COP17 on biodiversity is underway in Yerevan, Armenia. Representatives of the countries of the world are discussing the protection of nature, in crisis due to human activities.
On Earth, already tormented by wars and disasters that we “Sapiens” cause to ourselves, the sixth mass extinction is underway (the fifth was when the dinosaurs disappeared): this was defined by scholars as the disappearance of plants and animals at a much higher rate than the natural one, due to human activities.
The biodiversity crisis will be at the center of COP17, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, underway until 30 October in Yerevan, Armenia: the biennial United Nations conference dedicated to biodiversity, attended by representatives of most of the countries of the world.
What are these summits? What are the objectives? And what chance do we have of reaching them?
What are Cops?
At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, three United Nations conventions were born: the three “Rio Conventions” are international treaties on climate, biodiversity and desertification, signed by almost all the nations of the world. Their governing bodies are the COPs, the Conferences of the Parties, in which the representatives of the countries that have signed up to the conventions (the Parties) meet: every two years there is the COP on biodiversity, like the COP17 underway in Armenia, and the COP on the fight against desertification, like the one held in August in Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.
The COP on climate is held every year: the COP21 in Paris in 2015 was famous, which led to the adoption of the agreement to limit global warming to below 1.5, maximum 2 °C. The next COP on climate change will be COP31, from 9 to 20 November in Antalya, Türkiye.
What are the objectives of the COP on biodiversity?
Despite the importance of the themes – the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity – conferences on biodiversity are talked about less than those on climate, as revealed by a 2025 study published in Nature.
«The objective of these COPs is to find a common strategy for managing biodiversity, in a forum super partesproviding states with a strategic direction towards which national policies should tend”, explains Massimo Bernardi, director of MUSE – Trento Science Museum. «This COP17 will be a meeting above all to verify what has been done, to understand whether the trajectory outlined for 2030 is achievable.
The objectives are those of the Kunming-Montreal Agreement.”
Adopted in 2022 at COP15 in Montreal, Canada, it set objectives such as protecting 30% of lands and seas by 2030 (30X30), restoring 30% of the planet’s degraded ecosystems, and reducing subsidies for practices that damage the environment.
Are the biodiversity protection objectives achievable?
Let’s start with a realistic consideration: of the 23 objectives for 2030 set in Montreal, none have yet been achieved and according to a report released before the ongoing COP we are late for the 2030 appointment.
“Nature will not thrive thanks to good intentions,” said UN Secretary General António Guterres at the opening of COP17. However, there are some positive signs. «Let’s take the most famous objective, 30X30: to protect 30% of marine and terrestrial areas by 2030. On this it will be relatively easy to check where we are at”, comments Massimo Bernardi. “It’s an ambitious goal, but one that could actually be within our reach.”
At least for terrestrial areas: one estimate indicated a percentage of protected lands of 18.5%, but a very recent study by the University of Kent (UK), published in Natureexamined national data and brought the figure to 26.8%.
“Then, of course, there is a debate about whether 30% is enough, but that goal may be achievable,” says Bernardi. «The scenario is patchy. Some South American countries, such as Ecuador, are in good shape and some Southeast Asian states have also implemented various measures. The difference, compared to the climate situation, is that even a small state can do a lot for biodiversity: even small interventions can in fact be useful, perhaps to guarantee ecological connectivity or migratory routes. A national park can guarantee the survival of a species. So from this point of view, the COP on biodiversity could achieve important results even if the nations move in no particular order.”
And where is Italy at?
«There are areas in Italy in which the percentage of protected territory is already above 30%, for example Trentino (Other examples are Abruzzo and Valle d’Aosta, ed)», continues Bernardi. «Italy is the most “biodiverse” nation in Europe, due to its geographical characteristics. Therefore, it could have a fundamental, strategic role in biodiversity, despite its limited extension.”
At MUSE in Trento, in parallel with the opening of Cop17 in Armenia, an “assembly” of living things open to all species was inaugurated: the Parliament of Biodiversity, in which specimens of the species present on our planet participate.
It is an interactive exhibition in which you can listen to the requests of 186 species, represented by taxidermy and silhouettes: a palm tree, a walrus or a crowned crane speak… «The idea is to give a voice to all the species», concludes Bernardi, «bringing the requests of those who cannot express themselves and putting ourselves in their shoes».
