Developed nations agree to double funding for biodiversity protection by 2015
22 Oct 2012
Developed countries participating in the United Nations conference on biodiversity have agreed to increase funding in support of actions to halt the rate of loss of biodiversity.
The decision was taken at the eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which ended in Hyderabad today.
Developed countries agreed to double funding to support efforts in developing states towards meeting the internationally-agreed biodiversity targets, and the main goals of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.
Developing countries said they would use a baseline figure of the average annual national spending on biodiversity between 2006 and 2010 to double biodiversity-related international financial flows by 2015.
The conference also set targets to increase the number of countries that have included biodiversity in their national development plans, and prepared national financial plans for biodiversity by 2015.
The 193 parties to the CBD agreed to classify a diverse list of marine areas, some renowned for containing 'hidden treasures' of the plant and animal world, as ecologically or biologically significant.
