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Global talks to protect biodiversity are back on.
Top delegates are in Rome this week to resolve a deadlock reached during UN COP-16 talks back in November.
After stretching hours into extra time, the world's richest nations remained at odds with the poorest on the issue of whether to create a specific fund to finance nature conservation.
That division has been called out by COP-16 President Susana Muhamad.
"In this very polarised, fragmented, divisive and conflictive geopolitical landscape, we are we have an important responsibility here in Rome. In this 2025, we can send a light globally, and we will be able to say that still, even without differences, even with the tensions, even with the limited fiscal space in the north and the south, even with the armed conflicts, we are able to collaboratively work together."
The previous COP-16 talks in Cali, Colombia had yielded some significant outcomes before they were suspended.
These included an agreement requiring companies that benefit from genetic resources in nature – for example, by developing medicines from rainforest plants – to share the benefits.
But two weeks was not enough time, with progress stalling in its final hours.
Deputy Executive Director of UN Environment Programming Elizabeth Mrema has urged negotiators not to make the same mistake twice.
"I urge all parties to recognize that no one wins if talks fail. No country is immune to this crisis, nor can they address it on their own. We share nature and we depend on nature. Multilateralism is our only hope."
The previous COP-16 talks followed the historic 2022 COP-15 accord in Montreal, Canada.
That saw 23 measures aimed at protecting biodiversity agreed upon.
One of those agreements was to place 30 per cent of the planet and 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030, a move known as the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Georgina Chandler, Head of Policy and Campaigns for the Zoological Society London, says that arrangement set the agenda for the previous talks in Cali.
"If Montreal was about the 'what' – so what are we all working together towards, Cali was supposed to be about the 'how' – so putting the plans and the finance on the table to make sure that we could actually implement this framework we agreed to two years ago."
The overall financial aim of the Global Biodiversity Framework was to achieve $20 billion a year in the fund by 2025, and then $30 billion by 2030.
But, so far, only $383 million has been pledged as of November, from 12 nations or sub-nations.
Linda Krueger, Director of Biodiversity and Infrastructure Policy for the Nature Conservancy, says the renewed talks are about how the money would be collected and distributed.
"It's whether we have a new fund, whether the fund that exists currently is sufficient or the funds because there are multiple small funds. But that's perhaps not the most efficient way if you're trying to reduce administrative burden on things. So it's really about how do we collect the money and how do we get it distributed fairly, get it to the ground where it's needed most."
Lin Li, Senior Director for Global Policy and Advocacy at World Wide Fund for Nature International, who's in Rome for the talks, has told SBS News that a breakthrough is still uncertain.
"The feeling is mixed. So we have heard from different country party negotiators from different angles, the different concerns, the different positions, then they've all come here. We do hear some willingness to make compromise to find a solution, but we also do hear as well they stick with their existing position. So that is a very delicate balance."
Moves by US President Donald Trump since his inauguration in January to rollback environmental policies and the funding of new developments have cast a shadow over the global discussions.
Despite the world's biggest economy never being a formal signatory to the efforts, Mr Trump's policy shift may pose challenges to achieving some of these global biodiversity goals.
This is Professor of Sustainability at RMIT University and Biodiversity Council lead, Sarah Bekessy.
“I think we can probably all agree that they do affect global sentiment and I think Trump's uniquely parochial and pretty selfish approach to politics – it's possible that it will influence other countries and make them less willing to dig deep, especially when it comes to helping other countries to do the right thing for nature conservation."
The WWF and the Zoological Society of London say global wildlife populations have plunged on average by 73 per cent in the last 50 years.
Professor Bekessy says Australia has been another victim of this trend.
"Australia is a world leader in biodiversity loss, sadly, with over, we think at least a hundred species that have gone extinct since European colonization, about 2000 more species on the brink of extinction, 19 ecosystems, including the Great Barrier Reef that are on the brink of showing clear signs of collapse. And this, despite the fact that we know nature underpins our wealth, our health, our prosperity, 50 per cent of our GDP is either moderately or deeply dependent on nature. Three quarters of our crops are pollinated by wild animals. It's enlightened self-interest to be investing properly in nature protection."
The high-level discussions are set to continue until 27th of February.
