Armenia Advances Biodiversity Finance Ahead of COP17
As Armenia prepares to host the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity later this year, the country is also making significant progress in strengthening the way it finances nature.
Supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Armenia joined the UNDP Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) in 2025 and has already completed several of the analytical assessments that form the foundation of a national Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP). The plan, expected to be finalized in 2027, will identify practical financing solutions to help implement the country's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP).
UNDP BIOFIN National Coordinator in Armenia Artak Voskanyan, shares some of the key findings from this work and explains how they are shaping Armenia's biodiversity finance agenda.
Strong foundations, but significant financing needs
According to the Policy and Institutional Review (PIR), Armenia already has a strong legal and institutional framework to support biodiversity finance.
The Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER) also points to encouraging progress. Biodiversity-related public expenditure increased by nearly 2.5 times between 2021 and 2025, demonstrating growing national investment in biodiversity conservation.
Despite this progress, the country's Financial Needs Assessment (FNA) highlights the scale of the challenge ahead. Implementing Armenia's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan will require approximately US$960 million over the next five years, creating a financing gap that cannot be closed through public funding alone.
Rather than focusing only on mobilizing additional resources, UNDP BIOFIN is helping Armenia improve the efficiency and effectiveness of existing biodiversity finance while identifying new funding opportunities.
From analysis to action
Armenia is now entering the next phase of the BIOFIN process: developing its Biodiversity Finance Plan.
One of the first measures already moving forward is the introduction of biodiversity budget tagging. This approach will make biodiversity-related expenditures more visible, traceable and transparent across public budgets, helping decision-makers better understand where investments are being made and how they contribute to national biodiversity objectives.
The analytical work has also generated important insights for future reforms.
The Policy and Institutional Review identified 20 subsidies that have direct or indirect impacts on biodiversity, whether positive or negative. It also produced a long list of 33 potential biodiversity finance solutions tailored to Armenia's national context.
During the development of the Biodiversity Finance Plan, these options will be narrowed to 12–15 priority financial solutions, which will undergo detailed feasibility assessments before being presented to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Environment for consideration.
Building partnerships for implementation
A key element of Armenia's BIOFIN process has been the close collaboration between the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Environment and national experts. Throughout the assessments, findings have been discussed, validated and refined with government counterparts to ensure that future recommendations are practical, evidence-based and aligned with national priorities.
As Armenia prepares to welcome the global biodiversity community at COP17, the country is also laying the groundwork for more strategic and sustainable investment in nature.
Watch the video below to hear Artak Voskanyan explain how Armenia is turning biodiversity finance analysis into action.