Global Forest Coalition at CBD COP 17
Real solutions for biodiversity, justice and communities
The 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 17) takes place in Yerevan, Armenia, from 19–30 October 2026. Governments will review global progress towards implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), agreed in 2022, and consider what needs to change to meet its 2030 targets. The mid-term review of the Gender Plan of Action (2023–2030) will also take place to assess progress, identify implementation challenges, and analyse gaps.
For the Global Forest Coalition (GFC), this is a crucial moment to turn global commitments into meaningful action. We are working to ensure that the voices, knowledge and solutions of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, youth, small-farmers, Afrodescendant peoples and other rights-holders are heard and reflected in biodiversity policy and decision-making.
We are calling for Global North countries to fulfil their obligations under Article 20 of the CBD related to providing finance and technology transfer to Global South countries; the Global North must pay for the centuries of colonial extraction and concentration of wealth and power at the expense of the Global South. We demand full decision-making access for Indigenous peoples, local communities, women and youth over financial resources to implement the KMGBF, as well as political and financial commitment to implement the Gender Plan of Action.
We urge prioritising public finance to support community-led conservation over “innovative schemes” and private and blended finance, which deepen social and ecological harms. We urge governments to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ rights, gender justice, and promote real solutions that address the structural drivers of biodiversity loss. At the same time, we reject biodiversity markets, offsets, credits, debt-for-nature swaps and other false solutions that risk turning nature into a commodity, undermining communities’ rights and distracting from the action needed to protect and restore biodiversity.
Biodiversity protection must be rooted in rights, justice and real solutions — not in markets that put nature and communities at risk.
Explore this page for updates on GFC’s activities and events at COP 17, our latest publications and statements, and perspectives from our members and allies on the policies, research and struggles shaping the global biodiversity agenda.
