COP17 President and Armenia’s Minister of Environment Hambardzum Matevosyan met with Grethel Aguilar, Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), on the sidelines of COP17 in Yerevan.
“We discussed opportunities to develop and implement joint projects under the ninth replenishment cycle of the Global Environment Facility (GEF-9), with a view to mobilizing financing aligned with Armenia’s priorities,” Matevosyan said on Facebook.
“We also explored the possibility of establishing an IUCN office in Yerevan and the preparatory steps required. IUCN’s long-term presence could create new opportunities to implement environmental programmes, exchange expertise and mobilize international support in Armenia and across the region,” he added.
Matevosyan said he expressed Armenia’s interest in hosting the IUCN World Conservation Congress. “In this context, we discussed reviewing the host country requirements and exploring Armenia’s potential candidacy. Our goal is to translate the cooperation being advanced through COP17 into a lasting partnership that delivers tangible results for nature conservation in Armenia,” he said.
