Del Carmen, Siargao mayor joins global biodiversity summit in Armenia
By Susil D. Ragas
SURIGAO CITY, Surigao del Norte (PIA) — As world leaders gathered in Armenia for the 9th Global Biodiversity Summit of Cities and Subnational Governments, Mayor Alfredo Coro II of the municipality of Del Carmen in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte, served as a key representative, championing a formal seat at the negotiating table for local and regional leaders.
Held alongside the main diplomatic negotiations of the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17), the 9th Global Biodiversity Summit of Cities and Subnational Governments brought together mayors, governors, regional leaders, and urban planners to bridge global conservation policy with grassroots execution.
Representing municipal leaders from coastal communities, Mayor Coro joined international dignitaries for both the opening and closing segments of the summit. He underscored that municipal governments directly manage vital ecosystems, confront climate impacts, and safeguard local livelihoods.
He brought to the international stage the achievements of Del Carmen, a municipality located on Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte, which is internationally recognized for its community-led mangrove conservation and sustainable fisheries management.
According to the mayor, by integrating localized nature-based solutions, ecosystem restoration, and social protection programs, Del Carmen has shown how small island and coastal municipalities can safeguard fragile habitats while boosting local economic resilience.
He emphasized that frontline coastal communities are uniquely positioned to deliver high-impact results for biodiversity targets if given adequate technical support, direct financing, and policy recognition.
“Environmental and community initiatives such as climate action and biodiversity restoration are executed locally, making local leaders best positioned to drive solutions because of their close understanding of their people and environment,” he said.
“Local governments are not just implementers of top-down decisions; we are the front lines of environmental defense. Without local governance embedded directly within global negotiation tables, international biodiversity targets remain pledges on paper,” the mayor added.
Meanwhile, at the Global Biodiversity Summit of Cities and Subnational Governments, discussions centered on key systemic bottlenecks that prevented rapid local implementation, such as facilitating direct funding streams for municipal and subnational authorities rather than routing resources exclusively through national treasuries, aligning local spatial planning, marine protected areas, and municipal zoning with national biodiversity targets, and securing formal institutional channels within the UN framework negotiations to ensure local leaders contribute directly to decision-making processes.
Key outcomes from the local government agenda included: Pushing for national biodiversity strategies and action plans to formally integrate subnational targets and municipal action plans; Mobilizing cities and regions under global platforms like CitiesWithNature and RegionsWithNature to track local contributions toward the 2030 targets; and urging multilateral development banks and the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) to simplify application pathways for subnational project implementation.
As COP17 finalized its overarching framework agreements, the prominent presence of local executives like Mayor Alfredo Coro II marked a decisive shift in global environmental governance, moving away from centralized policy toward inclusive and multi-level action where municipal leaders hold a permanent seat at the decision-making table. (SDR, PIA Surigao del Norte with a report from the municipality of Del Carmen)