The Yerevan agreement aims to rescue 2030 nature targets, but financing remains inadequate. Catherine Weller, global policy director at Fauna & Flora, welcomed the deal but noted funding falls far short of the $200 billion annual pledge from the 2022 agreement. "In a world of trillionaires, we can certainly afford to spend $200 billion a year on protecting and restoring the very thing keeping us all alive: nature," she said.
Conference organizers announced nearly $2 billion in new commitments, including $500 million from the Netherlands to the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, a Brazilian initiative to pay countries to keep forests standing. The pledge followed Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's re-election, and Brazil's Carina Pimenta highlighted his Amazon protection record, calling the Yerevan Declaration a powerful message that biodiversity is essential to food security and economic resilience.
Brian O'Donnell of Campaign for Nature cited growing national biodiversity plans and the Brazilian fund pledge as "reasons for cautious optimism." However, international funding for protected areas has declined 27 percent for the 2026-30 period due to war and high energy prices.
Source: Ars Technica · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing