Delegates at a UN conference in Montreal, Canada, are discussing new global targets to protect biodiversity.

But developing and developed countries are at odds over how to secure funding for conservation efforts.

The 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity aims to adopt new targets to be achieved by 2030.

Development of land and oceans, unsustainable use of plants and animals, climate change and invasive alien species are cited as direct causes of the loss of biodiversity.

Topics at the COP15 talks include the protection of species at risk and whether to set a target of conserving at least 30 percent of the Earth's land and oceans.

A UN report shows that by August 2020, only about 15 percent of land and 7 percent of marine regions had been placed within protected and conserved areas.

Some developing countries have called for the creation of a new fund for biodiversity conservation. But some developed nations argue that existing funds should be used for that purpose.