UN talks on biodiversity reboot in Rome

ROME — Global talks to protect nature restarted on Tuesday with a call for humanity to come together to "sustain life on the planet" and overcome the deep divisions that caused a previous meeting last year to end in disarray.

More than two years after a landmark deal on nature — including a pledge to protect 30 percent of the world's land and seas by 2030 — nations continue to haggle over the money needed to reverse the destruction that scientists say threatens a million species.

Negotiators meeting at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome this week are tasked with breaking a deadlock on funding between rich and developing countries that saw COP16 talks in Cali, Colombia, break up without agreement in November.

The talks come at a moment of geopolitical upheaval with countries facing a range of challenges — from trade tensions and debt worries to conflicts.

The mission to protect nature "has the power to unite the world", said COP16 President Susana Muhamad.

"And this is not something small in this very polarized, fragmented, divisive and conflicting geopolitical landscape," added Muhamad, who is also the Colombian environment minister.

She urged countries "to work again together in a collaborative manner for something that probably is the most important purpose of humanity in the 21st century, which is our collective capacity to sustain life (on) this planet".

Far from the record 23,000 participants at the Cali conference, the talks resumed in a smaller format, with 1,400 people accredited and just a few hundred country representatives at the opening plenary.

Muhamad said she was "hopeful" that discussions since the Cali meeting have helped to lay the groundwork for a resolution in Rome.

Countries have until Thursday to hammer out a plan to reach a promised $200 billion a year in finance for nature by 2030, including $30 billion a year from wealthier countries to less developed ones.

The squabble in Cali was mainly over how that funding is delivered.

While countries are trying to generate the funding needed to halt the destruction of ecosystems and species, many argue for a larger role for the private sector.

Companies that use the genetic coding of the natural world to design products ranging from weight-loss drugs to cosmetics faced renewed calls on Tuesday to help pay to protect it, as a dedicated fund was launched at the conference.

The "Cali Fund", named after the Colombian city, is the first effort by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity to directly engage in raising money from the business community.

Agencies via Xinhua