Historic biodiversity deal reached at the COP15 summit in Montreal

Nations have agreed to protect 30% of the world’s sea and landmass by 2030, in a deal that will also provide critical financing to biodiversity protection in the developing world.

The global framework comes as the delegates gathered for the last day of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, in Montreal, Canada. 

But it wasn’t a smooth road getting to an agreement. Financing the measures was among the most contentious issues, with delegates from 70 African, South American and Asian countries walking out of negotiations on Wednesday. They returned several hours later.

One of the big developing giants, Brazil, said in a statement that a new funding mechanism dedicated to biodiversity should be established and that developed countries must provide around €100 billion annually in financial grants to emerging economies until 2030.

China, which holds the presidency at this conference, released a new draft deal in response, which calls for around €200 billion to be raised by 2030 for biodiversity from a range of sources

As part of the financing package, the framework calls for increasing to at least €20 billion annually by 2025 the money that goes to poor countries, which is about double the money that is currently provided. That number would increase to $30 billion each year by 2030.

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