COP17

COP17, the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, runs in Yerevan, Armenia, from 19 to 30 October 2026. A Leaders' Summit opened proceedings on 16 October. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian attended and met the Armenian and Georgian prime ministers on the sidelines, state-affiliated Mehr reported.

The conference carries out the first global review of progress on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022. It runs alongside the 12th meeting of the Cartagena Protocol on biosafety and the 6th meeting of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing. Its agenda covers biodiversity finance, the monitoring framework, digital sequence information and a new Gender Action Plan.

For Tehran, the Yerevan summit offered a neighbouring stage for wartime diplomacy. Pezeshkian's trip kept Iran visible in the South Caucasus, where a US-backed transit route through southern Armenia threatens Iran's northern border trade.