World cheers hard-fought nature funding plan at UN talks

ROME — Nations cheered a last-gasp deal to map out funding to protect nature on Thursday, breaking a deadlock at UN talks seen as a test for international cooperation in the face of geopolitical tensions.

Rich and developing countries hammered out a delicate compromise on raising and delivering the billions of dollars needed to protect species, overcoming stark divisions that had scuttled their previous meeting in Cali, Colombia, last year.

Delegates stood and clapped in an emotionally charged final meeting that saw key decisions adopted in the final minutes of the last day of rebooted negotiations at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome.

COP 16 President Susana Muhamad of Colombia hailed the fact that countries worked together for a breakthrough, enabling progress "in this very fragmented and conflicted world".

"This is something very beautiful because it's around protecting life that we have come together, and there cannot be anything higher than that," she added.

The decision comes more than two years after a landmark deal to halt the rampant destruction of nature this decade and protect the ecosystems and wildlife that humans rely on for food, climate regulation, and economic prosperity.

Scientists have warned that action is urgent.

A million species are threatened with extinction, while unsustainable farming and consumption destroy forests, deplete soils, and spread plastic pollution to even the most remote areas of the planet.

The agreement on Thursday is seen as crucial to giving impetus to the 2022 deal, which saw countries agree to protect 30 percent of the world's land and seas.

Talks were also seen as a bellwether for international cooperation.

The meeting comes as countries face a range of challenges, from trade disputes and debt worries to the slashing of overseas aid, particularly by new US President Donald Trump.

Washington, which has not signed up to the UN's Convention on Biological Diversity, sent no representatives to the meeting.

"Our efforts show that multilateralism can present hope at a time of geopolitical uncertainty," said Steven Guilbeault, Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Ousseynou Kasse of Senegal, speaking on behalf of the Africa Group, also threw support behind global cooperation.

"We believe that this is the way that can save the world, and we must continue down this path," he said.

Agencies Via Xinhua