What does the Paris agreement mean for the world's other 8 million species?

In December, the world's nations agreed on an aggressive plan to combat climate change. But what, if anything, will the landmark Paris agreement do for thousands of species already under threat from global warming?

The word "biodiversity" is employed once in the Paris agreement's 32 pages. "Forests" appears a few times, but "oceans", like biodiversity, scores just a single appearance. There is no mention of extinction. Wildlife, coral reefs, birds, frogs, orchids, polar bears and pikas never show up anywhere in the document.

This is hardly surprising: the landmark agreement in Paris - the boldest yet to tackle climate change (which is saying something, but not nearly enough) - was contrived by one species for the benefit of one species. It was never meant to directly address the undeniable impacts of global warming on the world's eight million or so other species - most of them still unnamed. But many experts say this doesn't mean biodiversity won't benefit from the agreement - especially if the 196 participants actually follow through on their plegdes and up their ambition quickly.