Climate and nature: two COP summits, one planet
22/10/2026
Dear Planetary Steward,
The world may negotiate climate and nature in separate rooms, but the science shows they are one crisis. With three weeks to go until leaders discuss climate action at COP31 in Antalya, this week the CBD COP17 is underway in Yerevan, Armenia. This is the first global review of whether countries are on track for their 2030 nature goals under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The evidence is sobering. The UN’s new State of Biodiversity Action report finds that fewer than half of countries’ targets are on track, that current national pledges fall well short of protecting 30% of land and sea, and that business and finance targets lag furthest behind. New data from Systems Change Lab, launched this week, also reveals that not one of its 26 indicators for forests and land is on track, and eight are moving in the wrong direction. At the COP17 Leaders Summit on October 16, UN Secretary General António Guterres warned that “progress is uneven, and far too slow”. This week’s working groups are focused on closing that gap through finance. Countries promised US$200 billion a year for nature, but so far less than half has been delivered. Talks are also concentrated on how the new permanent body for Indigenous Peoples and local communities, created at COP16, will work. Decisions will come next week, with the closing plenary and adoption of the Global Review due on October 30.
While discussions continue, Global Commons Alliance members and partners are on the ground. EcoCitizen is making the case for linking biodiversity implementation with climate adaptation, ahead of co-convening Adaptation Futures 2028. Nature Positive Initiative is hosting the Nature Positive Pavilion, centered on its new consensus State of Nature metrics. It will also join the Science Based Targets Network and TNFD on October 27 to present aligned guidance for corporate action on nature.
The link between nature and climate action is becoming more urgent each month. The El Niño, the strongest on record, is expected to peak next month. It brings severe drought risk for the Amazon, even as Australia heads for its wettest El Niño year on record. Members are beginning to explore a joint El Niño response, linking science and the case for longer-term systems change; contact us to collaborate or learn more. This week’s UN Emissions Gap Report has also shown again how far national pledges fall short of the 1.5°C and 2°C global temperature rise limit. The heaviest impacts will fall on the communities least responsible and least protected. But no region is immune, as this summer’s heatwave in Europe showed.
Whether it is the nature COP or next month’s climate COP, the question is the same: will governments treat climate and nature as the single system they are, and fund the urgent solutions to match? Over the coming weeks, we’ll be following both COPs, to track progress toward the just world on a safe planet we know is possible. As always, we invite you to connect and collaborate, as we continue on this journey that will take every single one of us – whichever room we are in.
With all our best,
Will Tucker, Co-Director (Communications and Resource Mobilization)
Sebastian Schienle, C0-Director (Partnerships and Programs)
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