The China Mail - China set to offer compromise to save summit nature accord

USD -
AED 3.673035
AFN 70.749338
ALL 86.742549
AMD 388.618649
ANG 1.80229
AOA 917.503552
ARS 1178.036302
AUD 1.5583
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.693572
BAM 1.715765
BBD 2.010483
BDT 120.984297
BGN 1.716674
BHD 0.376929
BIF 2961.383932
BMD 1
BND 1.308314
BOB 6.895342
BRL 5.654699
BSD 0.995767
BTN 84.626755
BWP 13.650021
BYN 3.25865
BYR 19600
BZD 2.000132
CAD 1.386485
CDF 2878.999795
CHF 0.822803
CLF 0.024599
CLP 943.990026
CNY 7.294969
CNH 7.27219
COP 4217
CRC 503.44755
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 96.729199
CZK 21.889991
DJF 177.318683
DKK 6.554785
DOP 58.678527
DZD 132.477986
EGP 50.837803
ERN 15
ETB 133.284734
EUR 0.87805
FJD 2.255901
FKP 0.751089
GBP 0.745695
GEL 2.739981
GGP 0.751089
GHS 14.438109
GIP 0.751089
GMD 70.999723
GNF 8624.138113
GTQ 7.668858
GYD 208.325292
HKD 7.757335
HNL 25.813639
HRK 6.616898
HTG 130.287559
HUF 354.818008
IDR 16784.1
ILS 3.615501
IMP 0.751089
INR 85.215501
IQD 1304.412668
IRR 42112.49585
ISK 128.280536
JEP 0.751089
JMD 157.738448
JOD 0.7091
JPY 142.429502
KES 128.750082
KGS 87.450308
KHR 3986.174711
KMF 432.495472
KPW 900
KRW 1438.11009
KWD 0.30639
KYD 0.829897
KZT 510.667602
LAK 21537.476314
LBP 89218.19075
LKR 298.222682
LRD 199.142934
LSL 18.591041
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 5.447727
MAD 9.23274
MDL 17.057337
MGA 4428.361515
MKD 54.037794
MMK 2099.879226
MNT 3570.897913
MOP 7.955435
MRU 39.409969
MUR 45.211908
MVR 15.409863
MWK 1726.25392
MXN 19.606803
MYR 4.331004
MZN 63.999773
NAD 18.591041
NGN 1601.509791
NIO 36.642279
NOK 10.37457
NPR 135.401863
NZD 1.67871
OMR 0.385
PAB 0.995789
PEN 3.654268
PGK 4.123024
PHP 56.286498
PKR 279.80139
PLN 3.746427
PYG 7973.331579
QAR 3.629417
RON 4.371401
RSD 102.824809
RUB 82.651861
RWF 1404.653815
SAR 3.751546
SBD 8.354312
SCR 14.228001
SDG 600.501257
SEK 9.624505
SGD 1.308775
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.700483
SLL 20969.483762
SOS 569.072527
SRD 36.84997
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.713045
SYP 13001.925904
SZL 18.585433
THB 33.374012
TJS 10.504897
TMT 3.5
TND 2.969731
TOP 2.342098
TRY 38.44354
TTD 6.758369
TWD 32.2743
TZS 2682.503525
UAH 41.510977
UGX 3652.074743
UYU 41.923443
UZS 12902.008948
VES 86.54691
VND 25980
VUV 120.582173
WST 2.763983
XAF 575.438735
XAG 0.030332
XAU 0.000302
XCD 2.702549
XDR 0.715661
XOF 575.438735
XPF 104.623213
YER 245.101473
ZAR 18.55265
ZMK 9001.189445
ZMW 27.806215
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSC

    -0.0100

    22.32

    -0.04%

  • RIO

    0.3100

    60.87

    +0.51%

  • SCS

    -0.0300

    9.86

    -0.3%

  • CMSD

    0.0200

    22.48

    +0.09%

  • NGG

    0.8100

    72.85

    +1.11%

  • RBGPF

    60.8800

    60.88

    +100%

  • AZN

    0.3600

    69.93

    +0.51%

  • JRI

    0.0600

    12.8

    +0.47%

  • BCC

    -0.1800

    95.33

    -0.19%

  • GSK

    0.6300

    38.06

    +1.66%

  • BCE

    0.1600

    21.81

    +0.73%

  • RELX

    -0.1900

    53.36

    -0.36%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0600

    10.12

    -0.59%

  • BTI

    0.3400

    42.39

    +0.8%

  • BP

    -0.0600

    29.13

    -0.21%

  • VOD

    0.2200

    9.57

    +2.3%

China set to offer compromise  to save summit nature accord
China set to offer compromise to save summit nature accord / Photo: © AFP

China set to offer compromise to save summit nature accord

China, which chairs a high-stakes UN biodiversity summit in Montreal, is due to present a long-awaited compromise text on Sunday in an attempt to seal the "peace pact with nature" that the planet sorely needs.

Text size:

More than 10 days of fraught biodiversity negotiations look to be coming to a head as delegates prepare to wrangle over the compromise draft agreement.

"It is not a perfect document, not a document that will make everyone happy, however it is a document that is based on the efforts of all of us over the last four years," said China's Environment Minister Huang Rinqiu.

"It is a document that must be adopted at this meeting that is highly expected by the international community."

Observers had warned the COP15 conference risked collapse as countries squabbled over how much the rich world should pay to fund the efforts, with developing countries walking out of talks at one point.

But conference leaders turned upbeat Saturday on their chances of securing a deal.

Huang said he was "greatly confident" of a consensus and his Canadian counterpart Steven Guilbeault said "tremendous progress" had been made.

Huang said he would publish a draft agreement at 8:00 am EST (1300 GMT) on Sunday and hear lead delegates' feedback later in the day.

The negotiations officially run until December 19, but could go longer if needed.

"Now is not the time for small decisions, let's go big!" tweeted French President Emmanuel Macron.

"Let's work together to achieve the most ambitious agreement possible. The world is depending on it."

- Million species threatened -

Delegates are working to roll back the destruction and pollution that threaten an estimated one million plant and animal species with extinction, according to scientists that report to the UN.

The text is meant to be a roadmap for nations through 2030. The last 10-year plan, signed in Aichi, Japan in 2010, did not achieve any of its objectives -- a failure blamed widely on its lack of monitoring mechanisms.

Major goals in the draft under discussion include a cornerstone pledge to protect 30 percent of the world's land and oceans by 2030.

The more than 20 targets also include reducing environmentally destructive farming subsidies, requiring businesses to assess and report on their biodiversity impacts, and tackling the scourge of invasive species.

Representatives of Indigenous communities, who safeguard 80 percent of the world's remaining biodiversity, want their rights to practice stewardship of their lands to be enshrined in the final agreement.

"We are the ones doing the work. We protect biodiversity," said Valentin Engobo, leader of the Lokolama community in the Congo Basin, in a statement released by Greenpeace. "You won't replace us. We won't let you."

- Money matters -

The issue of how much money the rich countries will send to the developing world, home to most of the world's biodiversity, has been the biggest sticking point.

Several countries have announced new commitments. The European Union has committed seven billion euros ($7.4 billion) for the period until 2027, double its prior pledge.

But campaigners and developing countries say more is needed -- and delegates have not reached agreement on what form the new funding flows should take.

Brazil has proposed flows of $100 billion annually, compared to the roughly $10 billion at present.

"We will be able to specify our financial ambitions once we have seen the text," France's Environment Minister Christophe Bechu told AFP on Saturday.

"An agreement on paper without numbers would be worse than no agreement. We need an ambitious agreement that is quantified and with verifiable aims and dates."

R.Lin--ThChM