UN nature summit approves two key agreements after marathon negotiations

Nearly 200 nations on Friday adopted hard-fought agreements at a UN biodiversity summit aimed at putting the world back on track in efforts to halt nature's destruction by 2030. Watch moreRoad to COP30: What are the climate targets? Delegates cheered as the crucial texts were approved in overtime following two weeks of tense negotiations at the COP17 conference in Armenia's capital Yerevan. "And that's it. Perfect", said COP17 president Hambardzum Matevosyan to applause as he brought down the gavel on the documents, the final versions of which were not made immediately available to the public. The world adopted a historic pact in 2022 setting ambitious targets to halt biodiversity loss by 2030. But ahead of the summit, the UN warned that countries would fail to meet the goal unless they urgently corrected course. Most of the objectives are falling short, including targets to protect 30 percent of Earth's land and oceans, tackle pollution, and provide poorer countries with greater conservation finance.A draft COP17 text earlier called on countries to "accelerate" efforts to keep the pact alive and stressed "increased action" was needed to tackle the root drivers of nature loss. El N...