Extinction Threat: World Conservation Meeting to Show Species in Peril

MARSEILLE, FRANCE - The perilous state of the planet's wildlife will be laid bare when the largest organization for the protection of nature meets Friday hoping to help galvanize action as the world faces intertwined biodiversity and climate crises.

Relentless habitat destruction, unsustainable agriculture, mining and a warming planet will dominate discussion at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) conference, hosted by France in the city of Marseille. The meeting, delayed from 2020 by the pandemic, comes ahead of crucial United Nations summits on climate, food systems and biodiversity that could shape the planet's foreseeable future. "Our common goal is to put nature at the top of international priorities -- because our destinies are intrinsically linked, planet, climate, nature and human communities," said French President Emmanuel Macron in a statement ahead of the IUCN meeting.