Countries sign deal to protect biodiversity and share gains

Environmental damage costs between U.S. $ 2 billion to $ 5 billion a year, study says.
Representatives from more than 190 countries meeting in Nagoya, Japan, approved a historic agreement that, if implemented, should address threats to biodiversity by 2020 and divide the proceeds by better exploitation of the genetic material of nature.
Major final decisions of the 10th meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, its acronym in English) is a protocol about how to divide the benefits represented by biodiversity (in English, Access and Benefits Sharing, or ABS) and an action plan to protect endangered species by 2020.
The estimate is that rich countries open their coffers by 2012 to guarantee about $ 200 billion per year in investments in biodiversity conservation. The funds should be released in time for the second Earth Summit to be held in 2012 in Rio de Janeiro.
It is unclear, however, where this money should come, since many rich countries are in crisis and have already committed in December last year to raise about $ 100 billion per year to combat the effects of climate change.
The signatories have now a period of two years to establish how the new funding will be made.

Biopiracy
The value of biodiversity in each country must also enter the public accounts, to enable the calculations that will guide international investments.
This measure was considered a major breakthrough, since for the first time links the biological diversity of nature to the economy.
Already named the ABS is crucial to protect countries call biopiracy, the record made by industries such as pharmaceuticals - mostly based in developed countries - the substances taken from beings found in other regions.
The deal closed provides for the payment of royalties for intellectual property to countries of origin of the material.

After intense negotiations, particularly on ABS, the agreement was praised by environmentalists.
"The protocol of Nagoya is a historic achievement, which ensures that the value often vast genetic resources be more fairly divided," said Jim Leape, director general of the WWF.
Among the decisions of Nagoya is also a goal of protecting 17% of the areas on land, which until 2010 was 13%.
The environment ministers also agreed to protect 10% of marine and coastal areas, including the high seas.