The UN chief hailed the deal as a peace pact with nature after it was reached on Monday.
After the marathon COP 15 biodiversity summit in Montreal ran into the small hours, chair Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu declared the deal adopted and banged his gavel.
The UN Secretary-General said that they are starting to forge a peace pact.
The EU's Ursula von der Leyen said the deal was a foundation for global action on biodiversity.
The outcome was hailed as a turning point by the US. Ned Price said the deal was sweeping and ambitious.
The United States is not officially a party to the convention because of opposition by Republicans in Congress, but American President Joe Biden supports the deal and has launched his own plan.
More than 190 states supported the Chinese brokered accord aimed at saving Earth's lands, oceans, and species from pollution, degradation, and the climate crisis.
"We have in our hands a package which can guide us all to work together to hold and reverse biodiversity loss, to put biodiversity on the path of recovery for the benefit of all people in the world," he said.
The Democratic Republic of Congo objected to the text because they wanted more money for developing countries.
The deal pledges to secure 30 percent of the planet as a protected zone by the year 2030.
The plan to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius under the Paris agreement has been compared to it by environmentalists.
According to Brian O'Donnell of the Campaign for Nature, it's the largest land and ocean preservation commitment in history.
He said that the international community came together for a landmark global biodiversity agreement that provides some hope that the crisis facing nature is starting to get the attention it deserves.
"Moose, sea turtles, parrots, rhinos, rare fern and ancient trees, butterflies, rays, and dolphins are some of the million species that will see a significantly improved outlook for their survival and abundance if this agreement is implemented effectively."
It's a significant step forward in the fight to protect life on Earth, but on its own it won't be enough. Governments should quickly scale up their ambition to protect half the Earth.
The text pledges to protect the rights of Indigenous people.
Observers noted that it only encouraged businesses to report their biodiversity impacts rather than mandating them to do so.
Saving hundreds of billion of dollars is one of the targets in the accord.
At times, the talks looked like they were going to collapse.
The biggest issue was how much rich countries will give to the developing world.
A bigger fund for aid from the Global North was being sought by developing countries. The proposed compromise was to create a fund under the Global Environment Facility.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is located in the center of the Congo Basin, a rich haven of flora and fauna.
Financial flows for nature to the developing world are estimated to be around $10 billion a year.
The framework passed despite a delegate speaking up in the plenary to demand a rise in funding.
Agence France- Presse.
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