"MONTREAL - As countries prepare to negotiate a new global agreement to protect Earth's environment, the head of the United Nations warned there was no time to lose.

"Humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told delegates to the COP15 biodiversity summit at an opening ceremony on Tuesday in Montreal.

"This conference is our chance to stop this orgy of destruction," he said.

More than 1 million species, especially insects, are now threatened with extinction, vanishing at a rate not seen in 10 million years. As much as 40% of Earth's land surfaces are considered degraded, according to a 2022 U.N. Global Land Outlook assessment."

Gloria Dickie and Allison Lampert reportr for Reuters December 6, 2022. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"‘We Are At War With Nature’: UN Environment Chief Warns Of Biodiversity Apocalypse" (Guardian) [3]

"COP15: Why Does The UN Biodiversity Conference Matter?" (Aljazeera) [4]

"UN Biodiversity Summit Hopes To Halt Rapid Nature Decline" (DW) [5]

"Humanity Has Become ‘Weapon Of Mass Extinction’, UN Head Tells Cop15 Launch" (Guardian) [6]

"Explainer: `The Biodiversity Crisis In Numbers - A Visual Guide" (Guardian) [7]

"Can We Save Nature?" (New York Times) [8]

"The US Is Finally Getting Serious About Nature-Based Solutions" (GreenBiz) [9]

"UN’s Biodiversity Summit Starts With Gridlock Over Details" (Bloomberg) [10]

"Editorial: World Leaders Must Step Up To Put Biodiversity Deal On Path To Success" (Nature) [11]

"Humanity Is 'Treating Nature Like A Toilet' - Here's Why, According To UN Chief Antonio Guterres" (Sky News) [12]

"We Won’t Stop Biodiversity Loss Without Transforming Food Systems" (Thomson Reuters Foundation) [13]

"World Leaders Have 2 Weeks To Agree On A Plan To Save Nature" (Vox) [14]