On June 12, in Nice, on the sidelines of the Third UN Ocean Conference, the press briefing of Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Robert Abisoghomonyan and Astrid Schomaker, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, took place. 

In his remarks, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia noted: 

“Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, let me thank you for joining us at this press conference organized by the Republic of Armenia as the host of the Biodiversity COP17 and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

As Armenia intensifies its preparations for hosting COP17 in Yerevan next year, we wanted to take this opportunity to brief you on some of the preparatory efforts and substantive aspects of the Biodiversity COP17. 

But first, let me also highlight Armenia’s perspective at UNOC3. Although a landlocked, mountainous country, Armenia fully shares international concerns for the preservation of marine and ocean biodiversity as a common heritage of mankind. It is therefore essential for us to be actively engaged in global discussions on marine biodiversity protection.

For landlocked developing countries like Armenia,  the ocean represents not only environmental concern but also opportunities for science, technology, food security, and healthcare. We are convinced that these are benefits that must be equitably shared among all nations, regardless of geography.

Our primary goal in participating at the UNOC3 is to ensure that the interests and concerns of landlocked developing countries are meaningfully included in global ocean policy discussions. Therefore, Armenia was represented at UNOC3 at the highest level, by our President, as a demonstration of our commitment to ocean action. 

Secondly, as the country entrusted to host COP17 next year, Armenia views its presence at this Conference as part of our responsibility to align global efforts. We are here to explore how the outcomes of this conference can help advance the objectives of COP17, which will center around the first Global Review of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).

To that end, one of the key highlights of Armenia’s participation in the UNOC3 has been the high-level event co-organized by Armenia as the next host of Biodiversity COP17 and France as the co-host of the UNOC3 and supported by the CBD Secretariat on the theme “From Mountains to Ocean: Preserving Biodiversity Across Environmental Boundaries for a Sustainable Future”. The event offered important recommendations on shaping integrated and comprehensive approaches to biodiversity preservation by leveraging inland action for preservation of marine ecosystems. 

Another milestone was Armenia’s signing of the Agreement on Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) demonstrating our strong environmental commitment and readiness to scale up cooperation with international partners in the lead-up to COP17.

In our view the processes of UNOC3 and the Biodiversity COP17 are closely interlinked and mutually reinforcing. The outcomes of COP16 from Cali and Rome, provided a strong foundation for both. These include landmark decisions on the rights and roles of indigenous people and local communities, people of African descent, and mechanisms for resource mobilization and financing. 

Of particular relevance to the ocean agenda is the COP16 decision on Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs), which sets out modalities for maintaining and updating marine biodiversity repositories – a key tool for preserving ocean ecosystems. 

So as you can see these processes are closely interlinked and to achieve success on one track we need to accelerate actions and enhance ambition on the other tracks as well.

From that perspective the COP17 in Armenia is expected to give new momentum to global efforts in biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of the natural resources and fair and equitable benefit-sharing from genetic resources and digital sequence information.

At the heart of COP17 lies the Global Review — the first collective assessment of progress in implementing the KMGBF since its adoption at COP15. This will be a milestone moment for all parties, Indigenous Peoples, and other stakeholders to reflect on progress, identify gaps, and course-correct towards achieving the 2030 targets and 2050 goals, including those related to marine biodiversity. 

The Global Review is a chance to reinvigorate our collective commitment to the KMGBF and unlock the means of implementation necessary for success.

As the presentation of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action plans, the so called NBSAPs and the national reports on their implementation will be a crucial prerequisite for an effective and impactful Global Review, I would also like to use this opportunity to encourage parties and stakeholders to make sure that they submit their revised NBSAPs as soon as possible and the 7th national reports by February 2026. 

In closing, I would like to stress that Armenia looks forward to welcoming all parties and stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and local community representatives, civil society, youth, women, philanthropists to Yerevan for COP17 and we believe together we will be able to  celebrate the humanity’s collective wisdom in safeguarding the mother nature for the current and future generations.”