PARIS: Crunch United Nations talks to find funding to curb the destruction of nature will resume in Rome in February, the UN said on Thursday, after negotiations this month in Colombia ended without a deal.
The largest summit yet on biodiversity — the so-called COP16 talks in Cali, Colombia — were aimed at boosting efforts to protect nature from deforestation, overexploitation, climate change and pollution.
But the meeting, which stretched hours into extra time, ended on November 2 with no agreement on a roadmap to ramp up funding for species protection. Many delegates had already left for home by then, meaning the Colombian presidency was unable to establish a quorum.
The new round of talks will be held at the headquarters of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization from February 25 to 27 to tackle issues “left unresolved following the suspension of the meeting”, the UN said in a statement.
“In the weeks to come, and during our meeting in Rome this February, I will work alongside parties to build the trust and consensus needed to achieve Peace with Nature,” said Colombia’s Environment Minister Susana Muhamad, the COP16 president.
She added that securing a key financial accord “will be central to our efforts”.
Money has been a particularly thorny subject at recent UN environment negotiations, as nations face global political and economic uncertainties.
Negotiators at fractious UN climate talks were able to approve a deal in the early hours of Sunday morning after two weeks of chaotic and bitter wrangling, but the $300 billion a year pledge from wealthy historic polluters was immediately dismissed as insultingly low by many poorer nations.
Deadlocked
The Cali summit, which drew an unprecedented 23,000 participants, was tasked with assessing, and ramping up, progress toward reaching a range of targets set in Canada two years ago to halt humankind’s rapacious destruction of the natural world by 2030.
They include placing 30 percent of land and sea areas under protection, reducing pollution, and phasing out agricultural and other subsidies harmful to nature.
For this purpose, it was agreed in 2022 that $200 billion per year be made available to protect biodiversity by 2030, including the transfer of $30 billion per year from rich to poor nations.
The Cali meeting did make advances on Indigenous representation and gene profit sharing.
But negotiators, largely split between poor and rich country blocs, were deadlocked over the biggest ask — to lay out a detailed funding plan.
That was despite new research showing that more than a quarter of assessed plants and animals are now at risk of extinction.
Only 17.6 percent of land and inland waters, and 8.4 percent of the ocean and coastal areas, are estimated to be protected and conserved.

NEW DELHI: India has committed to prioritise effective restoration of at least 30% of its degraded terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas by 2030 in sync with the country’s 23 national biodiversity targets as well as the global 30×30 biodiversity goals. It said the country would need an annual average amount of Rs 81,664 crore for implementation of its updated pledges up to 2029-30.
The country unveiled its voluntary commitments in its updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) during the 16th session of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) at Cali, Colombia where countries representatives are negotiating multiple issues to protect nature, including a financial mechanism to support countries towards their efforts.
India in its updates also outlined its 23 national biodiversity targets, aligning it with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) adopted by 196 countries in Montreal during COP15 in 2022 as part of a larger global goal to protect 30% of the planet Earth by 2030 (popularly known as 30×30 targets) through halt and reverse biodiversity loss and achieve a nature-positive world.
India in its updated NBSAP claimed that it spent around Rs 32,207 crore annually on biodiversity protection, conservation, and restoration from 2017-2018 to 2021-2022.
India’s 23 targets focus on reducing threats to biodiversity, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and enhancing tools for implementation. Each target is linked to specific strategies aimed at promoting ecosystem resilience, species recovery, and sustainable management practices.
“India’s diverse geography, climate, and socio-economic conditions contribute to its status as a megadiverse country, housing numerous species across various ecosystems. With over 55,000 plant taxa and 1,00,000 animal species, India plays a crucial role in global biodiversity. This diversity supports essential ecosystem services vital for human livelihoods and ecological health,” said India’s updated NBSAP.
It said, “India employs both in-situ and ex-situ conservation strategies. Protected areas (PAs) are central to conservation efforts, complemented by community-driven initiatives and managed forest practices. Agrobiodiversity is recognized as critical for food security, with extensive efforts made in conservation and sustainable management of agricultural biodiversity.”
Since achieving the country’s national biodiversity targets needs, India in its submission noted that the financing of biodiversity initiatives has been identified as a “significant challenge”.
It said, “The estimated financial requirements for implementing the updated NBSAP are substantial, necessitating innovative resource mobilization strategies. The establishment of a comprehensive biodiversity monitoring framework is also essential for tracking progress against national targets, leveraging indicators that reflect the ecological health and biodiversity status across India.”