GENEVA (REUTERS) – A United Nations biodiversity summit will be held in two parts, officials said late on Wednesday (Aug 18), confirming another delay to a much-needed global agreement to protect the planet’s nature.

A virtual opening session will be held on Oct 11-15 and in-person negotiations will be held from April 28 to May 8 next year in Kunming, China to finalise an agreement, said the UN biodiversity body.

The COP15, as the summit is known, has already been delayed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic and a third delay was all but certain because of the challenges posed by the lack of face-to-face meetings, Reuters reported last month.

“Decisive in-person meetings on a highly anticipated new UN agreement on biodiversity have been paused for a few more months by the coronavirus pandemic,” the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity said.

China’s Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu said the host country would “fulfil the obligations of the host country, steadily advance the preparations, and make all efforts to host a landmark conference”.

With growing calls for the world to protect nature in tandem with tackling climate change, countries are being urged at the conference to commit to put 30 per cent of their land and sea territories under conservation by 2030.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said the delays meant the “momentum to protect nature is at risk of stalling”.

Said WWF International’s head of policy, research and development Guido Broekhoven: “Nature loss has not paused. It is essential that the extra time is used well.”

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