Nations at the COP15 UN biodiversity summit in Montreal, Canada, have agreed to protect a third of the planet for nature by 2030 in an "historic" deal aimed at safeguarding biodiversity. It's known as the 30 x 30. There will also be targets for protecting vital ecosystems such as rainforests and wetlands and the rights of indigenous peoples.
Governments have signed a once-in-a-decade deal to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems. After more than four years of negotiations, repeated delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and talks into the early hours of Monday morning in Montreal, nearly 200 countries - but not the US or the Vatican - signed an agreement at the biodiversity Cop15, which was co-hosted by Canada and China, to put humanity on a path to living in harmony with nature.
In an extraordinary plenary that began on Sunday evening and lasted for more than seven hours, countries wrangled over the final agreement. Finally, at about 3.30am local time on Monday, news broke that an agreement had been struck.
The main points of the agreement include:
Maintaining, enhancing and restoring ecosystems, including halting species extinction and maintaining genetic diversity;
"Sustainable use" of biodiversity - essentially ensuring that species and habitats can provide the services they provide for humanity, such as food and clean water;
Ensuring that the benefits of resources from nature, like medicines that come from plants, are shared fairly and equally and that indigenous peoples' rights are protected;
Paying for and putting resources into biodiversity: Ensuring that money and conservation efforts get to where they are needed.