Rich and poor countries are battling over who will fund nature conservation in the shadow of a radically anti-green U.S. administration.

Without the farmers, it is only political policy without implementation” – that was the stark message delivered by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Director-General on Tuesday to delegates attending the latest round of UN biodiversity talks in Rome.

WWF warns that if countries heading to Rome for the resumed UN biodiversity conference (COP16.2) cannot agree on a way forward on finance, it will be a major setback for the Global Biodiversity Framework, with critical fundraising efforts hampered to implement the targets – just five years away from the deadline.

Moves by Trump to nix development funding have cast a shadow over the discussions and put pressure on attendees, even though the world’s biggest economy wasn’t a formal signatory to the efforts

Developing nations urged wealthy countries to make good on pledges to provide $20 billion a year for poorer nations to deal with climate change as climate talks got under way in Rome on Tuesday.