COP17: Nature recovery in Wales on a global stage
Governments from nearly 200 countries will convene in Yerevan, Armenia from 19-30 October for the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), under the theme 'Taking action for nature'. The conference will assess global progress on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted in December 2022, which aims to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030 and achieve full recovery by 2050.
The Convention on Biological Diversity, opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit on 5 June 1992 and in force since 29 December 1993, now has 196 Parties. The UK is among them, though the United States remains the only UN member state that has not ratified the treaty.
Armenia's selection as host reflects its ecological significance—the country harbours approximately 60% of the Caucasus region's biodiversity despite covering just 6.7% of its area. The conference symbol, the Yerevan Blue Butterfly (Polyommatus eriwanensis), is an endemic species found nowhere else on Earth. Yet Armenia itself faces environmental pressures, losing around 110 hectares of forest annually to illegal logging, firewood collection, overgrazing and mining.
Welsh Government officials plan to attend the summit, where delegates from international organisations, scientists, indigenous groups, civil society and youth advocates will join national representatives. With just four years until the 2030 deadline, this stock-take arrives at a critical juncture.
Wales' policy response to global commitments
The Global Biodiversity Framework requires countries to produce National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans. While the UK Biodiversity Framework (2024) provides the overarching UK response, Wales has developed devolved policy approaches. The previous Welsh Government published its Nature Recovery Action Plan in March 2026, which serves as Wales' GBF strategy, though how the new Welsh Government will advance this remains to be seen.
The previous administration also created a framework for delivering the '30 by 30' target—protecting and effectively conserving 30% of land, freshwater and sea for nature by 2030. Additionally, the Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Act 2026 mandates legally binding Welsh biodiversity targets by April 2028 to align with GBF ambitions.
Progress falls short on most targets
The UK's recently published 7th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity reveals the UK is on track to achieve only three of 23 GBF targets by 2030. For the remaining 20 targets, progress has been made but at insufficient rates.
The report notes that protected sites and Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (known as 'Naturfa sites' in Wales) cover 10.9% of Wales' land area and 50.3% of its sea area in 2025. However, designation alone proves inadequate—effective management is essential for nature recovery, and these figures mask serious underlying problems.
The Sixth Senedd's Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee heard evidence suggesting poor condition of many protected sites, with monitoring and management critically under-resourced. The environment sector's own progress report concluded that in 2025, Wales had just 2.14% of land meeting the 30 by 30 criteria, with insufficient data to assess the marine environment.
Biodiversity decline continues
Natural Resources Wales' State of Natural Resources Report 2025 concludes that biodiversity loss remains a significant concern. Ecosystems across terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments continue facing substantial pressures from pollution, unsustainable land use and climate change.
According to the Biodiversity Intactness Index from the Natural History Museum, Wales has 51% biodiversity intactness, placing it among the most nature-depleted countries globally. The State of Nature Wales 2023 report found that 18% of species—one in six—are at risk of extinction from Wales, while the abundance of land and freshwater species has fallen by 20% on average since 1994.
Efforts to reverse decline
Initiatives underway include the Nature Networks Fund, for which the new Welsh Government has pledged £10 million—matching the previous administration's 2025 allocation—to support biodiversity projects. The Welsh National Peatland Action Programme has restored 3,600 hectares of peatland, surpassing its target.
Despite these efforts, stakeholders and governments increasingly recognise that delivering biodiversity recovery requires significantly greater investment, including from the private sector. The previous Welsh Government consulted on principles to underpin responsible investment in nature recovery, though the Committee heard concerns about the pace of this work. The new Cabinet Minister has committed to consult later this year on an approach to unlock responsible private funding for land and seascape restoration.
Mainstreaming biodiversity across government
The Global Biodiversity Framework requires integration of biodiversity in decision-making at every level. The previous Welsh Government committed to embed responses to the climate and nature emergencies across government and established a Biodiversity Taskforce to facilitate this. However, scrutiny by the Committee highlighted that biodiversity considerations were not being embedded across decision-making.
Section 6 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 requires public authorities to seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity and promote ecosystem resilience throughout all their functions, reporting on compliance every three years. Audit Wales has found implementation of this duty to be patchy.
For the new Welsh Government, the Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Act 2026 requires Ministers to have 'special regard' to environmental principles when making policy. The Act's biodiversity target framework aims to drive cross-government and cross-sector action. Stakeholders will be watching how this develops.
The Welsh Government has announced it is developing a Climate and Nature Action Plan intended to establish a cross-government programme of action.
A critical moment for accountability
COP17 will provide an international backdrop against which domestic progress on biodiversity can be scrutinised. While the Welsh Government has taken important steps to align policy with the Global Biodiversity Framework, evidence suggests that achieving the framework's objectives remains a significant challenge. With the 2030 deadline approaching rapidly, the conference in Yerevan will test whether current commitments and funding arrangements are sufficient to meet the ambitious targets set in Montreal in 2022.
