{"id":151,"date":"2026-11-02T21:03:26","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T21:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/?p=151"},"modified":"2026-11-02T21:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T21:05:09","slug":"from-dialogue-to-integrated-implementation-yerevan-advances-country-led-action-across-climate-biodiversity-and-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/from-dialogue-to-integrated-implementation-yerevan-advances-country-led-action-across-climate-biodiversity-and-land\/","title":{"rendered":"From dialogue to integrated implementation: Yerevan advances country-led action across climate, biodiversity and land"},"content":{"rendered":"

Building on the momentum from UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, the Yerevan Technical Dialogue advanced a country-led pathway for translating commitments under the three Rio Conventions into integrated implementation. With Nature as the Integrator, countries and partners explored practical priorities, partnerships and implementation support to inform the Rio Synergies Group for Action, to be launched at UNFCCC COP31 by the COP31 Presidency of T\u00fcrkiye <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"content<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 IUCN <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation are deeply interconnected, yet efforts to address them often remain fragmented across national policies, institutions and financing systems. At the Yerevan Technical Dialogue on Rio Synergies<\/strong>, convened on the 23rd of October during the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17), 27 countries and global organisations delivered interventions examining pathways for addressing implementation gaps and translating shared commitments under the Rio Conventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants were invited to explore which nationally determined \u201cFlagship Actions\u201d could be advanced under the Rio Synergies Group for Action<\/strong> and showcased at COP31 in Antalya as well as the types of support required to implement them effectively. Country representatives shared national priorities, implementation needs, and examples of existing synergistic actions, while partners highlighted the technical, financial and institutional support they could provide to accelerate delivery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A central aim of the discussion was to explore how nature can serve as an implementation integrator, enabling more coherent and mutually reinforcing action across the three Rio Conventions. Participants examined how technical partners could support countries in translating ambitions on Rio Synergies into measurable outcomes, through policy alignment, strengthened institutional coordination, targeted investment, and practical implementation support at national and sub-national levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dialogue, co-convened by the T\u00fcrkiye COP31 Presidency, the G20 Global Land Initiative at the UNCCD, IUCN and the Asociaci\u00f3n ENACT<\/strong><\/a>, built on a process initiated in Antalya in May 2026, advanced at UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar under the theme Land as the Common Ground, and further developed in Yerevan under Nature as the Integrator. The next milestone is UNFCCC COP31 in Antalya, where Climate as the Accelerator will frame the shift towards country-led implementation through the proposed Rio Synergies Group for Action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Championed by the T\u00fcrkiye COP31 Presidency, the proposed voluntary, country-led Rio Synergies Group for Action seeks to connect nationally identified Flagship Actions with existing technical expertise, partnerships and financing. Its value lies not in establishing another institutional mechanism, but in enabling countries to implement shared priorities more coherently and effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The central message was clear: progress does not depend on creating new institutional structures, but on connecting existing national commitments, initiatives, expertise and resources to deliver shared results on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"speakers\"
\u00a9 IUCN – From left to right, Hayrapet Hakobyan, NDC Partnership; Stewart Maginnis, IUCN; Ibrahim Yama\u00e7, UNCCD T\u00fcrkiye; Fleur Downard, Government of Australia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Nature as a foundation for integrated action<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Opening the dialogue, Stewart Maginnis, IUCN Deputy Director General<\/strong>, emphasised the need to move from rhetoric to implementation \u2013 success is not ultimately measured by references in international agreements, but by integrated action on the ground, in national and local contexts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe series of dialogues we have held to date has demonstrated a strong appetite for building Rio Synergies from the ground up. Yet, significant gaps remain in implementing land, biodiversity, and climate synergies in a coherent and scalable manner. That is what brings us here today: to connect countries and partners already advancing Rio Synergies and to identify priorities for country-led action, coordinated globally through the Rio Synergies Group for Action.\u201d<\/em> \u2014  Stewart Maginnis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the dialogue, participants discussed how biodiversity and ecosystem health can be embedded in wider economic and social systems. While land restoration and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) offer important entry points, the discussion also highlighted how nature integrates action across myriad sectors. For example, investments in healthy ecosystems can strengthen water security by supporting clean water supply and enhancing drought resilience, while a nature-positive energy transition can simultaneously advance climate and biodiversity objectives and contribute to sustainable economic prosperity and resilience. Integrating nature into decisions across these sectors can therefore generate benefits across multiple environmental and development objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representatives from Armenia (CBD COP17 Presidency), Mongolia (UNCCD COP17 Presidency), and Australia (President of Negotiations at UNFCCC COP31) highlighted how integrated approaches can reflect national priorities. Examples included forest protection and restoration in Armenia, Mongolia\u2019s initiatives linking landscape restoration with investment, and Australia\u2019s nature repair market, which can support biodiversity restoration while generating opportunities to align biodiversity and carbon outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These experiences illustrated how countries can build on existing policies and programmes to advance objectives under all three Rio Conventions, while adapting approaches to their own circumstances.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representing the T\u00fcrkiye COP31 Presidency, Ibrahim Yama\u00e7, UNCCD National Focal Point for T\u00fcrkiye<\/strong>, articulated how the Rio Synergies Group for Action will support this ambition.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis group is designed to provide political leadership, peer learning, capacity building as well as   showcasing country leadership through nationally determined flagship actions. We will connect country needs with technical support, financial support and the expertise that already exists across international organisations and current initiatives.\u201d  <\/em>\u2014  Ibrahim Yama\u00e7 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"dialogue\"
\u00a9 IUCN – Parties and technical partners at the dialogue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Connecting national priorities with practical support<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Country interventions further highlighted both the potential of integrated implementation and the support needed to scale it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several countries referenced restoration as a key national priority, with efforts focused on rehabilitating degraded forests, watersheds and other ecosystems to deliver multiple benefits for biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, climate resilience and land degradation neutrality.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognition and support for conservation efforts beyond protected areas was also highlighted as an important area of work. Participants emphasised the value of mechanisms that incentivise and recognise conservation action by a wide range of stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples, local communities, subnational authorities, the private sector and civil society. A key priority identified was the development of robust indicators and assessment tools to better demonstrate the multiple environmental, social and economic benefits of these efforts and facilitate access to finance, technical support and broader implementation partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other participants pointed to opportunities to improve coordination between national plans, align investment with integrated priorities, and make monitoring and reporting systems more coherent. Better use of existing data and indicators could help countries track progress across multiple objectives while reducing duplication and administrative burdens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A consistent message was that technical partners can play an important role by responding to country-defined needs through existing expertise, tools and resources. Support could include capacity building, integrated monitoring approaches, institutional coordination and assistance in developing investment-ready programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants also stressed that integrated implementation must remain inclusive. Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, young people and other stakeholders need to be meaningfully involved in planning and decision-making, with local knowledge, rights and community ownership recognised as essential to lasting outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"panelists\"
\u00a9 IUCN – Panelists at the dialogue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From dialogue to country-led implementation<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The discussions will help inform the next phase of the Rio Synergies agenda and the development of the Rio Synergies Group for Action under the T\u00fcrkiye COP31 Presidency Action Agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IUCN is well positioned to play a catalytic role in advancing this agenda by bringing together its scientific knowledge, standards, Nature-based Solutions expertise and global networks. Through the ENACT Partnership and collaboration with the T\u00fcrkiye COP31 Presidency, the G20 Global Land Initiative at the UNCCD and other partners, IUCN can help bridge global policy commitments and country-level delivery, facilitating technical cooperation, investment alignment and measurable outcomes for climate, biodiversity and land, while safeguarding the distinct mandates and dedicated financing of each Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dialogue will continue in Antalya ahead of COP31, where the focus will shift to Climate as the Accelerator of integrated implementation, including the alignment of policy, investment, monitoring and partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The longer-term ambition is to sustain this collaboration beyond the 2026 triple COP year, with regional exchanges planned for 2027 to help translate shared priorities into practical guidance and capacity-building support for on-ground implementation.  

Reinforcing this sentiment, Tim Bantel of the G20 Global Land Initiative at the UNCCD<\/strong> highlighted the importance of the Rio Synergies Group for Action as a vehicle for implementation, noting: 

\u201cWe see this as an important opportunity to help countries translate Rio Synergies into practical action on the ground, while bringing together organizations and partners that can support their implementation efforts.\u201d<\/em> \u2014 Tim Bantel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ultimate test of Rio Synergies will not be the number of dialogues held or commitments announced, but whether countries are better equipped to deliver lasting results for nature and people. The journey from Antalya through Ulaanbaatar and Yerevan back to Antalya represents an opportunity to move beyond institutional fragmentation towards a more coherent approach to climate, biodiversity and land action\u2014one that translates global ambition into measurable impact where it matters most. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Building on the momentum from UNCCD COP17 in Ulaanbaatar, the Yerevan Technical Dialogue advanced a country-led pathway for translating commitments […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":152,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154,"href":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enactpartnership.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}