A chair of the U.N. biodiversity negotiations underway in Switzerland told Reuters on Tuesday he expects agreement on a key target on raising protected areas, adding he saw support from the talks' presidency, China, for the first time.

 

With around 1 million plant and animal species threatened with extinction, some 1,000 negotiators from 164 countries are meeting in Geneva this week to thrash out a framework that has the potential to be the biodiversity equivalent of the Paris climate change deal. Among the 21 targets is one that aims to conserve 30% of land and sea areas globally.

 

Basile van Havre, one of two co-chairs of the talks, said he was "confident" countries would agree to the target, but expected more intense negotiations on securing ocean areas.

 

"It's not a walk in the park but it's not a problematic target in my mind," he said on the sidelines of the talks.

 

China, current COP15 president and host of the summit in Kunming to ratify the pact later this year, has voiced support for the target for the first time, he added.

 

"This is big. This is significant. It is an important point, having the presidency behind the target," he said.

 

China spoke about the target at a closed-door meeting and Chinese officials in Beijing were not immediately available to comment.

 

However, van Havre said he expected other aspects to be more complicated, such as target seven - on pollution - which aims to reduce pesticides by "at least two thirds".

 

"This is a fundamental rethinking of agricultural production and it is going to be difficult," he said.

 

The framework was to have concluded in 2020 but COVID-19 delays have delayed the Kunming summit several times, with Beijing yet to confirm a new date. Delegates and activists alike have complained that the pace of the Geneva talks, which run from March 14-29, has been slow.

 

"The urgency that scientists say we face on this planet has not been reflected in the negotiations," said Brian O'Donnell, director of Campaign for Nature. (Reuters)