What is the 'biodiversity' COP?
COP stands for 'Conference of the Parties', which are regular United Nations (UN) conferences on its different conventions (written legal agreements between countries and the UN).
The 'biodiversity' or 'nature' COP is for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, or CBD.
The next CBD COP - COP17 - will take place from 19th-30th October 2026 in Armenia.
We'll be bringing you our updates as the conference happens, and explaining what the outcomes are.
On this page:
What the UK needs to do
Follow along with COP17
The Wildlife Trusts' events at COP17
What is the Global Biodiversity Framework?
What the UK needs to do
Ahead of COP17, our new report shows that the UK is off track to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030, putting UK wildlife and national security at risk. In fact, the UK is only on track to meet three of the Global Biodiversity Framework's 23 targets by 2030.
Peter Cairns/2020VISION
Many of the policies needed are in development or in place - but they must be delivered. For example, in England, a plan for protecting and managing 30% of land for nature is in place, but key details on its implementation and how progress will be measured are still missing.
At sea, despite an established network of Marine Protected Areas, damaging activities such as bottom trawling continue within these sites and there is no clear plan for how they will be effectively managed.
Delivering these commitments will also depend on action at every level of government, and across society.
Nature is essential infrastructure that supports wildlife and the wellbeing of people. We must see real improvements for wildlife and the environment, including:
- Restoring and reconnecting habitats, creating healthier and more diverse places for nature and people to thrive
- Reducing direct pressures such as pollution, unsustainable development and damaging fishing practices
- Using nature to help tackle climate change and build resilience of communities to its impacts, such as flooding, drought and extreme heat
- Recognising the UK’s dependence on the health of critical ecosystems internationally and supporting developing countries to protect and restore these vital land and seascapes.
Nature is necessary and COP17 must be a moment to accelerate action around the world. Global goals can only be met with local action.
Keep updated on COP17
Wherever you are in the world, you can stay up to date with all the news from the conference by following our WhatsApp channel and signing up for our FREE online event live from COP17.
Attend our free live event from COP17
Pink-footed geese travel in noisy flocks © David Tipling/2020VISION
Event: Is saving nature a global job or a local one?
Date: Thursday 29 October 2026
Time: 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Location: Online
About the event
Join us from COP17, where world leaders, experts and organisations are coming together to review progress on global targets to restore nature and stop wildlife loss by 2030.
We’ll explore why these international decisions matter here in the UK and how The Wildlife Trusts and its supporters are helping drive action for nature.
The Wildlife Trusts' events at COP17
If you're headed to COP, find us at the following events.
Split level view of the River Itchen, with aquatic plants: Blunt-fruited Water-starwort (Callitriche obtusangula) Itchen Stoke Mill is visible on the left. England: Hampshire, Ovington, May - Linda Pitkin/2020VISION
Event: Reconnecting with our lost rivers
Date: Thurs 29th Oct
Time: 9:00 – 10:15am
Venue: IUCN Pavilion
Keynote: Craig Bennett, OBE – CEO, The Wildlife Trusts, joined by panel experts on international and UK water policy, nature-based solutions delivery, and financing
Rivers are the lifeblood of communities, economies and ecosystems, supplying water, taming floods, home to myriad species and critical to our national security. As the world navigates a record breaking El Nino, and an intensifying cycle of extreme weather – the focus on water is sharper than ever.
But life in freshwater is in crisis globally. Wetland extent has diminished by a staggering 70-90% compared to 1700 and vertebrate populations have collapsed by 84% in less than 60 years. In the UK, centuries of an extractive relationship with river catchments and intensifying pollution, has brought our river systems to their knees.
This event lays out a vision for recovery of and reconnection with our rivers – their importance as critical infrastructure for resilience, the case for water system reform, and the economic and partnership model underpinning this transformation. It will draw on visionary global examples and multistakeholder perspectives; and interrogate the pathway to impact at pace.
Mark Hamblin/2020 VISION
Event: From Global Goals to National Law: UK Approaches to Delivering Biodiversity Targets
Date: Tuesday 27th
Time: 11:30 – 13:00
Venue: Blue zone / Talin – Side-event Room 1
Co-hosts: RSPB, UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government
Panellists: Senior representatives from UK Governments, Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and Global Youth Biodiversity Network UK (GYBN UK), hosted by Katie-Jo Luxton and Craig Bennett, OBE
Translation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework targets into domestic legislation is a vital step towards ensuring their delivery. This event will explore experiences of countries that have already begun this translation, to turn global goals to national law.
Across the UK, governments have taken progressive steps towards setting environment targets into law, bringing much-needed legal backing to the UK's global commitments under the CBD. This event will explore the steps that have been taken in England, Scotland and Wales to establish legally binding targets frameworks, each at different stages of maturity, explore the lessons learned, and ask what's needed next. It will involve experts from UK governments, parliamentarians, and civil society, who will provide valuable insights for other countries looking to ground the KMGBF targets in legislation to drive action. The event will be of direct relevance to the COP17 item on ‘engagement with subnational governments, cities and other local authorities to enhance the implementation of the KMGBF’.
The Global Biodiversity Framework
At COP15 in 2022, Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted. It followed years of global negotiations and supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. It aims to set the world on track to living in harmony with nature by 2050.
Among the Framework’s key elements are four goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030.
Goals for 2050
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework has four goals for 2050:
- Protect and restore
- Prosper with nature
- Share benefits equally
- Invest and collaborate
Targets for 2030
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework has 23 targets to be completed by 2030.
- Plan and manage all areas to reduce biodiversity loss
- Restore 30% of all degraded ecosystems
- Conserve 30% of land, waters and seas
- Halt species extinction, protect genetic diversity and manage human-wildlife conflicts
- Ensure sustainable, safe and legal havesting and trade of wild species
- Reduce the introduction of invasive alien species by 50% and minimise their impact
- Reduce pollution to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity
- Minimise the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and build resilience
- Manage wild species sustainably to benefit people
- Enhance biodiversity and sustainability in agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry
- Restore, maintain and enhance nature's contribution to people
- Enhance green spaces and urban planning for human well-being and biodiversity
- Increase the sharing of benefits from genetic resources, digital sequence information and traditional knowledge
- Integration biodiversity in decision-making at every level
- Businesses assess, disclose and reduce biodiversity-related risks and negative impacts
- Enable sustainable consumption choices to reduce waste and overconsumption
- Strengthen biosafety and distribute the benefits of biotechnology
- Reduce harmful incentives by at least $500 billion per year, and scale up positive incentives for biodiversity
- Mobilise $200 billion per year for biodiversity from all sources, including $30 billion through international finance
- Strengthen capacity-building, technology transfer, and scientific and technical cooperation for biodiversity
- Ensure that knowledge is available and accessible to guide biodiversity action
- Ensure participation in decision-making and access to justice and information related to biodiversity for all
- Ensure gender equality and a gender-responsive approach for biodiversity action
