Yerevan, Oct 27 (IANS) Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav arrived in Armenia's Yerevan on Tuesday to attend the high-level segment of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17).

India's Ambassador to Armenia, T. Armstrong Changsan, welcomed Yadav in Yerevan upon his arrival.

Yadav said he would present India's views, efforts and achievements in conserving its rich natural biodiversity across the different bilateral and multilateral forums.

In a post on X, Yadav stated, "Arrived in Yerevan, Armenia today to participate in the high-level segment of the 17th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17- CBD). Over the next few days, will present India's views, efforts and achievements in conserving its rich natural biodiversity across the different bilateral and multilateral forums."

"Under the leadership of Hon'ble PM Shri Narendra Modi ji, India's focus on conservation efforts has resulted in significant progress in achieving targets under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and offers lessons for strengthening ABS implementation in diverse national contexts," he added.

The 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) is being held in Armenia's Yerevan from October 19-30. The conference will offer an opportunity to review collective progress towards the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework for the first time, according to the official statement.

Earlier on October 7, Bhupender Yadav called for greater focus on closing gaps in understanding, fulfilling existing climate commitments and accelerating implementation of the Paris Agreement at the Pre-COP31 meeting in Fiji.

Yadav led the Indian delegation at the Pre-COP31 meetings under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), co-hosted by Australia, Fiji and Tuvalu.

Pre-COP is a preparatory meeting held a few weeks before the annual UN Climate Change Conference, with COP 31 scheduled to be held in Turkey in November this year.

Addressing the plenary discussion on COP31 priorities at the UNFCCC Pre-COP31 meeting in Fiji, Yadav said the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement have already established long-term objectives and goals, including the ambition of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

He emphasised that achieving this ambition would require commensurate means of implementation, with the focus on assessing how the world can accelerate its journey towards these goals.

Referring to the COP31 Presidencies’ focus on consensus, decision-making and implementation, Yadav said there is an overall consensus on the long-term goals and direction of climate multilateralism. He stressed the need to identify and develop consensus on existing gaps in understanding, including gaps between science and traditional knowledge and community practices, between practices and ethics, and between available resources and felt needs.

--IANS

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