The opening ceremony of the UN Biodiversity Conference will take place on Sunday, 18 October 2026, at 17:30 in the Plenary Hall, followed by a reception hosted by the Government of Armenia, featuring local cultural performances and entertainment.

Media

Media participation at CBD meetings is subject to accreditation by the CBD Secretariat and is strictly reserved for members of the press - print, photo, radio, TV, film, news agencies and online media - who represent a bona fide media organization.  Media accreditation is not yet open for the UN Biodiversity Conference 2026 (19 – 30 October 2026 - Yerevan, Armenia) and will typically open two to three months before the start of the conference.

The fall 2026 UN Biodiversity Conference will be held in conjunction with and including:

  • the 17th meeting of the Convention of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 17) 
    the 12th meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CP-MOP-12),  
  • the 6th meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing (NP-MOP-6), and  
  • the Leaders’ Summit & High-Level Segment of these meetings

The theme that Armenia, the host country, has chosen for COP 17 is “Taking Action for Nature.”

Dates

19 to 30 October 2026

Venue

Meridian Expo and Event Centre

1 Voskerichneri Street, Yerevan 0015, Armenia

 

1. Information and interview requests  

Please direct your requests to Lis Mullin Bernhardt, Head of Communications, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity 
413 St. Jacques Street, Suite 800 
Montreal, Quebec, H2Y 1N9 Canada 
Fax: + 1-514-288-6588 
E-mail: MEA-CBD-Media@un.org      

 

4. Social Media

The principal hashtag is:  #COP17Armenia

Regular updates will be shared across the CBD Secretariat’s primary social media channels:  

X (formerly Twitter)-  x.com/unbiodiversity  

LinkedIn- linkedin.com/company/unbiodiversity  

Instagram- instagram.com/unbiodiversity  

Facebook- facebook.com/UNBiodiversity  

YouTube- youtube.com/user/chmcbd 

 

Other hashtags that will be used for communication on themes addressed by the UN Biodiversity Conference are: #BiodiversityAction and #ForNature

Please tag the CBD accounts wherever possible.  

 

Social Media Assets (Trello): https://trello.com/b/laWdyG3k

 

3. Media Accreditations  

 

Media Accreditation for the 2026 UN Biodiversity Conference

https://www.cbd.int/participation/2026/media/checklist 

Media accreditation is closed for the 2026 UN Biodiversity Conference, including the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) and meetings of the Nagoya and Cartagena Protocols (MOPs 6 and 12, respectively), taking place in Yerevan, Armenia, 19 – 30 October 2026. 

 

Media Accreditation for the COP 17 Leaders’ Summit on Biodiversity in Yerevan

Media representatives wishing to cover the COP 17 Leaders’ Summit on Biodiversity, to be held in Yerevan on October 16, 2026, are required to obtain accreditation by October 4, 2026.

Applications should be submitted by email to media@mfa.am.

Click here for information about application requirements.

 

4. News and press releases

 

5. Information on the use of the COP 17 logo

Inspired from Polyommatus eriwanensis, a butterfly species endemic to Armenia, the logo’s colour palette draws on the visual identity of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) and its 23 action targets. Blending the 23 icons, the COP 17 logo symbolizes the interconnectedness of the targets of the KMGBF as an indivisible whole.

“Taking action for nature”—the slogan unveiled alongside the logo— conveys Armenia’s aspirations for an action-oriented UN Biodiversity Conference.  

COP17 Yerevan Brand Usage Guidelines

Download the Logo (English and Armenian)

Download the full logo package with fonts, in six UN languages and Armenian (Arabic, Russian, Chinese, English Spanish, French and Armenian)