As global leaders and environment ministers gather in Yerevan this week for the latest UN biodiversity summit, the prevailing narrative is one of hesitation. Faced with geopolitical instability, strained public finances, and the immediate pressures of trade disputes, many decision-makers are tempted to view environmental commitments as a luxury that can be deferred to a more prosperous year.
However, this perspective represents a dangerous false dichotomy. The urgency of the current moment is not a reason to abandon nature; it is the very reason to prioritize it.
Four years ago, in the freezing hours of a Montreal winter, nearly 200 countries signed a landmark agreement to halt and reverse the loss of nature by 2030. The accord included a commitment to protect 30% of the world’s land and oceans and a pledge to mobilize $200bn annually for conservation. Crucially, the agreement acknowledged a fundamental economic flaw: the world is currently channeling vastly more capital into the destruction of nature than its preservation.
Today, the data shows that the global community is failing to meet those promises. Despite the ambition of 2022, biodiversity-specific funding has fallen by 17%, and overall foreign aid has seen its largest drop on record. Meanwhile, subsidies that actively undermine ecological health have ballooned to approximately $2.6tn. Currently, the world spends 30 times more money destroying nature than it does protecting or restoring it.
Proponents of the “wait-and-see” approach argue that national security and economic growth must take precedence. Yet, evidence from across the globe suggests that nature is not a competing interest, but a critical asset for economic resilience. Farmers in France who have reduced their reliance on chemical fertilizers in favor of biodiversity-based practices have successfully maintained crop yields through extreme drought. Similarly, Indigenous fire brigades in the Amazon and the Cerrado have demonstrated that land-management strategies rooted in conservation can reduce wildfire damage by over 20%—a vital service for global commodity stability.
For those convening in Armenia, there are three immediate, pragmatic steps to reverse the current downward trend.
First, ministers must stabilize public finance. This requires establishing clear, interim milestones to reach the $30bn annual public finance goal by 2030. Investing in ecosystems like the Congo basin or the Amazon is not an act of charity; it is a strategic investment in the food security and supply chain stability of nations worldwide.
Second, the scope of the conversation must expand beyond environment ministries. Finance ministers must be brought to the table within the next two years to devise a concrete plan to phase out the $500bn in harmful subsidies currently clogging the global economy. Addressing these financial flows is the only way to align national budgets with the preservation of the natural systems that support all economic activity.
Finally, the international community must address the widening gap between terrestrial and marine conservation. While terrestrial protections have reached roughly 27% of global land, only 12% of the oceans are covered by similar agreements. With the upcoming UN Ocean Conference in New York serving as a key inflection point, Yerevan must provide the roadmap to ensure that marine ecosystems—our most significant buffers against heat and extreme weather—receive the protection they require.
The commitments made in Montreal were not merely aspirational; they were a recognition of a shared, necessary future. The pressure to retreat from these goals will be significant, but the opportunity cost of doing so is far greater. As the summit in Armenia begins, the task for ministers is clear: they must hold their ground. There is no “better year” on the horizon, only the one at hand. The decisions made this week will determine whether the international community honors its promise to stabilize the natural foundations of our shared existence, or allows the progress made in Montreal to be dismantled.
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