The Wildlife Conservation Society went into the week before the United Nations biodiversity conference with one question it wants governments judged by: are the world’s commitments actually delivering results for biodiversity?
Governments meet in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 19 to 30, 2026, for CoP17, the seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. A CoP is the meeting where every country that signed a treaty reviews how the treaty is going, and this one is a progress check on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the 23-target plan adopted in 2022 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. Four years remain.
What would count as success?
In a statement issued from its Bronx headquarters on October 12, 2026, WCS named three tests.
The first is outcomes rather than activity. Governments should measure whether wildlife, ecological integrity and functioning ecosystems are actually being maintained or restored, instead of counting commitments made and activities completed. The second is implementation: moving across all 23 targets and turning global pledges into national policy, in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The third is money that arrives where the work happens, reaching the countries, the protected and conserved areas, and the communities delivering results.
“Four years from 2030, we need to know whether our collective actions are actually reversing the loss of biodiversity,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman, WCS Vice President for International Policy. “Success cannot be measured simply by commitments made, money pledged or areas designated. It has to be measured by whether wildlife and ecosystems are better off because of the actions being taken, actions speak louder than words, and outcomes speak louder than outputs.”
The 30×30 test
The clearest case is the commitment known as 30×30: the 2022 agreement to effectively and equitably conserve at least 30 percent of the world’s land, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans by 2030. WCS says real progress has been made on the area component on land, while marine conservation remains further behind.
Hitting the acreage is not the same as meeting the target. Protected and conserved areas also have to be managed effectively and equitably, and they have to deliver conservation outcomes. A line on a map is a claim about intent; what happens inside it is the result.
Beyond 30×30, WCS is asking governments to strengthen monitoring of ecological integrity and conservation outcomes, accelerate national implementation, invest in Indigenous Peoples and local communities, rangers and ecoguards, and mobilize substantially more public and private finance. It also wants attention on the policies and incentives that continue to drive biodiversity loss, including over-exploitation and crimes affecting the environment, and better coordination between the environment, finance, health, agriculture and development ministries whose decisions all land on the same ecosystems.
“CoP17 will remind us that the Global Biodiversity Framework is only as strong as our national implementation, and the pace is not fast enough to achieve our targets by 2030,” said Alfred DeGemmis, WCS Director of International Policy.
The organization works in more than 55 countries on implementation of the framework, and Lieberman will lead its delegation in Yerevan. Its full statement is on the WCS newsroom.
The financing question is not theoretical for the places being counted. Last week we reported on 2.5 million euros committed to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, a protected area that has existed since 1948 and still needed the money. WCS has also been building the tools for measuring whether conservation spending works, which is the same argument in a different register.
Quick answers
- What is CBD CoP17?
The seventeenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Governments meet in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 19 to 30, 2026, to review collective progress on the treaty.
- What is the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework?
The plan adopted in 2022 setting 23 targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. CoP17 is a progress check on it, with four years left to run.
- What is 30x30?
The commitment to effectively and equitably conserve at least 30 percent of the world's land, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans by 2030.
- Is the world on track for 30x30?
WCS says real progress has been made on the area component on land, while marine conservation remains further behind. It also argues that reaching an acreage figure does not by itself meet the target, because the areas have to be managed effectively and equitably and deliver conservation outcomes.
- What does WCS want governments to do at CoP17?
Strengthen monitoring of ecological integrity and conservation outcomes, accelerate national implementation, invest in Indigenous Peoples and local communities, rangers and ecoguards, and mobilize substantially more public and private finance for biodiversity.
- Who is representing WCS?
Dr. Susan Lieberman, WCS Vice President for International Policy, leads the delegation. WCS works in more than 55 countries on implementation of the framework.
