VIDEO: WATCH: Opening of the COP15 Biodiversity Summit in Montreal

Amid warnings that biodiversity is plummeting, environmental leaders gathered in Montreal to map out measures to strengthen the world’s terrestrial and marine ecosystems and find tens of billions of dollars to fund conservation efforts.

Delegates from around 190 countries gathered for the two-week summit to finalize a framework to protect 30% of the world’s land and sea areas by 2030. Currently, 17% of land areas and 10% of sea areas are protected.

The proposed framework also calls for reducing the rate of introduction and establishment of invasive species by 50%, halving the use of pesticides and eliminating the dumping of plastic waste.

The targets – more ambitious than the previous ones which have mostly not been achieved – should be at the heart of the meeting’s debate. But the question of financing will not be far behind, with developing countries likely to push for large monetary commitments before signing a deal.