Cop15: historic deal struck to halt biodiversity loss by 2030

Agreement on '30 by 30' target forced through by Chinese president, ignoring objections from African states

• Cop15: key points of the nature deal at a glance

Governments appear to have signed a once-in-a-decade deal to halt the destruction of Earth's ecosystems, but the agreement seems to have been forced through by the Chinese president, ignoring the objections of some African states.

After more than four years of negotiations, repeated delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and talks into the night on Sunday in Montreal, nearly 200 countries - but not the US or the Vatican - signed an agreement at the biodiversity Cop15, which was co-hosted by Canada and China, to put humanity on a path to living in harmony with nature by the middle of the century.