Yerevan, 16 October. Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke at the Leaders' Summit on biodiversity in Yerevan, held on the eve of the 17th UN Biodiversity Conference (COP17). He called on world leaders to join efforts and put solving environmental problems above political differences.
Tokayev arrived in Yerevan on the evening of 15 October after his trip to Baku, at the invitation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and the same day attended the opening ceremony of the summit at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex. Before the session on 16 October he was met at the Meridian Expo and Event centre by Pashinyan and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
In his speech the president spoke of the need to coordinate international efforts and of shared responsibility to future generations for preserving nature. According to him, the destruction of ecosystems, water shortages and land degradation pose a serious threat, and water scarcity has already become a daily reality for millions of people.
Tokayev noted that Kazakhstan, which has the ninth-largest territory in the world, has unique biodiversity and has already achieved significant results in preserving it. In the president's view, protecting natural heritage must go hand in hand with economic progress.
The summit is held under the motto "Leaders for Nature". COP17 itself will take place in Yerevan from 19 to 30 October. Its agenda includes financing of conservation measures, protection of forests and protected areas, and the impact of climate change and agriculture on nature. For the first time at such a conference, countries will carry out a global assessment of progress in implementing the international programme for nature conservation.
Background
The Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted in 1992; COP17 is the seventeenth conference of its parties.
