Delegates walk past a giant Jenga-style tower at the COP15 United Nations conference on biodiversity in Montreal, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. The tower illustrates the complex web of life where each brick nudged out of place represents damage caused to nature and with it the danger of ecosystem collapse. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
MONTREAL – Developing countries have walked out of global talks in Montreal on conserving the world’s biodiversity over concerns about funding.
David Ainsworth, an information officer for the COP15 talks, says the countries left the negotiations early this morning.
Ainsworth says there are a number of disagreements.
He says the main one concerns the creation of a special fund to finance biodiversity conservation in poorer nations.
A meeting has been called later today for all the heads of delegations of countries attending the conference in an attempt to resolve the impasse.
The walkout comes as the two-week event enters its final days, with environment ministers from around the world arriving in Montreal to try to hammer out a final text on the most difficult issues.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2022.
