By Celeste Noraian
Days before the UN biodiversity summit COP17 closes in Yerevan, several young residents of the city told CivilNet they know little or nothing about it, even as they name air pollution and litter as problems they face daily.
“I have never heard of COP17,” said Alyona Koltsova, 22, who moved to Yerevan from Russia six months ago.
The 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity opened October 19 in Yerevan and runs through October 30 where it centers on the theme, “Taking action for nature.” At COP17, governments and other stakeholders are meeting to discuss how to protect biodiversity, restore ecosystems and deliver on global commitments to halt and reverse nature loss.
In interviews with three young Yerevan residents who do not work in environmental fields, awareness of COP17 was limited.
Koltsova said air pollution is a serious problem in the city and that air quality should improve, though she did not know how.
24-year-old Tigran Solian, had only a general idea of what COP17 involves. “I just know a lot of people gather together and just discuss stuff about the environment,” he said.
Solian said litter and air pollution are Yerevan’s biggest environmental problems, and that pollution is worse in the winter.
“It’s terrible here,” he said, adding that he is “100 percent” sure it makes more people sick.
He said change can only come through the government, including penalties for people who litter, but he doubts officials will deliver.
“I guess the government does something. I mean, they plan to do something,” Solian said. “As always, they plan, probably don’t do it, or do it halfway.”
Vahan Abovyan, 27, had heard that COP17 was being held in Armenia and that it concerned ecology, but said he could not say more about it. Like Koltsova and Solian, he also named the city’s air as a problem, and said he believes it has declined over the last several years.
COP17 closes this Friday, October 30. The delegates will leave, and these three residents will still be in a city whose air they say is getting worse. For them, the question is not what governments pledge in Yerevan this week, but whether anything changes on their own streets after COP17.
CivilNet has previously reported on the city’s air quality here.
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