Climate Politics
UN’s Biodiversity Summit Starts With Gridlock Over Details
COP15 opened without agreement on draft language that would set up high-level negotiations at the two-week conference in Montreal
People attend the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, Quebec on December 6.
Photographer: Andrej Ivanov/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
A global biodiversity summit put together by the United Nations got off to a bumpy start in Montreal on Tuesday, with organizers chastising delegates for failing to compromise on small changes needed to create a draft for environment ministers to debate next week.
COP15, as the summit is known, is the most important gathering on biodiversity in a decade. The goal is to create a Paris Agreement-style roadmap to protect enough of the world’s key ecosystems and slow climate change.