People are warning that human activities and climate change are threatening ecosystems and causing a decline in animals, plants, and other species. They are calling for urgent action at COP 15 to contain the deterioration, calling it the last chance for nature.
Nature is declining at an alarming rate. We've never seen that in history. Ms Lin Li, senior director of global policy and advocacy at the World Wildlife Fund WWF International, said 1 million species are now threatened with extinction.
The global wildlife populations have declined by 69 per cent since 1970. She said that our relationship with nature is dangerously unbalanced.
In the buildup to the conference that takes place from December 7 to 19 UN officials and experts stressed the need for a Paris-style agreement on biodiversity.
They are calling for a treaty similar to the UN Climate Change ConferenceUN Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015, which helped drive increased global awareness of the threat from climate change.
More than a hundred nations including Germany, Japan and Britain have called for a so-called 30 x 30 initiative, committing to include the conservation aim of 30 per cent of nature by 2030.
In order to protect and conserve at least 30 per cent of the world's lands and oceans by the year 2030, one of the main goals is to have a global agreement, according to Brian O'Donnell, director of the Conservation Group, Campaign for Nature.
So an area-based conservation target that will make sure habitat for wildlife is safeguarded, as well as those natural systems that are important for preventing storms.