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What values should guide global efforts to protect biodiversity and live in greater harmony with nature?

At CBD COP-17, the side event “Advancing a Global Ethical Stocktake: Conserving Biodiversity as a Moral Imperative” will explore how ethics, culture, spirituality and traditional knowledge can strengthen global biodiversity action and inform international environmental decision-making.

Taking place on 27 October 2026 in Yerevan, Armenia, the session will bring together perspectives from the Global Ethical Stocktake (GES) Initiative and its partner organisations to examine how values such as justice, equity, accountability and intergenerational responsibility can advance the goals of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and strengthen synergies between the Rio Conventions.

The discussion will also address issues often overlooked in international negotiations, including the impacts of conflict on nature, the protection of environmental human rights defenders, and the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in decision-making. Participants will reflect on how traditional ecological knowledge can complement scientific evidence and help shape more inclusive, ethical approaches to conservation and sustainable living.

Explore how shared values and diverse knowledge systems can help shape a more just and effective future for biodiversity.