PARIS: Nearly 200 countries will meet in Montreal next week to work on a new global biodiversity deal to protect ecosystems and species from further human destruction.
Observers are hoping that the COP 15 biodiversity talks in Montreal will deliver a landmark deal to protect nature and reverse the damage humans have done to forests, wetlands, waterways and the millions of species that live in them.
Around 50 percent of the global economy is dependent on nature, but scientists warn that humanity needs to rethink its relationship with the natural world as fears of a sixth era of mass extinction grow.
Our planet is in crisis, said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the head of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity CBD, at a briefing ahead of the talks, saying that a global agreement on biodiversity was critical to ensure the future of humankind on planet Earth is sustainable.
The post-2020 biodiversity framework, which has been delayed for two years because of the COVID 19 pandemic, will map out an official plan for nature until mid-century for most countries, with the exception of the US, which has not signed up.
There will be key targets to be met by 2030.
It comes after countries didn't meet a single of the targets set for the previous decade.
With new rules affecting key economic sectors - including agriculture, forestry and fishing - and covering everything from intellectual property to pollution and pesticides, delegates are grappling with an array of sticking points.
Only two out of 22 targets have been agreed on, according to the new deal.
A European Union source close to the talks said that success is not guaranteed.