It is a matter of life and death. That was the message from Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, at the opening of the Cop16 biodiversity conference in Cali this Sunday, where the world has gathered to take stock of progress towards this decade’s UN nature targets. In the sticky Pacific heat, representatives from nearly 200 governments have met in the salsa capital of the world for what organisers believe is the biggest nature Cop ever.

The enthusiasm for meaningful action on protecting biodiversity is needed now more than ever. The forests, peatlands and other natural carbon sinks that underpin the world’s climate targets are beginning to sputter as temperatures rise, new research shows, diminished by wildfire, drought and extreme heat. The abundance of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and amphibians is in freefall, a recent scientific assessment has found, with global wildlife populations having fallen by an average of 73% in 50 years.

In the face of such threats, Colombia is a host that is trying to lead by example. It has made its rich biodiversity, accounting for 10% of life on Earth, the centre of its economic plan to phase out of fossil fuels and so-far successful efforts to slash deforestation in the Amazon.

More on what’s on the agenda – and what’s at stake – at Cop16, after this week’s most important reads.

“We raise the idea of being a world power of life,” Gustavo Petro told the plenary hall of his country. “When faced with the question of what most affects life on our planet, we have to say nothing more than we, humanity. Today, a ghostly and somewhat deceptive reality seems to appear, there seems to exist a humanity contrary to life, deceptive because humanity against life is also humanity against humanity.”

So, what now?

Government negotiators have a packed schedule to finish off work they were unable to complete in Montreal, Canada, in December 2022. Long-running disputes over money, biopiracy and the role of Indigenous communities in conservation await resolution in Cali. But the main question is whether this decade is really different. Governments have never met a biodiversity target they have set for themselves in the history of the convention and that urgently needs to change.

How are they getting on?

Most countries have been slow to publish their plans on how they are trying to meet this decade’s targets, which include efforts to protect 30% of land and sea for nature, repurpose $500m (£400m) of environmentally harmful subsidies and restore some of the planet’s most degraded ecosystems. Ahead of the Cop16 deadline, more than 80% of governments had yet to submit a plan, according to analysis by Carbon Brief and the Guardian, but several published their intentions in the first few days of the summit, with even more submitting partial plans. Even so, the slow action has provoked some frustration.

“Nature is facing a crisis, largely driven by humanity’s use of the land and ocean,” says Crystal Davisa director at the World Resources Institute. “At Cop16, it’s time for all countries to step up and turn a landmark global agreement to protect and restore nature into action.”

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected in Cali next week – if he has recovered from his recent fall – a nod to the crucial 14 months ahead that will culminate at next year’s climate Cop30 in Belém, Brazil.

As always, it is action that will define whether this really is a turning point.

Read more from Cop16:

The good news

The bad news

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