The climate crisis affecting our planet is complex. Public opinion has been primarily focused on the urgent efforts we must make to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. But that is only part of the equation. That is why the United Nations is organizing another summit focused on a key aspect of the planet’s balance: biodiversity. 

The latest one, called COP15, was held in Montreal, Canada, in mid-December. And while the meeting’s results fell short of the ideal goals, there was some good news. First, the issue is finally garnering global attention. 

As Bloomberg pointed out, among the 17,000 delegates who attended this latest summit were several hundred representatives from global private financial institutions and large corporations. The summit also agreed to establish protected areas equivalent to 30% of the planet’s surface, including oceans, islands, and continents. 

And representatives from the private sector put forward proposals for new financial mechanisms to support biodiversity, such as debt-for-nature swaps. Biodiversity is important for a multitude of reasons. Healthy ecosystems purify water and help absorb CO2, to name just the two most basic ones. 

According to estimates by the World Economic Forum, about half of global GDP is generated by companies that depend on nature, and if its degradation continues at this rate, it could wipe out US$2.7 trillion from global GDP by 2030.