On October 16, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Armenia Robert Abisoghomonyan chaired the second plenary session of the Biodiversity Leaders’ Summit.

The session featured remarks by senior representatives of the United Nations and international and regional organizations, ministers responsible for the environment from various countries and other high-level officials, as well as representatives of international financial institutions, civil society and expert communities.

At the conclusion of the session, Deputy Minister Robert Abisoghomonyan thanked the participants for the substantive discussions and for reaffirming their shared commitment to biodiversity conservation. He underscored the political significance of the Summit in advancing the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The Deputy Minister also chaired the Summit’s closing session, during which the key outcomes of the roundtable discussions entitled “A Political Imperative: Safeguarding Nature for Peace, Security and Development” and “Financing the Future: Aligning Financial Flows with Nature-Positive Development” were presented.

The Summit’s key political outcome was the “Yerevan Declaration for Sustaining Life on Earth,” which set out political commitments and priorities for achieving global biodiversity conservation goals.

The Declaration reaffirmed the commitment to the effective implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with the aim of halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030 and achieving the 2050 vision of living in harmony with nature. It also highlighted the importance of the first global review of progress in implementing the Framework in identifying existing gaps, strengthening accountability and accelerating further action.

Summit participants called for outcome-oriented decisions at COP17 and for clear pathways to be established in Yerevan to accelerate the implementation of the Framework’s 23 targets, ensuring that the Summit’s political messages are reflected in the outcomes of the Conference.

Particular importance was attached to mobilizing the financial resources necessary for biodiversity conservation, strengthening the capacities of developing countries and enhancing scientific and technical cooperation. The participants also highlighted the importance of ensuring the effective participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, women, youth, civil society and the private sector, as well as the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources.