COP17 now in full swing, says Armenian Deputy Environment Minister

COP17 is now in full swing. The conference officially began on 17 October with an opening ceremony at the Meridian Expo Centre, following the leaders’ summit on 16 October.

Armenian Deputy Environment Minister Ara Mkrtchyan reviewed the conference’s first week in an interview with Armenpress.

“Leaders from numerous countries gathered in Armenia to discuss an important international environmental agenda and, indeed, significant political issues. We can regard COP17’s opening, beginning with the leaders’ summit, as a success. Looking at both the number of leaders attending and their regional representation, the Yerevan conference stands out so far from previous COPs for its high level of leadership participation. This is despite the fact that a leaders’ summit is not a mandatory component of a biodiversity COP: it took place at the host country’s initiative and through its organisational efforts,” Mkrtchyan said.

He added that, following the leaders’ summit, COP17 was proceeding with its full agenda in both the Blue and Green Zones. The Blue Zone hosts official negotiations, workshops and discussions, where countries negotiate and important international and global environmental decisions will be taken.

The Green Zone is the host country’s public space, where people can visit, observe and participate in events while getting closer to nature. The deputy minister said developments in both zones were very encouraging, with high levels of activity and strong morale among the organisers.

“The most important development is that not only officials and national delegations but society as a whole are focusing on environmental issues in Yerevan. A visit to the Green Zone’s halls, where we can see the number and engagement of visitors, confirms this. It is very important that society is learning about environmental issues, coming closer to them and engaging with them. This will bring knowledge, awareness, a desire to solve these problems and good proposals. Our society will develop respect and love for nature. This will be COP17’s most important achievement,” the deputy minister said.

He said that, alongside this broad outcome requiring sustained time and effort, COP17 was a platform for discussing practical working issues and taking decisions. With Armenia now positioned on the global environmental stage as the country holding the biodiversity conference presidency, it should derive the greatest possible benefits from this agenda, particularly for the country and its natural environment.

Mkrtchyan stressed that one of the conference’s most important developments had taken place shortly after its opening: Armenia and Colombia jointly initiated efforts to establish a coalition for the recovery and conservation of endangered and already extinct species.

“Seventeen countries have already joined this initiative. Its initial budget is US$500 million. World-famous actor Leonardo DiCaprio welcomed the initiative and published and shared his message of support. The Bezos Earth Fund has expressed interest. Work to restore and protect extinct or endangered species will be carried out in 30 countries. All this is taking place at the initiative of Armenia and Colombia, which hosted the previous COP. Naturally, we must channel as much of these resources as possible towards our country’s environmental problems. The initiative is already a reality and one of our most important achievements,” the deputy minister stressed.

Mkrtchyan said that, although praising one’s own work might be immodest, there had been many positive comments, ranging from public assessments at the highest level by Mr Guterres and Secretariat Executive Director Astrid Schomaker to feedback from participants heard in both conference zones.

“All delegates begin their speeches by expressing thanks for the high standard of organisation. This is very important for Armenia. Our Prime Minister has already said that, by delivering this standard of organisation, our country is positioning itself as one with the capacity and potential to host the world’s largest environmental events and events on other subjects,” he said.

He said the coming week would be the final and most demanding working week. Environment ministers and senior representatives from around the world would meet to bring together the preceding work and adopt decisions on refined agenda items.

“We have difficult work ahead. With so many countries participating and so many interests involved, we need consensus and final decisions that can be implemented to address environmental problems, leaving as few agenda items unresolved as possible. We hope Armenia will conduct these discussions with distinction under the conference president’s leadership, and that we will see decisions adopted by consensus.

“In two years, we will hand over our presidency. I very much hope COP17 President Hambardzum Matevosyan will be able to make a brief statement saying that we have done so much work and achieved so many results that we can declare COP18 an easy conference.”

The deputy minister said the next conference, COP18, would take place in the Americas. The host country would be announced during the Yerevan conference.