The US touts support for biodiversity – but at Cop15, it remains on the sidelines

Washington hasn't signed a 30-year-old pact, leaving Biden's envoy in the role of influencer' in Montreal

Only two countries in the world have not joined the UN Convention on Biological Diversity: the Vatican and the US. Few have missed the Holy See, but the US not joining the CBD 30 years ago has been described as the major holdout" among countries looking to support the convention's goals.

In Montreal, where negotiations for this decade's UN biodiversity targets are entering their frantic final stages, the absence of the US political machine is noticeable, changing the power dynamics in talks between the remaining 196 countries.