Days before phase one of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in the southwest Chinese city of Kunming, the meetings look constrained in ambition and stalled in progress. After an 17-month delay because of the coronavirus, global negotiations overseen by China about how to arrest ecological destruction over the next decade will kick off with mostly virtual meetings. International stakeholders complain about a lack of access, public participation remains invisible and a draft of the declaration likely to emerge from the summit doesn’t include any specific targets. The gathering is China’s biggest chance to solidify the global climate leadership sought by President Xi Jinping, who surprised world leaders last year when he declared that the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases would […]