UN General Assembly Hall in New York, on July 23, 2026 . [AFP]
The world is not on track to meet its commitments to protect nature, the UN's biodiversity chief warned on Thursday, just weeks before a major conference addressing the subject in Armenia.
Because humans pose an immense threat to Earth's land, seas, animals and plants, almost all countries agreed four years ago to protect 30 percent of the planet by 2030 -- and for wealthier countries to provide poorer ones with $30 billion a year.
National negotiators will meet for the COP17 conference in the Armenian capital Yerevan in October to review how the 196 countries who agreed to these targets are faring.
"Implementation is not yet happening at the pace and scale needed to achieve" these goals, said Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the United Nations' Convention on Biological Diversity.
"The task awaiting us in Yerevan in nine weeks will take all the stamina and determination that parties can summon," Schomaker added in a statement issued after nearly three weeks of preparatory talks in Kenya's capital Nairobi.
The "parties recognise the world is not on track to achieve biodiversity targets," the Convention's statement summarised.