Editor's note: Decision Makers is a global platform for decision makers to share their insights on events shaping today's world. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema is the Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. 

One million plant and animal species are facing extinction, many within recent decades. This is as much about nature as it is about us: All human communities – in cities, rural areas, or forests – have relied on biologically diverse and vibrant ecosystems.

Nearly one out of two human beings – three billion people worldwide – do depend directly on natural resources for their livelihoods and, in many cases, their daily subsistence needs.

The consequences of a mass extinction event that is at play remain hard to fathom. It will be dramatic and costly, as well as to adapt to the new world ahead of us, a world depleted so much of the natural world that we know. Biodiverse, well-balanced ecosystems provide climate moderation, fertile soil and foods, clean water, modern drugs, and the foundation of our economies.

The headline of about one million species that could vanish forever came from a 2019 report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, whose independent assessments provide valuable evidence for policy-making, and has appeared in many media outlets worldwide.

This month, 195 countries and regions, and the European Union – all parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity – finally convene in Montreal, Canada. We know what must be done and we know more how to achieve it. This conference is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and build cooperation through multilateralism.

The presidency of the conference is with China and the event it is hosted by Canada, two of the largest countries by size and economic power that represent robust South-North collaboration, is a promising start. 

Details are to be hammered out: The plan under discussion proposes protection of at least 30 percent of the world's terrestrial and marine areas by 2030 (30X30). It also advocates slashing $50 billion worth of nature-harmful subsidies that are given to agriculture, fisheries and other sectors.

Addressing land and sea-use change, over-exploitation of natural resources, climate change, access to genetic resources, food systems, the spread of invasive alien species and animal-borne diseases through the loss of natural habitats (such as the Ebola virus disease, Lyme disease, SARS and possibly the coronavirus disease) are on the agenda.

Whatever the details of the new deal on nature, it must reflect the latest scientific knowledge, as well as the traditional knowledge that drives the stewardship of nature by indigenous peoples and local communities.

Targets in the new global framework for this decade must be specific, measurable and – most importantly – adequately resourced. The UN Environment Program has just published its second edition of the State of Finance for Nature report, which concludes that financial flows to nature-based solutions must more than double by 2025 and triple by the end of the decade.

Financing is essential for plans to actually work. After all, targets are only as good as their implementation and in that respect, we've been failing: Many global targets were met at national levels, only six of 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets set in 2010 were even partially met by the 2020 deadline that world leaders set for themselves.

Some may argue that on account of rising inflation, food and energy prices, this could be the wrong moment to invest in nature. Yet analysis has shown that delayed action could cost us more than double in the future. It's important to invest on nature protection and restoration now and we can still save big on food, health, energy and other costs.

Given previous failures, many are hoping that the nature conference in Montreal would deliver the same transformative impact that the Paris Agreement had on tackling climate change. Indeed, we are pinning our hopes on governments delivering a "Paris Agreement for Nature." Of course, there's a risk in setting expectations too high, but the scale of risks nature is facing leaves no room to achieve our ambitious goals. We're living through one of the greatest species losses since the dinosaurs' demise. And if we fail to reach a historic deal on nature in Montreal that extinction of a million species will come close to reality.

Meanwhile, we're living through a time when vaccines are getting rapidly developed and distributed, when more food than ever before is being produced, and species hitherto on the verge of extinction are reappearing due to remarkable collaborations of people who care.

Let us take these signs of hope, use them to fuel our steps toward a decade of action that stops and reverses biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.

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