Parties to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) voted on Thursday in Colombia for Armenia to host the next Conference of Parties (COP) in 2026. Armenia won the bid with 65 votes out of 123 cast in a secret ballot at the CBD’s 16th Conference of Parties (COP16), held in Cali, as announced by the meeting’s president, Susana Muhamad.
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan had submitted offers to host COP17, presenting detailed pitches that showcased their countries’ natural beauty. The decision to host COP17 in a country from the central and eastern European region, which includes Azerbaijan ally Russia, was made at COP13 in Cancun, Mexico.
Armenia’s victory marks a significant achievement, as the two inharmonious neighbors competed for the privilege to host the conference. The event will bring together global leaders and environmental experts to discuss and advance biodiversity conservation efforts.
Uzbekistan had also been in the running, but pulled out.
This was the first time the CBD parties had voted on the next host from among two candidates, according to spokesman David Ainsworth.
In the past, parties had reached consensus on a candidate to put forward, but this time, the appointed host region was unable to agree on one.
Former Soviet republics Azerbaijan and Armenia have seen decades of war and tension over Nagorno-Karabakh, a breakaway ethnic Armenian region in Azerbaijan.
After a series of slow-moving negotiations, Azerbaijan rushed in troops last year and swiftly seized back the area, whose entire population of nearly 120,000 people fled to Armenia.
The next, 29th, annual COP on climate change will be held in the Azerbaijani capital Baku in November.
The international community has been ramping up pressure for an agreement between the neighbors before COP29.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Azerbaijan in August.
