As Armenia prepares to host COP17, the stakes go far beyond logistics. The conference will bring international attention to the country’s environmental policies, biodiversity management and climate commitments. For the first time in history, Armenia is taking on a global leadership role.
But as the international community prepares to land in Yerevan, a rather awkward question is hanging in the air: Is the host country actually practicing what it preaches? On paper, our climate commitments look pristine; on the ground, however, the smog-filled streets, struggling water ecosystems and thinning forests suggest that Armenia’s “green” transition might still be stuck in traffic.
If the delegates decide to take a morning stroll through Yerevan, they’ll be greeted by the city’s most persistent resident: air pollution. While everyone knows the air is thick enough to chew, the official stance is relaxed…
“Our current official measurement system doesn’t give us accurate information,” said Alen Amirkhanian, director of the American University of Armenia Acopian Center for the Environment.
He explained that existing systems provide delayed data that is often not useful for immediate decision-making. Low-cost sensors show troubling trends, but the data lacks official calibration.
Criticism directed at the Municipality of Yerevan intensified particularly in 2025 regarding the Nubarashen landfill fires and a massive construction surge. These factors, along with smoke from vehicle emissions, suggest that Yerevan’s air might be a point of embarrassment rather than pride when global delegates arrive.
While the smog dominates the conversation in Yerevan, the conference’s core focus is biodiversity. And if Armenia is to present itself as environmentally ready, its commitment must extend into structural change.
Dr. Karen Manvelyan from the World Wildlife Fund Armenia, points to three urgent priorities: “increasing the coverage of protected and conserved areas to at least 20%, introducing an integrated biodiversity monitoring program and amending the Law of Protected Areas to include Category 5 areas and Other Area-Based Effective Conservation Measures.”
These represent changes that would align Armenia more closely with international biodiversity standards.
Hosting the conference, Manvelyan noted, could itself become part of the solution as active participation from the “stakeholders — government, communities, academia, civil society will get more information on the importance of biodiversity conservation.”
The health of Lake Sevan, our national “pearl,” continues to face quality challenges.
“It primarily supports irrigation, hydropower and recreation,” Amirkhanian said. However, because Sevan isn’t our primary source of drinking water, the urgency to fix its toxic algal blooms often gets lost in the “big question” of resource allocation.
International observers will be looking for more than just a scenic backdrop.
Then there’s the matter of our forests — or what’s left of them. In a classic case of law versus reality, grazing livestock in forested areas is strictly prohibited, yet you’d be hard-pressed to find a forest without a cow in it.
“The main problem is the grazing of livestock in the forest,” said André Gumuchdjian, founder and director of My Forest Armenia. “Even in the Dilijan National Park, cows are grazing unchecked… they compress the earth with their heavy weight, rendering new growth more difficult.”
The quality of the forests is also declining.
“Old-growth trees of ‘valuable’ species (oak, beech, etc.) are being replaced by younger trees of ‘lesser’ qualities, carpinus orientalis or shrubs,” said Vahe Martirosyan, operational manager at My Forest Armenia.
As global delegates arrive, the question will not simply be whether Armenia can host COP17 successfully, but whether it can use the spotlight to strengthen its environmental foundations.
Readiness, ultimately, is not about October alone. It is measured by cleaner air, stronger conservation laws and monitored ecosystems. If the spotlight of COP17 accelerates these changes, then the conference will mark more than a milestone — that is what environmental readiness should mean.
As Amirkhanian puts it: “All of us are creating it, and all of us have to be part of the solution.”