UN biodiversity talks open in Armenia as nature's decline deepens

Nearly 200 countries opened the COP17 biodiversity summit in Yerevan on Monday. Over two weeks, they will review the Kunming-Montreal framework, the nature deal adopted in 2022.

Average drop in monitored wildlife, past 52 years

73 %

Monitored wildlife populations have fallen by an average of 73 per cent over the past 52 years, according to the conservation group WWF's Living Planet report.

The framework aims to conserve 30 per cent of land and sea by 2030. Even if current pledges are met, only 26 per cent of land and 12 per cent of marine ecosystems would be protected, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said.

And us?

Yearly water filtration by southern Ontario wetlands

4.2 $ billion

A University of Waterloo study found that marshes and swamps in southern Ontario provide $4.2 billion a year in water filtration, keeping drinking water clean. As they disappear, treating water costs far more.