Cop15 in Montreal: did the summit deliver for the natural world?

An Mbuti Indigenous boy runs through the Ituri rainforest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The wording on the protection of Indigenous rights and territories in the agreement was largely welcomed. Photograph: Hugh Kinsella Cunningham/EPA

Conservation of species

The term “nature positive”, which scientists had said would be the biodiversity equivalent of “net zero”, did not make the final document. Many will see this as a missed opportunity – a unifying idea similar to keeping global heating to within 1.5C. However, the 2030 goal to “take urgent action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss” is still considered a relatively strong call to action.