Yerevan [Armenia], October 20 (ANI): Global spotlight is on conserving the world's fast-diminishing biodiversity as the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) started on Monday, October 19, in Armenia.

"In 2022, 196 countries made commitments. But we are all accountable to each other and to future generations. What happens here in Yerevan matters. Billions of people whose lives are being upended by the impacts of biodiversity loss depend on progress being made here in the next two weeks," the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biodiversity was quoted as saying in a statement by the United Nations.

She insisted that "taking action for nature does work", and called for the "untapped energy and ideas" of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, women and youth to contribute to the decisions made at the talks. "We need even greater engagement from cities, businesses and financial institutions...the science is clear. No nation, no economy, no society is immune from the impacts of biodiversity loss," she said.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to governments, businesses and communities to accelerate efforts to protect biodiversity for future generations.

"Every day, humankind saws another branch through the tree of life. Climate chaos, invasive species, overgrazing and overfishing, excessive fertilisers, pesticides, plastics and heavy metals, all these and more are driving the triple planetary crisis of pollution, biodiversity loss and climate chaos," he said.

Guterres warned that the world is edging ever closer towards becoming uninhabitable. But he also pointed to international biodiversity action agreed under the Kunming-Montreal Framework signed four years ago. 

It had inspired action worldwide, Guterres insisted, noting that since 2022, an additional 1.3 million square kilometres of land and six million square kilometres of ocean have received formal protection.

However, Guterres noted that progress has been uneven and far too slow. He added that countries risk falling "well short" of the goal of conserving 30 per cent of the world's land and sea by 2030.

According to a note on the CBD website, CBD COP17 "will be held in conjunction with the twelfth meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CP-MOP-12) and the sixth meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (NP-MOP-6). COP 17 will mark the first global review of collective progress towards the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF)."

Earlier, in the run-up to the conference on October 16, the Yerevan Declaration - Taking Action for Nature was delivered at the conclusion of the plenary session of the Leaders for Nature Summit, according to the note. 

"The Declaration reaffirms commitment to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including the mission to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and achieve the vision of living in harmony with nature by 2050."

CBD is one of three conventions which resulted from the landmark 1992 Rio Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (ANI)