A once-in-a-decade agreement to halt and reverse the destruction of nature has been reached in Montreal. The Kunming-Montreal pact has been likened to the Paris agreement for climate and commits countries to a series of targets to protect and restore biodiversity.
The agreement has 23 targets ranging from increasing protected areas to reducing pollution to eliminating and mitigating the effects of invasive species. Some aspects of the agreement, such as targets related to species extinction, are not as strong as had been hoped. But if countries are serious about meeting them, it will require governments, including Australia’s, to broaden their policies for nature and wealthy nations to increase their investment.
