Top officials from more than 190 countries gathered in Montreal this month to solve one of the world’s most pressing challenges: the rapid decline of wildlife and ecosystems that provide us with benefits like clean air, water and crop pollination. The biodiversity conference, known as COP15, is expected to reach an agreement called the Global Biodiversity Framework, dubbed the Paris agreement for nature.

Two officials front and centre in the negotiations have been Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Commission’s Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries and Steven Guilbeault, Canada's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, who is also hosting this year’s event. The two regions have shared goals and responsibilities to conserve and protect biodiversity on our planet.

David McKie, Deputy Managing Editor for Canada’s National Observer, spoke to both leaders at COP15 about their partnership, the roadblocks to a potential agreement and the importance of this much-awaited conference.

Canada’s National Observer hosted this conversation in partnership with the Delegation of the European Union to Canada on Dec. 15, 2022.