UN nature talks hit by science report dispute

United Nations biodiversity talks in Armenia have been hit by a dispute over how strongly countries should endorse scientific reports on nature and climate risks.

A French government delegate at the COP17 summit in Yerevan accused Saudi Arabia, Russia, Argentina and Brazil of frustrating progress. The delegate said the countries were pushing back against two assessments by the UN-backed IPBES biodiversity panel on the overlap between the nature and climate crises and the economic forces driving them.

A negotiator from another developed nation also said those four countries were leading efforts to water down references to the IPBES reports or use them as bargaining chips in other parts of the talks.

The dispute centres on draft wording and whether countries should “welcome” the IPBES findings or “take note” of them. In UN negotiations, “take note” is considered weaker language.

Nearly 200 nations were due to agree how the findings should guide efforts to protect nature. The summit is due to end Friday, but several issues, including the science language, remained unresolved.

IPBES chair David Obura declined to comment while negotiations were ongoing. Academics and civil society activists at COP17 have issued a joint statement of concern about the talks.

Bethan Laughlin, a senior policy specialist for the Zoological Society of London, said the dispute was worrying because of the precedent it could set.