The delegates applauded at the headquarters of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome after rich countries and developing countries hammered out a compromise on collecting and delivering the billions of dollars needed to protect sensitive species.
This applause is directed at all of you. You have done a fantastic job, says meeting chair Susana Muhamad from Colombia.
Canada's Minister for Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault was one of those who joined in the chorus of praise.
Our efforts show that international cooperation can bring hope in a time of geopolitical uncertainty, says Guilbeault.
USA did not participate
The agreements consist of two main tracks – finding billions of dollars in extra financing for biological diversity and deciding on the institutions that will deliver these funds.
The USA, which has not joined the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, sent no representatives to the meeting.
Last November, the UN meeting COP16 ended in Colombia without resolving any of the key issues. An extra meeting in Rome was the solution to finalize the details.
Meeting chair Muhamad calls the agreement "historic" and adds in a statement: "We achieved the adoption of the first global plan for financing the conservation of life on earth".
Threatened with extinction
One million species are threatened with extinction, while unsustainable agriculture and consumption are destroying forests, depleting soils, and spreading plastic pollution to the most remote areas of the earth.
"The countries have shown during this meeting that they want to find a common way forward on difficult issues. The challenge is now to get sufficient resources", says Ankin Ljungman, delegate for WWF International during the COP16 meeting, in a press release.
She further emphasizes that countries must now accelerate their work and develop national plans for implementation.
"We now expect Sweden to develop its plan and for it to be ambitious", says Ljungman.
