Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has called on the international community to move from commitments to concrete actions to protect biodiversity. He made the announcement during Sunday’s opening ceremony of 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

“Let Yerevan become a haven of new political resolve. Let this be the moment when we move from words to action, and from division to cooperation,” Pashinyan said, addressing the COP17 participants.

According to him, preserving biodiversity is not only the protection of natural resources, but also the basis for human health, food and water security, sustainable development, and the well-being of future generations.

The Armenian premier emphasized that the state of nature directly affects people's lives, and the degradation of ecosystems exacerbates the many problems facing society. Pashinyan noted that humanity has built cities and developed economies over generations, based on the perception of nature as an inexhaustible resource.

But floods, wildfires, the destruction of ecosystems, and the disappearance of species remind us that human well-being is inseparable from the health of the environment, he added.

The prime minister noted that Armenia sees its current chairmanship of COP17 as an opportunity to consolidate the efforts of the international community, accelerate the implementation of already accepted commitments, and achieve tangible results.

He thanked the organizers of the conference, state institutions, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and all participants for their cooperation. Pashinyan recalled that in 2022, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted, which set shared goals and benchmarks until 2030.

There are four years left until the set timeframe, and success depends on how consistently the international community will be able to translate commitments into concrete actions, and actions into measurable results, he added.

Also, the Armenian premier emphasized the need for broad participation in environmental activities by governments, cities, local and indigenous peoples, women, youth, the scientific community, business, and civil society. In his opinion, these groups should not be just participants in the process, but full partners and initiators of change.

“There is no time to wait,” Pashinyan stated, emphasizing Armenia’s readiness to fully contribute to shared efforts and work with all partners for the preservation and restoration of biodiversity.