We must restore nature to avoid global catastrophe, warns biodiversity summit chairman

Humanity risks catastrophic global warming if it focuses only on decarbonisation at the expense of restoring the natural world, Colombia's environment minister said in preparation for a key world summit on nature later this year.

Susana Muhamad, who will chair October's Cop16 UN biodiversity summit in Cali, said a singular focus on reducing carbon emissions while failing to restore and protect natural ecosystems would be "dangerous to humanity" and risk societal collapse. (Patrik Greenfield, more at theguardian.com)