Omicron variant threatens UN talks to seal global nature deal

People waiting to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the Witkoppen clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Dec 8, 2021. - AFP

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation): A flagship United Nations conference in China next spring, where governments are set to ink a new global pact to protect nature, could be thwarted by stricter travel restrictions imposed to contain the Omicron coronavirus variant, environmentalists have warned.

About 195 countries are set to finalise an accord to safeguard plants, animals and ecosystems - similar to the Paris climate agreement - at the UN summit, known as COP15, scheduled for April 25-May 8 in the city of Kunming.