--- title: "Armenia Hosts UN Biodiversity Talks Days After Opening Amulsar Gold Mine" description: "Armenia ranks 75th of 177 countries on Yale’s environmental index, and its largest taxpayer is a copper mine controlled by Russian-linked investors." author: "rews desk" published: 2026-10-24T06:52:41Z modified: 2026-10-24T11:54:02Z url: https://rews.cc/a/armenia-hosts-un-biodiversity-talks-days-after-opening-amuls-903f66 language: en tags: ["climate", "mining", "armania", "economy", "environment", "world"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # Armenia Hosts UN Biodiversity Talks Days After Opening Amulsar Gold Mine *Armenia ranks 75th of 177 countries on Yale’s environmental index, and its largest taxpayer is a copper mine controlled by Russian-linked investors.* By rews desk · October 24, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/armenia-hosts-un-biodiversity-talks-days-after-opening-amuls-903f66 ## In brief - Armenia opened the Amulsar gold mine on Oct. 10, nine days before COP17 negotiations began in Yerevan - Yale’s 2026 Environmental Performance Index ranks Armenia 75th of 177 countries, and 164th on waste management - Officials project about $130 million a year in state revenue from Amulsar, with GDP estimates of 1.5 to 2 percent - Civil society groups want operations halted and a new impact assessment, and activists have faced intimidation and lawsuits - The summit runs through Oct. 30, and a UN report found fewer than half of assessed national targets on track Armenia opened the Amulsar gold mine on Oct. 10, nine days before negotiations started in Yerevan at COP17, the United Nations biodiversity summit, and environmental groups say the government can’t lead talks on protecting nature while it expands open-pit mining at home. Vladislav Inozemtsev made the case in [a column for Al Jazeera](https://aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/10/24/cop17-puts-armenias-environmental-record-in-the-spotlight) published Saturday. He cited Yale University’s 2026 Environmental Performance Index, which puts Armenia 75th out of 177 countries. Estonia, also a former Soviet republic, is first. Armenia ranks 164th on waste management and 165th on wastewater treatment. Yerevan is the first city in a former Soviet republic to host the summit. The government has presented the meeting as a chance to establish Armenia as a leader in environmental protection. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived at the Amulsar ceremony near the resort town of Jermuk by helicopter, [the Armenian Mirror-Spectator reported](https://mirrorspectator.com/2026/10/13/controversial-amulsar-gold-mine-opens-in-armenia-after-long-delay/). He called the mine a “success story” and pointed to the quiet. “We have to talk about why we can organize this event in such a ceremonial environment without protest,” Mr. Pashinyan said. The mine is run by Lydian Armenia, a subsidiary of the Jersey-registered Lydian International. The company owns 75.5 percent of it and the government owns 12.5 percent. Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan has defended Amulsar on economic grounds. According to Mr. Inozemtsev, the minister said the mine could add 1.5 to 2 percent to Armenia’s GDP and bring the state about $130 million a year in taxes and other payments. [Xinhua reported](https://english.news.cn/20261011/4221b721c7e442248b718d2ae8930063/c.html) the same $130 million figure but a smaller GDP gain, about 1.5 percent a year. Armenian civil society groups denounced the launch the day it happened. They called for operations to stop, a new environmental impact assessment and a review of state support for the project. Tehmine Yenokyan of Green Armenia wrote that “no one took the winning Administrative Court verdict seriously” and that “the opinions of the community’s residents counted for nothing.” Members of the Amulsar Without a Mine initiative said they found out about the opening by chance while visiting Jermuk, [301.am reported](https://www.301.am/2026/10/10/pashinyan-celebrates-amulsar-mine-opening-ahead-of-cop17-as-environmental-activists-accuse-authorities-of-secrecy/). The Global Forest Coalition has said the opening ignores recommendations made under the Bern Convention, a European treaty on wildlife. Human rights organizations have documented intimidation of activists who campaigned against the mine, as well as lawsuits filed against them. Amulsar isn’t the only target. Armenia’s largest mines, Zangezur, Agarak and Teghut, extract copper and molybdenum from open pits that throw off large amounts of waste. The World Bank has named mining as a significant source of pollution in the country. At Meghrasar, open-pit gold mining was licensed on land that originally overlapped with Arevik National Park, before the government shrank the park in 2015. Waste held in the Artsvanik tailings reservoir has been linked to heavy metals in nearby waterways. Then there is the money. Russian-linked investors hold a controlling stake in the Zangezur complex, which was Armenia’s largest taxpayer in the first half of 2026. Mr. Inozemtsev argued that the government has a strong economic reason to protect companies like that one, even as it moves away from Moscow and toward the European Union. The EU-Armenia Strategic Agenda calls for stronger enforcement of environmental impact assessment law and for better waste management. It also asks for action on air quality, water protection and industrial emissions. Forests cover 11.1 percent of Armenia. In Yerevan, fine particle pollution runs at about five times the World Health Organization’s recommended limit. The summit runs from Oct. 19 to 30, [according to the Convention on Biological Diversity](https://www.cbd.int/conferences/2026). It is the halfway review of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which sets 23 targets for 2030. Armenia’s environment minister, Hambardzum Matevosyan, was elected president of the conference, and more than 10,000 delegates are attending, [Down To Earth reported](https://www.downtoearth.org.in/wildlife-biodiversity/yerevan-pathway-cop17-formally-opens-in-armenia). The State of Biodiversity Action report, released Oct. 15, found that fewer than half of the national targets it assessed are on track. Money is short there too. Developed countries have provided about $16 billion a year in international biodiversity finance, against a target of $20 billion for 2025. The Cali Fund was set up to collect $1 billion a year from companies that profit from genetic data drawn from nature. It has received $6,000. Delegates are expected to finalize a “Yerevan Pathway” to speed up work on the targets before the talks close on Oct. 30.