Leaders grapple with finance and harmful subsidies at UN’s COP17 biodiversity conference
YEREVAN, Armenia — Visitors entering the main hallway of the 2026 U.N. biodiversity conference (COP17) encounter a mural of a herd of elephants. The installation, led by the NGO Friends of the Earth International, doesn’t celebrate the gains that some elephant populations have made in recent decades. Instead, it uses the “elephants in the room” […]
Visitors entering the 2026 U.N. biodiversity conference (COP17) are greeted by a mural of elephants. This artwork, created by the NGO Friends of the Earth International, symbolizes the financial systems that contribute to biodiversity loss, rather than celebrating recent gains in elephant populations. An expert from Greenpeace International highlighted the stark disparity between the $30 spent on nature destruction for each $1 invested in nature protection.
The State of Finance for Nature 2026 report from the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) underscores this issue. WWF International's Living Planet report reveals a 73% decline in wild vertebrate populations from 1970 to 2022, attributing this decline to climate change, agriculture, and financial support for nature-averse industries.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted by the 196 parties, set a Target 18 to reduce $500 billion annually in subsidies and financial support for activities harming biodiversity. Despite this, financial support for "nature-negative" activities remains high, at $7.3...
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