Armenia was chosen, on Thursday, October 31, over its enemy, Azerbaijan, to host the 17th United Nations Conference on Nature Conservation (COP17) in 2026, after an unprecedented vote by the member countries of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting in Colombia. The two countries, in conflict for decades, were candidates. For the first time in the history of the CBD, it was necessary to organize a secret vote to decide between them. Armenia won with 65 votes to 58, the president of COP16 announced in plenary session, which is coming to an end in the city of Cali.
Since the birth of this convention in 1992, member countries have so far always reached a consensus on the host country, according to CBD spokesperson David Ainsworth. At COP13 in Mexico it was decided that the presidency of COP17 would fall to a country from the Central and Eastern European group that, in the UN, includes Russia and the countries of the Caucasus.
Azerbaijan, which will already host an important UN summit starting on November 10, COP29 on climate, had requested to chair this COP17 on biodiversity, and Armenia did the same.
Pressure for peace before COP29
On Wednesday night, representatives of the two countries took to the COP16 podium to extol, with a supporting video, the merits of their local biodiversity and their ability to host and chair such a summit, crucial for humanity achieve its objectives, adopted two years ago. ago, to stop the destruction of nature by 2030.
It is at COP17 where countries must take stock in the medium term and possibly strengthen their efforts. But the credibility of this assessment depends on complex rules that must be adopted in Cali and that have not yet reached consensus on the last day of the summit.
“We will be very happy to receive all the delegations. (…)“The Armenian government will do everything possible to make COP17 a real success.”thanked delegate Davit Manoukian, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.
The two former Soviet republics have been in conflict for decades over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous enclave under Azerbaijani sovereignty. Populated mainly by Armenians, it was militarily recaptured by Baku in September 2023, and the entire population of nearly 120,000 people took refuge in Armenia. Peace negotiations between the two countries have not yet been concluded despite increasing pressure from the international community on Baku to sign the peace agreement before COP29. For COP17 on biodiversity, Uzbekistan was also in the running for a while, but the country eventually dropped out.
