Bilateral meeting with H.E. Hambardzum Matevosyan, Minister for Environment of the Republic of Armenia
18 February 2026, Rome: FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, met today with H.E. Hambardzum Matevosyan, Minister for Environment of the Republic of Armenia, on the margins of the 6th Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-6) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), taking place at FAO Headquarters from 16 to 19 February 2026. The Minister, who will serve as President of the 17th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the CBD, briefed the Director-General on Armenia’s preparations to host COP17 from 19 to 30 October 2026.
The Director-General welcomed Armenia’s leadership in hosting COP17 and underlined the opportunity to promote biodiversity mainstreaming in agrifood systems under the theme of Agrifood Systems Taking Action For Nature. Both sides discussed strengthening collaboration to advance implementation of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including mobilizing finance for biodiversity-positive agrifood systems, enhancing monitoring and reporting mechanisms, and operationalizing biodiversity conservation measures within agricultural landscapes.
The Minister expressed appreciation for FAO’s technical support to Armenia’s updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and highlighted the importance of continued cooperation in its implementation. Discussions also covered climate resilience, sustainable land management and forest landscape restoration, including FAO’s support to Armenia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) through the Forest Resilience project and initiatives addressing land degradation neutrality and ecosystem restoration.
The Director-General reaffirmed FAO’s commitment to supporting Armenia in strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration between environment and agrifood authorities, enhancing the science–policy interface, and integrating biodiversity, climate and agrifood systems transformation. Both sides agreed to continue close coordination in the lead-up to COP17 and to explore opportunities for joint initiatives.
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