UN biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia

The 1st day of a two-week meeting of COP16 took place on calling for urgent action and funding to reverse humanity's rapacious destruction of biodiversity.

Under the themed "Peace with Nature," the summit has the urgent task of coming up with monitoring and funding mechanisms to ensure 23 UN targets agreed at COP15. About 23,000 delegates, including some 100 government ministers and a dozen heads of state were accredited for the largest-ever biodiversity COP, running until November 1st in the city of Cali.