Climate News

Nature summit in Yerevan approves two deals, but the money question still hangs over them

Almost 200 countries approved two agreements on Friday aimed at halting the loss of plants, animals and ecosystems by 2030, after nearly two weeks of negotiations that ran into extra time on the final day, France 24 reports. The UN biodiversity summit, known as COP17, was held in Yerevan, Armenia; Kuwait Times reported its opening as nearly 200 nations gathered there.

The talks began under pressure. As negotiators arrived, The Guardian reported that not a single target of the global plan agreed four years ago to save nature had yet been met. It also reported that the Cali Fund, set up to raise $1bn (£750m) a year from companies that profit from nature's genetic resources, had attracted just $7,000 more than 18 months after its launch.

Big pharmaceutical companies have been accused of "free-riding on nature". — The Guardian

How each outlet framed it

• France 24 — the outcome: two agreements approved after marathon talks.
• The Guardian — the record so far: missed targets and a near-empty Cali Fund, raising doubts about delivery.
• Kuwait Times — the scale of the gathering as talks opened in Yerevan.

What we don't know yet: the reports do not yet spell out how much new money the agreements commit, or how countries will be held to them before the 2030 deadline.