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Protesters are reminding delegates of the need to protect plants

Talks have run through the night at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting as delegates tried to salvage talks on protecting nature.

Major differences remained on targets for protected areas, equitable access to genetic resources, and funding.

France followed Japan in pledging funds for conservation; but the sums were well short of what poorer nations want.

Brazil is arguing that by 2020, $200bn per year should be made available for biodiversity conservation.

By comparison, the new pledge by French Ecology Minister Chantal Joannou amounted to $4bn over a decade.

China was criticised by environment campaigners for insisting that the agreement here should call for protection of no more than 6% of the marine environment – and none at all outside coastal waters.

The current global target is 10%.

Differences on the draft agreement on ensuring developing countries receive recompense when products are made from genetic material of organisms from their territory – known as Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) – came down to seven crucial words, according to Hugo Schally, EU lead negotiator on the issue.

“These words are not just words, they mean differences in economic circumstances,” he told BBC News.

“What material does this protocol actually apply to? That means in terms of research-based industry, in terms of… economic exchanges – they’re literally worth billions of dollars or euros or pounds, or whatever you want.”

In essence, developing nations have been demanding that the agreement cover anything made from this genetic material – technically known as “derivatives” – whereas western nations, where the world’s pharmaceutical giants are principally based, want a far smaller scope.

At one point during the negotiations, agreement was reached on this issue in a small group including Brazil, the EU, Namibia and Norway.

But other developing countries did not accept it.

“[In the] critical part of the changes, that would allow derivatives to be included, they draw the line there and said ‘no’ – so what can we do, we can only go so far,” said Gurdial Singh, chief negotiator for Malaysia.

Guide to biodiversity

Biodiversity is the term used to describe the incredible variety of life that has evolved on our planet over billions of years. So far 1.75m present day species have been recorded, but there maybe as many as 13m in total. The term “biodiversity” refers to diversity of ecosystems, species and genes. In wetlands, for example, you might find different types of fish, frogs, crabs and snails; and within each species, differences in the genes which determine disease resistance, diet and body size. Research shows that ecosytems containing more variety are more productive and more robust. Biodiversity loss affects most of the major branches of life on Earth. Amphibians and corals are among some of the most threatened. Rising human populations, habitat loss, invasive species and climate change all take their toll. Around half of the planet’s natural environments had been converted for human use by 1990. The IUCN projects that a further 10-20% of grass and forest land could be converted by 2050. Deforestation represents one of the most serious threats to biodiversity. The map shows the extent of the planet’s remaining frontier forests – which exist in a state untouched by human interference – and the original extent of forest cover. The rising population and economic growth mean that natural resources are used at less and less sustainable rates. WWF calculates that by 2050, humanity’s resource use would need two-and-a-half Earths to be sustainable.

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“We cannot go all the way until we get no real benefit. We cannot have an empty protocol. If I take an empty bottle of beer and I go home, I cannot drink anything.”

Negotiations on the draft ABS treaty – which have been going on for nearly two weeks here, as well as in a number of preparatory meetings – were suspended by Japan, as conference chair.

A “chair’s text” is being considered as an alternative.

Failure here would be a major blow for Japan, which has invested a lot of political capital in securing a protocol with the name “Nagoya” on it.

Other delegations – most of which currently include environment ministers – seem equally keen to leave with something.

“Clearly things are on a knife-edge,” said James Leape, director-general of WWF International.

“It comes down now to whether ministers are ready to find a political deal.

“It does seem, though, that many ministers are aware there’s a need to make the most of this opportunity to go forward.”

The mood has veered between optimism and despair; and this appears likely to continue up to, if not beyond, the scheduled close at 1800 local time (0900GMT) on Friday.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.