Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit AILSA CHANG, HOST: President-elect Biden is making a bold promise on the environment. His administration will work to conserve nearly one-third of all U.S. land and water by the year 2030. Similar pledges are being made by countries around the world with the goal of slowing down the steep decline of nature. NPR's Nathan Rott looks at how realistic that is. NATHAN ROTT, BYLINE: If you're wondering why, in the midst of a global pandemic, the incoming Biden administration and countries are talking about conserving a chunk of nature, here's a good, blunt answer from the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from a recent conference. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) ANTONIO GUTERRES: To put it simply, the state of the planet is broken. Dear friends, humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal. ROTT: Suicidal because we depend on nature. We depend on bacteria in the ocean for the oxygen that we breathe, forests and wetlands to filter
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