30% ...

The head table gets set to open the high level segment at the COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal on Dec. 15, 2022. Ryan Remiorz/AP

30%, the goal of, in effect, rewinding the world by 2030, is essential if civilization is to survive in the age of global warming. 

MONTREAL — Negotiators reached a historic deal at a U.N. biodiversity conference early Monday that would represent the most significant effort to protect the world's lands and oceans and provide critical financing to save biodiversity in the developing world.

The global framework comes a day before the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, is set to end in Montreal. China, which holds the presidency at this conference, released a new draft earlier in the day that gave the sometimes contentious talks much-needed momentum.

The most significant part of the agreement is a commitment to protect 30% of land and water considered important for biodiversity by 2030. Currently, 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas are protected.

"There has never been a conservation goal globally at this scale," Brian O'Donnell, the director of the conservation group Campaign for Nature, told reporters. "This puts us within a chance of safeguarding biodiversity from collapse ... We're now within the range that scientists think can make a marked difference in biodiversity."

Make it happen people before it's too late. 

David Attenborough's right. It has to happen now.