ROME — In the second Trump era, it was about making a point: Yes, the world can still work together to fight environmental collapse.
After three days of painful United Nations negotiations in Rome, world countries came to a delicate agreement late Thursday on boosting global finance for biodiversity that included plans to create a new fund for that purpose — something they had been stumbling on for years.
It was not the emphatic funding deal many poorer nations had fought for. But the compromise proved countries could still bridge their differences and work together for the sake of preserving the planet, despite a fracturing world order and the dramatic retreat of the United States from international green diplomacy and foreign aid under President Donald Trump.
Colombia’s Environment Minister Susana Muhamad, who steered the talks as COP16 president, almost broke down in tears when the meeting came to a close Friday morning, reflecting on the difficult road that had brought countries here. She said the deal was the “light that still unites us in these dark times” of a more “fragmented and conflicted world.”
