Biodiversity 'core environmental agenda' for climate response, future industries, minister says

Biodiversity is "a core environmental agenda that underpins climate crisis response, food and water security, public health, and future industries," Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment Kim Sung-hwan said Tuesday.

Kim made the remarks during a bilateral meeting with Armenian Environment Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan at the Han River Flood Control Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The two sides discussed ways to cooperate on the successful hosting of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the implementation of international biodiversity targets.

Armenia was selected as the host country for COP17 at COP16 in 2024 and is set to chair the conference, which is scheduled to take place in Yerevan in October, leading international discussions on the implementation of global biodiversity goals.

At the meeting, Kim said South Korea would "support the successful hosting of COP17 and work closely with the international community to implement global biodiversity targets, drawing on our experience in implementing those targets and the international cooperation networks built during our presidency of COP12."

South Korea chaired COP12, held in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, in 2014, where it led the adoption of the Pyeongchang Roadmap to accelerate implementation of the 2020 biodiversity targets. The country also advanced initiatives including the Bio-Bridge Initiative and the Peace and Biodiversity Dialogue Initiative to support science and technology cooperation with developing countries and cross-border biodiversity conservation.

The global biodiversity framework, adopted at COP15 in 2022, sets out 23 action targets aimed at halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030 — including protecting 30 percent of the world's land and maritime areas as conservation zones by 2030, known as the 30x30 goal.

COP17 is expected to serve as a pivotal moment to formally review each country's progress based on national biodiversity strategies and national reports submitted since the framework's adoption, and to strengthen implementation mechanisms including resource mobilization, capacity building, and science and technology cooperation.

The two countries discussed ways to ensure COP17 delivers concrete implementation outcomes rather than declarations alone.