The world has agreed on ambitious biodiversity targets. Now it is time for implementation.
At UNCBD COP17 in Yerevan, Armenia, from October 19 to 30, 2026, RRI is championing rights-based, community-led conservation as a critical strategy for implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF).
COP17 is a critical moment to move from commitments to implementation. And evidence shows that implementation will succeed only when the Peoples who govern and sustain territories have recognized rights, decision-making power, access to finance, and control over their knowledge and resources.
At COP17, RRI is elevating the leadership of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, local communities—and the women and youth within these groups—and advocating to stop the rollbacks on hard-won rights and commitments.
COP17 must move beyond symbolic inclusion toward practical, rights-based implementation.
As governments prepare to meet in Armenia, rightsholder and civil society groups are warning about foreseen rollbacks in the Convention and are organizing to advocate for the CBD and the COP Secretariats—as well as the Parties—to uphold previous achievements and increase ambition to meet the KMGBF Global Targets.
The #StopTheRollbacks campaign is a call to action for allies and detractors to move forward, not backwards, in the fight against biodiversity loss.
