European Commission envoy Florika Fink-Hooijer said the "catastrophe" in Spain's Valencia region earlier this week highlighted the link between biodiversity loss and human-caused climate change.
Worsening droughts and flooding cause the loss of plant species such as trees -- which serve as a bulwark against some of the worst effects of global warming.
"If we act on biodiversity, we at least can buffer some of the climate impacts," Fink-Hooijer said at a press conference in the city of Cali, host of the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the UN's Convention on Biodiversity.
"At this COP we really have a chance to act," said the envoy, who is also the European Commission director-general for environment.
- Funding hurdle -
The summit, which started on October 21, is tasked with assessing, and ramping up, progress on nature protection plans and funding to achieve 23 UN targets agreed in 2022 to stop species destruction.
It is a followup to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed in Canada two years ago, where it was decided that $200 billion per year be made available for biodiversity programs by 2030.
This must include $20 billion per year going from rich to poor nations trying to reach the targets, which include placing 30 percent of the Earth's land and sea under protection by 2030.
Due to wrap up on Friday, the talks in Cali remain stuck mainly on the modalities of funding, even as new research points to more than a quarter of animal and plant species facing the risk of extinction.
Developing countries have called for more money.
They also want a brand-new fund under the umbrella of the UN's biodiversity convention, where all parties -- rich and poor -- would have representation in decision-making.
Rich countries insist they are on track to meet their funding targets. Most are opposed to a new fund.
Another point of contention is on how best to share the profits of digitally sequenced genetic data taken from animals and plants with the communities they come from.
Such data, much of it collected in poor countries, is notably used in medicines and cosmetics that make their developers billions.
European Parliament member Cesar Luena, who is from Spain, on Thursday thanked delegates "for all the demonstrations of solidarity in this summit" as the flooding death toll soared beyond 150.
Mud and misery grip epicentre of Spain floods
Paiporta, Spain (AFP) Oct 31, 2024 -
A quiet town in one of Spain's wealthiest regions was a mud-covered hellscape of destroyed buildings, upturned vehicles and bewildered citizens trying to piece back together their lives on Thursday.
"We are devastated," Paiporta resident Pepi Guerrero told AFP, her voice trembling as she queued for water with Spain reeling from its deadliest floods in decades.
Tuesday's weather had been fairly inclement, but no one could have foreseen the onslaught of murky water that claimed dozens of lives in the commuter town outside the eastern city of Valencia.
Guerrero had just left work when she saw the water surging through the streets, rushing back home to save her life.
"I came on the metro, but the metro doesn't exist anymore," the tearful 53-year-old cleaning employee said.
Paiporta's railways hung in a tangled mess from a bridge, one of many structures and people the raging torrents swept away.
On both sides of the river, a thick layer of mud smothered the streets, marking the trail of destruction that ripped through the town in a flash.
- 'Trapped' -
"Everything happened in half an hour," remembered pensioner Julian Loras, 60, who narrowly avoided the floods while walking his dog.
"All the basements were filled with water. A lot of people got nervous, they went to take the car out and they were trapped there," he said, fearing more bodies would be found.
The apocalyptic weather was as brief as it was brutal. The sun shone brightly when AFP visited on Thursday, giving the mud a more intense hue.
Opposite the river near the town's commercial hub, Manuel Ciscar and his daughter were trying to forge a path towards their house.
Inside the garage, the family's three cars had been transformed into a pyramid of wreckage.
Ciscar, a 76-year-old pensioner, has only received heart-breaking news of acquaintances dying since Tuesday in the town where he has lived and worked all his life.
"Today I learned of two more deaths," he said.
- 'Our guard was down' -
No business was left untouched on the high street. The chairs of a dental clinic were strewn, shutters were dented and all ground floors were wasted.
Residents were removing the sludge with buckets, shovels and broomsticks when a sharp noise suddenly blared from their mobile phones -- an alert from the civil protection service warning not to travel by road to clear the way for emergency vehicles.
But many in Paiporta feel the warnings on the fateful day came too late for the unsuspecting residents.
"Nobody warned of anything," complained Joaquin Rigon, 21. "When we started receiving notifications the water was up to here," he said pointing to his belt.
Loras was spared from the water thanks to a call from his son but he too regretted more alerts were not launched.
Pushing a trolley stuffed with food bought from one of the few shops open in a distant industrial estate, Xisco Martinez was at a loss to offer an explanation.
"Water wasn't falling here, our guard was down."
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