UN summit poised to seal pact on biodiversity

The meeting in the central Japanese city of Nagoya aims to produce a roadmap of 20 goals to be

AFP/File – An area of Sumatran forest cleared by a logging company, seen in August 2010.

achieved over the next decade to contain man's destruction of nature and save the world's rapidly diminishing biodiversity.

Delegates from more than 190 countries had agreed to most of the goals during 12 days of tense negotiations.

But a dispute over "fairly sharing" genetic resources, which are mostly found in rainforests and other species-rich habitats in developing countries, had held up an over-arching accord.

After frantic last-minute negotiations, Japan announced hours before the summit was due to end that there had been significant progress with countries representing various regional blocs agreeing to a deal.

"A draft decision has been agreed upon by representatives of regional groups," Japanese Environment Minister Ryu Matsumoto told delegates.

However, negotiators cautioned that each individual country still needed to approve the proposed "Access and Benefits Sharing Protocol" -- and there could be yet another dip in the roller-coaster ride seen during the summit.

"Getting closer to a deal in Nagoya... but it's not over yet," European environment commissioner Janez Potocnik said in a message posted on Twitter.

A final plenary session in which, delegates hoped, the protocol and 20-point strategic plan would be adopted was set to begin shortly after 9:00 pm (1200 GMT).

Brazil, home to much of the Amazon basin and its global treasure trove of genetic resources, had insisted throughout the summit that it would not agree to the strategic plan unless there was also a deal on the protocol.

Brazil and other developing countries argue rich nations and companies should not be allowed to freely take genetic resources such as wild plants to make medicines, cosmetics and other products for huge profits.

The protocol would ban so-called "biopiracy" and outline how countries with genetic resources would share in the benefits of the assets' commercial development by pharmaceutical and other companies.

The 20-point plan would commit countries to curbing pollution, setting aside areas of land and water for conservation, protecting coral reefs and ending so-called "perverse subsidies" for environmentally destructive industries.

Delegates and green groups said an accord would offer hope that the United Nations could help to solve the planet's many environmental problems, particularly after the failure of climate change talks in Copenhagen last year.

"After Copenhagen, failure in Nagoya is not an option," French secretary of state for the environment Chantal Jouanno told the Nagoya meeting on Thursday.

"Failure would mark a long and painful step backwards for environmental issues on the political agenda."

UN chiefs told the opening of the summit that forging a global consensus on protecting nature in Nagoya was vital to stop the mass extinction of animals and plant species that humans depend on to survive.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature warned last year the world was facing its sixth mass extinction phase, the last being 65 million years ago when dinosaurs vanished.

Nearly a quarter of mammals, one-third of amphibians and more than a fifth of plant species now face the threat of extinction, according to the IUCN.

And with the world's human population expected to rise from 6.8 billion to nine billion by 2050, the UN, scientists and environment groups say humans must become better guardians of the environment or face catastrophe.