UN and Armenian flags raised at COP17 venue in Yerevan

A solemn ceremony to raise the United Nations and Armenian flags was held at the Meridian Expo Center ahead of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

The ceremony was attended by Minister of Environment Hambardzum Matevosyan, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity Astrid Schomaker, UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Françoise Jacob, and partners from government agencies and international organizations.

The Ministry of Environment of Armenia said in a press release that the raising of the UN flag symbolizes an important milestone in the preparations for the conference, highlighting the cooperation between Armenia as the host country and the United Nations in advancing the international agenda for biodiversity conservation.

Yerevan will host COP17 on October 19–30, bringing together delegations from countries around the world, representatives of international organizations, and civil society to assess progress in biodiversity conservation and discuss further joint action.

During the conference, the Blue Zone at the Meridian Expo Center will operate under the relevant procedures and security rules established for UN conferences.

The 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 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).