Participants pledge $19b

UN member states were still working hard yesterday after a sleepless night spent trying to finalise a long-awaited agreement to protect the high seas, a fragile and vital treasure that covers nearly half the planet.

Delegates on Friday pledged $19 billion, the host country Panama said. The total included a $6 billion commitment from the United States, announced on Thursday by White House climate envoy John Kerry.

After more than 15 years of informal and formal talks, negotiators have reached the end of two new weeks of discussions -- the third "final" session in less than a year.

But as of early yesterday morning in New York, participants were still wrangling over the highly political issue of benefit-sharing for research derived from marine genetic resources collected on the high seas.

"We do still have a few issues to clear, but it is making progress and delegations are demonstrating flexibility," conference chair Rena Lee said around 1:30 am (0630 GMT).

Earlier on Friday night, Lee had said there was still "a window of opportunity to seal the deal, and we mustn't let this opportunity slip through our hands."

An updated draft text seen hours later by AFP did not contain the section on genetic resources, but appeared to be far from finished.

Even if compromises are found on all the remaining disputes, the treaty cannot be formally adopted at this session, Lee explained on Friday.

Disputes include the procedure for creating marine protected areas, the model for environmental impact studies of planned activities on the high seas and the sharing of potential benefits of newly discovered marine resources.

The high seas begin at the border of countries' exclusive economic zones, which extend up to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from coastlines. They thus fall under the jurisdiction of no country.

While the high seas comprise more than 60 percent of the world's oceans and nearly half the planet's surface, they have long drawn far less attention than coastal waters and a few iconic species.

Only about one percent of the high seas are currently protected.

Ocean ecosystems create half the oxygen humans breathe and limit global warming by absorbing much of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activities.

But they are threatened by climate change, pollution and overfishing.

For many, any agreement hinges on equity between the rich global North and poorer global South.

Developing countries, without the means to afford costly research, say they fear being left aside while others make profits from the commercialization of potential substances discovered in the international waters.

Observers interviewed by AFP say that resolving these politically sensitive financial issues could help ease other sticking points.

If an agreement is reached, it remains to be seen whether the compromises made will result in a text robust enough to protect oceans effectively.

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