The Ministry of Environment of the RA, the United Nations Office in Armenia and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), with the support of the European Union and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) of the Federal Republic of Germany, launched a three-month professional training programme for Armenian journalists and editors dedicated to reporting on COP17.
On 17 April, the first session of the programme was held at the State Museum of Nature of the Ministry of Environment of the RA. The topic of the session was the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the role of the Conferences of the Parties (COP). Voskehat Grigoryan, Head of the Department of Specially Protected Nature Areas and Biodiversity Policy of the Ministry of Environment and National Coordinator of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, was the speaker.
The session covered the historical foundations of the Convention, in particular the three fundamental international documents adopted at the 1992 Rio Conference, which formed the basis of modern environmental governance.
Particular attention was paid to the main objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity: the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of natural resources, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, as well as its key mechanisms, including the COP, scientific advisory bodies and financing instruments.
The Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was also presented, setting out global targets for biodiversity conservation by 2030, including the “30-30” target to ensure the protection of at least 30 percent of the Earth’s surface.
The session was held in an interactive format, with active discussions and a question-and-answer segment involving participating journalists.
The COP17 Media School programme aims to build a community of journalists with sector-specific knowledge and a strong understanding of the international environmental agenda, enabling them to cover the COP17 at a high professional level.