise private investment in nature.

Other initiatives included a biodiversity bond and investment incubator launched by the Asian Development Bank, as well as new indicators intended to improve monitoring and accountability.

“Over these two weeks we have demonstrated that differences can be bridged, commitments can become decisions and cooperation can deliver,” said COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan, Armenia's environment minister.

UN Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen said the talks showed that countries could find common ground through multilateral cooperation.

“In Yerevan, we saw environmental multilateralism prevail once again,” she said.

But WWF said the funding announcements would need to translate into predictable finance and action. “The Yerevan Pathway acknowledges what African countries already know: we have to move much faster from commitments to implementation,” said Durrel Nzene Halleson, WWF Africa's head of policy and partnerships.

Schomaker said the ultimate test would be what governments changed after returning home.

Ecuador's capital Quito was selected to host COP18 in 2028, following a vote against Panama. The next summit will take place with only two years remaining before the 2030 biodiversity targets fall due.