The world's nations have salvaged a vast funding plan at UN talks in Rome to protect biodiversity and reverse the decline of nature.
Representatives of 196 rich and developing countries hammered out a compromise on Thursday to raise and deliver the billions of dollars needed to protect species in some of the world's poorest countries.
After three days of tense discussions, countries were able to overcome deep divisions which had led to the collapse of negotiations at last year's UN biodiversity summit (COP16) in Cali, Colombia.
COP16 President Susana Muhamad of Colombia had earlier urged delegates to work together for something that is "probably the most important purpose of humanity in the 21st century – our collective capacity to sustain life on this planet".
She hailed the fact that countries worked together for a breakthrough, enabling progress "in this very fragmented and conflicted world".
The deal should help countries reach their goal of raising $200bn by 2030 to preserve biodiversity, as agreed in a 2022 landmark agreement to protect 30 percent of the world's land and seas.
However, only $15bn of the funding has been raised so far according to the OECD.
Scientists have warned that action is urgent. A million species are threatened with extinction, while unsustainable farming and consumption destroys forests, depletes soils and spreads plastic pollution to even the most remote areas of the planet.
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New strategy agreed
The Cali talks broke down largely over disagreement on how to deliver funding to poor nations in particular. Developing countries, led by Brazil and the African Group wanted a new fund, while wealthy nations led by the EU, Japan and Canada did not and pushed for more accountability on spending.
The compromise strategy agreed in Rome allows for a five-year review of the existing mechanisms so that countries can decide by 2030 whether a new fund is necessary or if improvements to the existing ones will suffice.
The plan also includes boosting monitoring to ensure countries are held accountable for their progress towards meeting biodiversity targets, a commitment to having a permanent fund for nature, and dedicated funding for indigenous groups.
One achievement in the COP16 summit in Cali was the creation of a new fund to share profits from digitally sequenced genetic data from plants and animals with the communities they come from.
The fund, officially launched on Tuesday, is designed for large firms to contribute a portion of their income from developing things like medicine and cosmetics using this data.
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International cooperation
The agreement provides a much-needed boost to international environmental cooperation, as talks on plastic pollution, desertification and climate finance faced setbacks in recent months.
"This is a great signal for the rest of the year, including upcoming negotiations on plastic pollution and climate," said Norway's Environment Minister Andreas Bielland Eriksen.
Talks in Rome were also seen as a measure of international cooperation as countries face a range of challenges – from trade disputes to the slashing of overseas aid, particularly by US President Donald Trump.
Washington, which has not signed up to the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity, was not represented at the meeting.
Ousseynou Kasse of Senegal, chair of the Africa Group, said multilateralism had prevailed. "We believe that this is the way that can save the world, and we must continue down this path," he said.
"We will have a mechanism dedicated exclusively to biodiversity, something that has never existed before under this convention. That is a reason for satisfaction.”
An estimated half of global GDP is dependent on nature, and as much as 4 billion people depend on the world's ocean resources and forests.
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