UN deal struck to 'save ecosystems'

Source: Al Jazeera

Almost 200 countries sign up to key targets on pollution, forest and reef protection, and creating conservation areas.

A summit of rich and poor nations in Japan agreed on Saturday to take "effective and urgent" action to curb the destruction of the biodiversity upon which human survival depends. Delegates from 193 countries agreed to key targets on pollution, forest and reef protection and the creation of conservation areas.

One of the key parts of the accord was a commitment to protect 17 per cent of land and 10 per cent of oceans where many endangered species live. Greenpeace, however, said it was disappointed with the agreement because it did not cover more of the world's habitats.

Another key area, which took almost twenty years to negotiate, was an agreement on genetic resources. The protocol sets rules on how nations manage and share benefits derived from forests and seas to create new drugs, crops or cosmetics.

The protocol could unlock billions of dollars for developing countries, where much of the world's natural riches remain. Karl Falkenberg, head of the European Commission's environment department, said the accord would not only save species, bit would also fight poverty.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/10/20101029232339816267.html

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U.N. Sets Goals to Reduce the Extinction Rate

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/world/30biodiversity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

After years of wrangling, most United Nations member states agreed early on Saturday in Japan to set significant new goals to reverse the extinction of plant and animal species. As part of the accord, they also agreed that rich and poor nations would share profits from pharmaceutical or other products derived from genetic material.

The negotiations among mostly environment ministers from about 190 countries in Nagoya, Japan, ultimately produced an agreement that had seemed distant just hours before the meeting ended.

The agreement, known as the Nagoya Protocol, sets a goal of cutting the current extinction rate by half or more by 2020. The earth is losing species at 100 to 1,000 times the historical average, according to scientists who call the current period the worst since the dinosaurs were lost 65 million years ago.

The most significant change was breaking a nearly 20-year impasse over the issue of sharing the benefits of medicines or other products developed from plants or animals. Developing nations have long complained of exploitation by richer nations, and have been imposing stringent export controls on such material.

The lack of an agreement on sharing the benefits had threatened to sink the entire preservation accord. It remained vague on details, but established the idea that any exploitation of genetic material — both future and past — must include royalties. The accord is potentially worth billions of dollars to countries rich in biological diversity.