Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan participated in the Sustainable Ocean Initiative Global Dialogue held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, where he delivered a speech presenting Armenia’s priorities and vision as the COP17 Presidency.
The Minister emphasized that although Armenia is a landlocked country, the future of the ocean is a shared responsibility, as the processes taking place in the oceans have a direct impact on the climate, water resources, ecosystem resilience, and ultimately on people's well-being, regardless of geographical boundaries.
He presented Armenia’s vision as the COP17 Presidency, emphasizing the need to strengthen synergies between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the BBNJ Agreement. The Minister noted that the BBNJ Agreement, which entered into force this year, marks an important new stage in global ocean governance, while COP17, to be held in Yerevan this October, will serve as the first comprehensive platform to assess progress in implementing the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Hambardzum Matevosyan stressed that the priority now is not to make new commitments, but to effectively implement those already undertaken. In this context, he highlighted several key areas of cooperation, including the expansion of marine protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, greater coherence among international processes related to the conservation of marine genetic resources, and the importance of science, innovation, data accessibility, and capacity building.
The Minister reaffirmed that the Armenian Presidency will continue to promote cooperation, science-based decision-making, ecosystem-based management approaches, and multilateral partnerships, guided by the Presidency’s slogan: “Takin Action for Nature.”
Hambardzum Matevosyan added that the outcomes of the dialogue in Seoul will make an important contribution to advancing both the global ocean governance and biodiversity conservation agendas, and will help carry this work forward within the framework of COP17 to be held in Yerevan.